In his new book Inside Qatar, the anthropologist John McManus gets a Nepali barista in Doha to explain the Gulf state’s hierarchy. “Who’s at the top?” asks the author. “Of course, the Qatari,” replies the barista. “Second, European countries and the US. Third, other Arab countries and nationalities.” And at the bottom? “Always Nepal, India, Sri Lanka.” As McManus suggests, that may be missing a layer: “All security guards are black Africans.”
人类学家约翰•麦克马纳斯(John McManus)在他的新书《走进卡塔尔》(Inside Qatar)中,请了一位在多哈(Doha)的尼泊尔籍咖啡师解释这个海湾国家的等级制度。作者问道:“谁地位最高?”咖啡师回答:“当然是卡塔尔人。第二高的是欧洲人和美国人。第三高的是其他阿拉伯国家和民族的人。”那最底层的呢?“一直都是尼泊尔人、印度人和斯里兰卡人。”正如麦克马纳斯所指出的,这个咖啡师的回答可能遗漏了一个层面:“所有的保安都是非洲黑人。”