My friend and I paid him his fare that we agreed on and he yelled, "What is this!!! You give me 20 pounds!" (But in Arabic) We told him no and that he knows 20 pounds is too much and he agreed on the 15 pound fare. Plus, we were charged the same 15 pound fare to initially get to our destination with another taxi, who was fair. As we walked away to enter our flat, the effing taxi grabbed my arm and snatched my sunglasses from my head. I turned to take them back from him and yelled, "What the hell are you doing? Give me my glasses!" He then pushed me, and I pushed him back. He then slapped me and I punched him back. He then kicked me, and I found a big rock on the ground and hit him in the chest with it. He then charged at me and put me in a head lock. I tried to break free, and I continued to hit him back. While all of this is going on, and my friend is yelling and screaming out of fear for him to stop, there are old men, old women, young men and boys, young women and girls, standing around watching and laughing. LAUGHING!
No one tried to help or intervene as this man was attacking a woman. I’m sure if I were an Egyptian, veiled woman, many if not all of them would have attacked him... furthermore, he would not have even thought to hit an Egyptian woman... whether she is veiled or not. This type of thievery, exploitation, discrimination or whatever you chose to call it, happens too many times that one expects this to happen. You get tired of these Egyptians trying to take advantage of you. Are they doing this because I'm woman? Are they doing this because I'm a Black woman, as the first thing that comes out of their filthy mouths is, "Hiya Sudani!" This means, “She’s from Sudan!" Which implies, "She's a Black, dirty woman from Africa (Black Africa, as they call it), and she's like trash, so I can treat her as I please."
Because, Sudanese people are refugees here in Cairo, they are treated as they are animals. The children are not allowed to attend Egyptian schools. They are charged triple the amount for housing and the housing conditions are below substandard. There is no healthcare for the Sudanese refugees, and they are normally beaten by the Egyptians, sometimes killed in the streets. When does this stop? The moment I pulled out my AMERICAN PASSPORT after the plain clothed, undercover police asked me for it, everyone changed their attitudes, and began to whisper, "Hiya Amerikiya" The dirty, filthy ali baba taxi began to lie. And simply because I hold an American passport, the police made him apologize. An apology?! Are you serious?! But what good is an APOLOGY after you beat and attack someone? If my passport was from Sudan or any Sub-Saharan country, I would have been dismissed as though I was trash. DON'T RESPECT ME SIMPLY BECAUSE I HOLD AN AMERICAN PASSPORT AND I AM AMERICAN, AS IT IS NOT ME YOU ARE RESPECTING. IT IS THE AMERICAN PASSPORT YOU ARE RESPECTING. YOU ARE NOT RESPECTING ME AS A HUMAN, AS A WOMAN... YOU ARE RESPECTING THIS AMERICAN IDEOLOGY AND THE TROUBLE YOU FEAR FROM THE AMERICAN EMBASSY. The cowardly taxi driver tried to apologized, but I would not accept it. He laughed at me during the attack after he called me "Sudani", and I yelled and told him I was American. He laughed and called me "kabdaba" which means "liar".
Many silly Egyptians do not believe there are Black people in America...that only white people live there. And, if you are Black and "happen" to hold an American passport, then you somehow stole it, lied to the embassy, your parents moved to the US from either Nigeria or Sudan and got an American passport and helped you get one also. Sheer ignorance. The first attack was just the same, only I was attacked by two taxi drivers at once. Yes, I fought back, pressed charges and they were arrested. After I finished writing the report in the police station, the police and I returned to the scene and I pointed them out. Because, this sort of attack on us happens all the time, the stupid fools felt comfortable to remain in the same place laughing and talking about how they attacked me, not thinking that I would go to the police.
How does one counter such attack, counter such ignorance? Even when you understand, that, yes, these people are uneducated idiots, poor and hungry for money, that has not respect or regard for Black people. Do you brush it off and just accept it? Do you run away, leave the country because you know nothing will change? Hell NO!!! YOU FIGHT BACK! YOU PRESS CHARGES! YOU WRITE THE TAXI TAG NUMBER, HIS TAXI ID! YOU WRITE ABOUT SUCH BEHAVIORS AND BLAST IT SO THE WORLD WILL KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IN THESE COUNTRIES…THE BEHAVOIRS THAT THEY TRY TO KEEP HIDDEN FROM THE WORLD. Each time you allow it to happen and do nothing, the more it will happen, and the attacks will get worse. Sure, many may think that nothing in going to happen. And you may be right! But unless you press charges and find out, you will never know.
I REFUSE TO BE A VICTIM! IM NOT A VICTIM IN THE U.S.! SO WHY THE HELL WILL I COME TO A FOREIGN COUNTRY AND PLAY VICTIM? NOT LOGICAL!
