Moroccan Culture ..Views on Americans
The atrocities committed in New York and Washington, D.C. on 11 September 2001 inspired me to think about Moroccan perceptions of the United States and its people.*
Moroccans across the country were shocked. The King of Morocco sent a telegram to President Bush, presenting his condolences along with those of the Moroccan people to the families of the victims and the American people. He condemned "these vile, barbaric acts, contrary to all principles and human values."(1)
Our friends and acquaintances - educated and illiterate, rich and poor, Muslim all - all made a point of giving us their condolences. Even two days later when our femme de ménage heard anything about the terrorist attacks, she cried. She explained to me that Islam does not condone these actions in any way, shape, or form; whatever religion or belief system the men responsible may have claimed to be part of, she said they most certainly were not Muslim.
Historically Speaking...
Morocco was one of the first countries to recognize the newly independent United States. In 1787, the two countries signed the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, which is the longest-running U.S. treaty still standing.(2)
Everyday Perceptions
Many Moroccans believe Americans are uniformly rich and/or extremely gullible. Some storekeepers charge higher prices to take advantage of at least one of these "American" characteristics. Often when we demonstrate that we speak some Arabic, or explain that we've been living in Casablanca for a year and plan to stay another, they bring their prices down closer to the real level. They get a real kick out of hearing Americans speak Arabic, especially words particular to Morocco and slang.
We are the first Americans that our femme de ménage has ever met. Nonetheless, she had a lot of preconceived ideas and told us a few months ago that she didn't like Americans before she started working for us. She never really explained why; simply listed some generalities about how rich we are and how she didn't think we'd speak French (and certainly not Arabic). My favorite stereotype was that the federal government provides a bank account for every American born.
My husband and his American colleagues get a lot of requests from students for "help getting a visa"; these students seem to think that if an American puts in a good word, the visa process will be a piece of cake. Alternatively, men regularly propose marriage to American (and British) women, hoping to get an automatic visa that way.
Notes and references
* My husband and I don't have a television, so we found out about the terrorism from others. At about 10:30 ET, my husband was on his way to work, when a guardien** frantically told him that the US was being bombed. My husband rushed to school to watch CNN. I found out at right around the same time because a British ex-pat friend of ours called our apartment to tell us. I logged on to the internet for more information.
** Guardiens are like security men or concierges who sit outside all day, guarding buildings and getting paid a few pennies for helping people to park their cars. They are usually uneducated and extremely poor. This particular guardien is an acquaintance; my husband practices speaking Arabic with him.
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