Well, money does rule the world.

But "no racism in Saudi Arabia?" Lol… let's just say that Africans/Blacks aren't included in those higher classes. The average African immigrant or Black Saudi is still seen as the descendant of a slave.

Little racism that is at the very least laughable. Saudi Arabia outlawed slavery in 1962, yet until this day Saudis and the rest of the Arab world refer to blacks as "Abid" (servant/slave).

I'd also have to respectfully disagree. I lived in Saudi Arabia for two years during my childhood. During that time I saw my father — who had a lighter complexion and was often mistaken for 'Egyptian' treated better than my more brown skinned mother. Of course, this could be some conflation of the obvious gender bias, but it was not as though it was a class issue. They clearly were both of the same social status and obviously neither were poor.

Additionally, we knew a family there whose mother was Black American, father was White American, and who became Saudi Citizens, spoke fluent Arabic, were Muslim etc. The 100% black child from the woman's first marriage was treated differently by those both in her family and out because her appearance did not mirror the authentically 'Saudi' look of her biracial caramel colored straight haired siblings. This is not to mention the fact that the father later took on a second wife who was very aryan indeed. No comment on that one.

Anyway, I think the color issue in Saudi is probably a tad more complex than this short post allows, but I get your point about how other isms compete overseas with racism. Race or color is not necessarily the most important thing.

I dunno. I feel like the "polite" classism to which you refer is specific to Saudis in the business sector, cuz, you know, blatant xenophobia isn't so great for international business. I think a survey of Saudi race relations outside of the boardroom, in the "lower" strata of everyday life paints a different, not so affable image. A friend of African descent grew up in Saudi Arabia and had some pretty disturbing stories to tell about how black folk are treated there. There's the usual harrassment in the street she'd get from Saudi men with some pretty nasty ideas about black female sexuality. In elementary school test grades were "altered" to ensure that she and her sister were never acknowledged at the top of their class — that honor was reserved for students whose heritage was sufficiently Saudi, I guess Her parents are both doctors but neither could get jobs, which is why they left the country in the 90's.
FYI: she tells me she's never EVER going back there.