Egyptian anti-colonial theater reinforced rather than questioned internal racial hierarchies

Evidence

But neither Osman nor the politicians of 1919 questioned the actual social hierarchies that the British had used to their advantage to solidify control. In fact, in none of the plays I examined did Osman `abd al-Basit ever question the higher social rank of Egyptians or insist on his right to greater upward social mobility. His simple pleas for respect are significant, but the actor’s identity as an Egyptian, in Nubian disguise, presumes and appropriates an understanding of Nubian and Sudanese sentiment. — Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Colonialism_…, 915

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: A dense, counterintuitive point: anti-colonial defiance in Egypt recycled the very social hierarchies British rule depended on — the subaltern argues for dignity within a fixed racial order, never against it. This resists one-sentence summary and repays sustained thought.
• XREF: Resonates with the reader’s comparative Egypt-vs-Sudan coloniality framework: Egypt as internal colonizer of its southern periphery even while being colonized itself.