Racist? Ignorant? Rude? Cultural differences?

So here in Senegal, there is an "entitlement" factor that can become very apparent within the resident population, which can be very frustrating or an opportunity to show off your language skills by making a joke out of it; this is of course depending on what kind of mood you are in! Senegalese of ALL ages who do not know you will come up asking for something with the full expectation that, "ohh of course you will give it to them." This will be anything from money, to the sunglasses you are wearing, the bag you are carrying, or food that you are in the midst of eating. I believe this problem arises from generations of foreigners coming to visit and doing just that, or just giving random people things who do not ask for them. This legacy is something that as a volunteer, I deal with often, and nearly daily when I am in larger cities. Furthermore, to make the entitlement situation worse, it is often coupled with an obnoxious cry of "TOUBAB," beforehand. The origin of "toubab" is disputed, but the story I like best is that it is the Arabic word for "doctor;" supposedly the first white people that came to Senegal were often doctors, this word became associated with white person. However, it is also ambiguous and widely used for "foreigner" (i.e. black Americans are also considered "toubabs" whereas even rich locals can be considered "toubab" if they adopt too many "Western" practices). Where it becomes obnoxious is when HERDS of children will shout, yell, and continuously scream TOUBAB to get your attention, and then either just greet you (culturally appropriate, and they don't necessarily know what else to call you, and I have found in my local area, if you tell them your name, next time, they will yell that rather than toubab) or ask you for something. The thing is, this is one of those things that would just NOT happen in America, in either case. If someone is different from you, and you don't know them, in the middle of the city, or countryside for that matter, someone would not yell CHINESE, ARABIC, MEXICAN, EUROPEAN, (repeatedly until you are out of sight) let alone a word encompassing all of the above from BLOCKS away just to say hello, and especially not to ask for chopsticks, a scarf, hot sauce, a visa, the coffee you are drinking, the jacket you are wearing, the book in your bag that is in a language they cannot read, or for the groceries you are going to the store to go get. Silliness.

The thing is that it is clearly partially a race thing: they are yelling toubab because I am a foreigner, they are asking me for things because I am a foreigner, however, this can be frustrating because I am living in this country for two years. Clearly, it is partially ignorance, especially when children are just trying to greet you, which is a completely cultural thing. I have the sweetest old ladies endearingly calling me toubab sometimes before they ask my name. Yet, the yelling frankly nearly always comes off as rude, which I don't think they are necessarily trying to be if they are greeting you. However, if they follow your acknowledgement to toubab (or sometimes not) by asking for something, it is rude. Bottom line: cultural differences.