Black Brazilians Stand Up
I still chuckle when I think of how, early in his presidency, Bush visited Brazil and was surprised that the country had black people. In fact, it had to be explained to him that Brazil had more black people than the United States. Of course, this was not before he asked the Brazilian president, “Do you have Blacks,too?”
With some 90 million black folks, Brazil has the largest population of black people outside of Africa. Unfortunately, even with all those black people, racism against blacks is still all too prevalent and more blatant than what many of us are used to here. So, like here, the lot of black people is one of disproportionate poverty and life at the lower rungs of society’s ladder.
However, more and more blacks are fed up and pushing back against the racism that has dominated their existences there.
From university classrooms to television airwaves, black Brazilians are fighting for what they say is long-denied space in a society that has kept them on the margins.
They’re pushing for two affirmative-action bills in Brazil’s Congress that would open college enrollment and government payrolls to more Brazilians of African descent. Already, many state universities have implemented their own affirmative-action programs.
In 2005, black entertainer Jose de Paula Neto launched the country’s first television station aimed at black audiences, TV da Gente. Meanwhile, hundreds of communities known as quilombos that were founded more than a century ago by escaped slaves are winning recognition and federal protections.
And Brazilians are finally discussing race after decades of telling themselves and the rest of the world that the country was free from racism.
“The Brazilian elite says this is not a racist country, but if you look at whatever social indicator, you’ll see exclusion is endemic,” said Sen. Paulo Paim, author of one of the pending affirmative-action bills. “We want to open up to more Brazilians the legitimate spaces they deserve.”
So, Black Brazil, stand up! In the process, maybe you’ll wake up your brethren up north out of their slumber, as well.
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The same goes for most of South America, not to mention much of the Caribbean where Indians rule while excluding the black majority. As in Brazil all these states deny the existence of any sort of racism, with both the elite as well as those at the receiving or rather denied end colluding that this is the case. Its been the state of affairs for so long that people n these places just accept things as just being the way they are with no realisation that their is systematic institutionalized exclusion. Its also the same to a lesser extent in England and the rest of Europe where the consensus is that racism really is only as bad as it is in America, but actually, America is the only place where it gets as high a profile as it does primarily because African Americans actively fight to keep it upfront, and constantly fight for their rights. I speak this as an outside observer being African myself. Pan Africanism is the only answer!
June 18th, 2007 at 11:57 amYour onpoint,my friend it`s ok to have Rhonaldinho
October 9th, 2007 at 11:33 pmor pele scoring goals to rake in billions,but blacks
functioning w/proper tools must be kept non existent,
is their way of thinking across the globe.How one de-
-mentional the problem is cowards never want a level
playing field.