Today we attended a conference on affirmative action in which panelists spoke about racism in Brazil and compared it to the US. Only one Black woman spoke and after she left it became an all white panel. It did not seem to me that the white panelists were capturing the experiences of Afro-Brazilians but luckily I had the opportunity to have a conversation with some of the students from PUC (Pontificia Universidade Catolica). After the conference I met a young Black woman named Helen who is involved in the Black student movement at PUC Rio. Through my conversations with the students I found that opponents of affirmative action use the same discourse. Helen told me that very little is taught about Black history or Black resistance to oppression. The lack of opportunity for Afro-Brazilians is inherited intergenerationally. When Helen's mother was a child, she wanted to be a doctor but her teachers told her that only manual labor was for Blacks. Helen's mother internalized this message, which became a barrier to obtaining an education.
Another barrier to obtaining an education is the fact that many Afro-Brazilians who are not associated with the Black Movement are often against affirmative action. Some people are still ashamed of being Black and try to identify as a lighter category. Also, some of the Black people who are against quotas oppose them because they don't want to confirm the rhetoric that they can't make it on their own. Helen told me that both Afro-Brazilians and white Brazilians claim that affirmative action allows unqualified Blacks into the university. Yet, most Brazilians do not counter that discourse with evidence that Blacks are discriminated against.
Helen pointed out that Brazilian society clearly prefers whiteness and that it is evident in the media. We talked about the Xuxa show which is hosted by a blonde haired blue eyed woman and how children who do not look like her learn to dislike their physical features. All of Xuxa's backup dancers were also white. Watching television and never seeing a Black actress lowers the self-esteem of Black girls. The fact that the media only portrays white actors is yet another manifestation of white supremacy which may not appear to be explicitly racist. Subtle examples of racism such as this one are common in a racial democracy. The subtlety of racism makes it difficult to combat.
Another barrier to obtaining an education is the fact that many Afro-Brazilians who are not associated with the Black Movement are often against affirmative action. Some people are still ashamed of being Black and try to identify as a lighter category. Also, some of the Black people who are against quotas oppose them because they don't want to confirm the rhetoric that they can't make it on their own. Helen told me that both Afro-Brazilians and white Brazilians claim that affirmative action allows unqualified Blacks into the university. Yet, most Brazilians do not counter that discourse with evidence that Blacks are discriminated against.
Helen pointed out that Brazilian society clearly prefers whiteness and that it is evident in the media. We talked about the Xuxa show which is hosted by a blonde haired blue eyed woman and how children who do not look like her learn to dislike their physical features. All of Xuxa's backup dancers were also white. Watching television and never seeing a Black actress lowers the self-esteem of Black girls. The fact that the media only portrays white actors is yet another manifestation of white supremacy which may not appear to be explicitly racist. Subtle examples of racism such as this one are common in a racial democracy. The subtlety of racism makes it difficult to combat.
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