Note from BW of Brazil: It’s November, the time of the year in which the Month of Black Consciousness is celebrated. As such, the month will be full of sorts of events from seminars, conferences and lectures to award shows, beauty contests and cultural performances, etc. In observance of the significance of the month, recently, in Rio Grande do Sul, a state known for having one of the whitest populations in the country, we saw a competition to crown the state’s most beautiful black woman. The winner, a recent graduate of Law school, was as graceful in her victory and as she was in dealing with her experience with an growing problem in the Brazil: internet racism. The message here? It seems that whether one is the only black woman in a contest overwhelmingly represented by white women candidates or one wins a contest specifically organized to honor the beauty of black women, racists apparently want to remind them of their “place”. Nothing new here. But we are here celebrate victory and haters won’t be allowed to ruin the party. Congratulations to Márcia Regina Campos!
Representative of Santa Cruz wins the Most Beautiful Black Woman of Rio Grande do Sul contest
By Marília Nascimento
The representative of Santa Cruz do Sul was the winner of the Most Beautiful Black Woman of Rio Grande do Sul contest. Márcia Regina Campos, 26, defeated the other six competitors. This is already the 32nd time the event has been held in the city. The program started around 8:30pm in the Pavilhão Central of the Oktoberfest, and featured a parade with official costumes and artistic presentation of African dance. The party after was livened up by Grupo Piração of Porto Alegre (capital city).
The competition was attended by the Mais Belo Negro (Most Handsome Black Man) of Rio Grande do Sul, Venir Xavier Neto, and the junior representatives of 2015, Victor Gabriel Alves and Sandry Nadine Escobar, both of Santa Maria. According to the organization, about 700 people attended the event, which this year honored Marlise da Silva, creator of choice, who died in June this year. She was very important in the dissemination of cultura afro (African culture).
According to the director of the Cultural Department of the Sociedade União, Cíntia Luz, the contest exceeded expectations of the organization. “We are very happy because it was a challenge to hold an event of such magnitude in less than three months,” she said. Cynthia also added that the public response to the new event format was very positive, this year the action prioritized the candidates and their presentations.
Organization of the Most Beautiful Black Woman takes action after racial slur
Sociedade União is mobilizing denunciation of case of racism against Márcia Regina Campos
By Paola Severo
Representative of Santa Cruz wins the Most Beautiful Black Woman of Rio Grande do Sul contest
A celebration of a title became a police case on Monday the 9th. The contest of the Mais Bela Negra do RS (Prettiest Black Woman of Rio Grande do Sul) elected Márcia Regina Campos, 26, on the night of Saturday the 7th. However, the representative from the city of Santa Cruz do Sul was attacked with racist comments in a post published by Portal Gaz on Facebook. The director of the cultural department of the Sociedade União, Cíntia Luz, says that the organization of the event has already taken action against crime.
According to Cíntia, the first action was to take prints and record the prejudiced and racist comments. As insults were published through a fake profile on the social network, the most important thing is to file a case with the civil police, who will conduct an investigation to find the computer from which the comments originated.
The Sociedade União is preparing a note of repudiation and is already planning an action. “We will not remain silent,” said Cíntia. “In the middle of November, the month of Black Consciousness, after such a beautiful event, this act has shaken us up a lot. We see many reports of cases in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, but when it happens with us is very difficult,” she explains.
Márcia graduated in August of this year with a degree in Law. In 2014, she was elected Princess of Santa Cruz’s Carnival. According to the young woman, she was holding her willingness to participate in the Mais Bela Negra do RS contest for several years due to commitments to the university. For her, the competition serves to enhance Afro-Brazilian culture. The victory, according to the Santa Cruz native, represents the full beauty of the black woman and, especially, fighting for the rights in society.
It is the first time that Márcia suffered public and direct prejudice. “We feel it in interactions, someone who doesn’t greet or looks differently,” she says. She reports that after the demonstration on the social network she was offended and ashamed. “I was ashamed to live in a country that doesn’t understand differences. I felt for everyone who suffers from it,” she said.
According to the young woman, she never imagined it would happen to her, in spite of realizing very present racism in Brazilian society. “The history of black people in the struggle for their rights is very beautiful. But it’s not beautiful to have to fight for equality, something provided for in the Federal Constitution,” she emphasized. Now, Márcia and her family – her mother is a lawyer and her brother in the civil police – are collecting the evidence necessary to bring a lawsuit and trace the address of the computer of the comments’ author.
The mobilization against the case for injúria racial (racial injury/slur) has already received support from various human rights bodies, including the Municipal Council for the Promotion of Racial Equality (Compir). The Order of Lawyers of Brazil (OAB) in Santa Cruz do Sul has also expressed support to the entity.
HOW TO DENOUNCE
On the Federal Police website there is a page to report crimes against human rights on the Internet. The Internet user must click on the item ‘ Crimes de Ódio’ (Hate Crimes) that defines the practice of any kind of prejudice, whether of color or religion. The site also instructs that if the crime was not committed on the Internet, the Disque (Dial) 100 service should be used.
“to find the computer from which the comments originated.”
And how does anyone is still caught like this? At some point people will learn to use VPN + proxies and the Sherlocks of Policia Civil will never find who did it. Than what? Online racism is impossible to eradicate, better really would be to have moderation and have the comments deleted as fast as they come. Maybe than the racists would lose interest and wouldn’t have the stamina to keep going. Now every random teenage Facebook attack turns into news, without anyone being punished. It’s a the perfect recipe for the keep to go on indefinitely.
So what she got called a damn racist name…Who CARES!!!! It doesn’t matter if they stop calling you racist epithets, they won’t stop putting their foot in your ass. Out of all these damn articles, none of them address why their men aren’t protecting them from this crap! That is your only line of protection from white supremacy ladies. All these damn programs and rhetoric doesn’t do a damn thing but give a pat on the back. These fucking women make me sick with all this punk shit. Your indirectly looking toward white men to save you from his own evil doings against you by having people arrested for being racist toward you. completely retarded.