Note from BW of Brazil: This is a followup report of an article posted a few days ago in regards to a racist post in the social network group of a federal university in southern Brazil. As the various protests covered on this blog have shown, more and more black organizations and activists are taking to streets to call out the racist ideologies endemic within Brazilian society.
UFSC issued an official statement against racism and prejudice
Courtesy of O Sol Diário and G1 Santa Catarina
Statement was made after protest in front of the Rectory, on the Florianópolis campus
The central administration of the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (Federal University of Santa Catarina or UFSC) issued a notice of repudiation of an act of racism expressed by one of its mechanical engineering students. On September 5th, a student posted a picture on the UFSC Facebook social network group that generated anger among representatives of quota students of the institution and defense organizations of African descendant communities of the State.
The image shows a black man kneeling, offering a bunch of bananas to a woman, making an allusion to a bouquet of flowers.
The publication, which was taken offline moments later, generated a mobilization that involved 10 organizations in Florianópolis, which saw 50 people with placards at the door of the rectory of UFSC (see video below). Protesters arrived to enter the office of Dean Roselane Neckel, seeking a dialogue. The representative of the university received part of the group at around 12:30 and promised measures to better monitor quota students at the University.
The cotistas (students who enter universities through the system of quotas), argue that there are many suspicions of prejudice, especially with blacks who study at UFSC.
“The truth is that there are many cases of racism. Several complaints, several police reports and nothing has been resolved. We are here to protest and say we will not accept this kind of thing,” said Débora Guimarães, representative of the Coletivo Negro (Black Collective).
Read the note below from the Dean’s office:
“The Central Administration of the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) expresses its condemnation of racism and any other form of prejudice. The rectory informs the community that websites and social networking groups that use the name of the institution in an irregular way are already being notified by the Federal Attorney for misuse.”
– Central Administration of the Federal University of Santa Catarina
Students protest against racism at UFSC (in Portuguese)
Source: O Sol Diário, G1
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