Note from BW of Brazil: Hmmm….I get the feeling that this sort of thing probably happens everywhere. Back in November, we reported a similar incident in the southeastern state of Espírito Santo, in which a customer shook hands with black waiter, wiped his off hand and requested another server. Now, we get word that a woman did the same thing in Salvador, Bahia. Now, if you don’t already know, Salvador, Bahia, is the capital city that is considered the center of African culture in Brazil and has a population in which more 80% of the population is Afro-Brazilian. With such sentiments, perhaps this woman should consider living in a city and state in which there is a larger percentage of white people. Then again, considering the Apartheid-like facets of the city, I’m sure she could probably find a café in the more elite area of the city in which people have paler skin.
Woman arrested for refusing to be served by black people in Salvador café
The case of racism took place at Delicatessen Bonjour, in the Pituba neighborhood; another customer was indignant at the situation and the store manager decided to call the police; according to the worker Ubiratan Santos Souza, 22, “whenever we approached, she turned her back, pretending there was no one there talking to her. If a colleague of lighter color approached, she accepted the service.”
Courtesy of Brasil 247
A woman of about 60 years was arrested in Salvador on Saturday (6), after refusing to be attended by black attendants. The case of racism happened in the Delicatessen Bonjour, in the district of Pituba. Another customer was indignant at the situation and the store manager decided to call the police.
According to the worker Ubiratan Santos Souza, 22, “whenever we approached, she turned her back, pretending there was no one there talking to her. If a colleague of lighter color approached, she accepted the attendance. This time it took another customer to be revolted at her attitude so that the police could be called in.”
Store manager Paulo Sergio told the Correio newspaper that the customer had already mistreated employees of the café on at least two other occasions, with comments considered prejudiced, but this time she crossed the line.
And the woman still ignored a PM (Military Police) sergeant because he was black. “Every time I tried to talk, she would raise the window of the car, then when a pale-skinned colleague approached and made an attempt at dialogue, she accepted,” the PM reported.
In a statement, the delicatessen repudiated the racist attitude and said that it detested prejudice and is has pride in its employees, the vast majority of whom were black workers.
On the café’s Facebook page, some customers criticized the police only being called when another customer was outraged. “A store that tolerates racist attitudes towards its employees and only takes a legal attitude after a customer manifests itself, is at the least conniving,” wrote Internet user Cláudia Calmon.
Source: Brasil 247
The saddest thing about this story is that she is probably part black herself. Why are Afro Brazilians treated bad in Brazil. If you do the research a portion of the Brazilliam population is of african descent.
I often wonder why prejudice people tend to shop at places where they know its a specific group just to make some dumb gesture. Do us all a huge favor and never patronize those places of business.