“Go back to the slave quarters, monkey, and straighten that hair!” – Black woman punched and dragged by her hair in a pub; aggressor pays fine and walks

Note from BW of Brazil: I ask the question again: With aggressive, blatantly racist assaults happening in Brazil for so long, how is it that the nation managed to promote itself as a ‘racial democracy’ for so long….and get away with it? How many times do I have to read that racism in Brazil is that of the veiled variety, the type that is often undetectable? Again, of course subtle forms of racist aggressions happen as well and more often, but why continue to propagate this idea as if verbal and physical assaults don’t exist? Remember these questions as you read the report below…

Businessman and doctor are accused of racism and aggression in pub

By André Garcia Santana

A case of racism and physical aggression against a tourist, who spent the long holiday in Cuiabá, has been shared through a Facebook posting by dozens of Internet users

According to the publication, the woman, identified as Juliana Souza, was called a macaca (monkey) by a couple sitting next to her and their cousins in a pub of the city. When she left the bathroom, she was punched by the man and her hair was pulled by his companion.

Falling on the floor, she heard from the suspect, supposedly a doctor, that she should not be there, being called macaca once again and a slave. “Do you think it’s bad to be called negra (black)?! It’s what you are, and you have to passar chapinha no cabelo (straighten your hair)!!!” The situation was broken up by security guards, who were also called macacos and beaten by the businessman who accompanied her.

In the posting, made by a colleague of the victim, it is narrated that an incident report was registered and that only the man was arrested, and released two days later, after paying bail of R$8 thousand.

Check out the full publication:

With the permission of my colleague, Juliana Souza, I publish the photos and briefly tell the story of these bruises on her face:

She was very happy that she was spending the extended holiday at her relatives’ home in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso. On Friday, 6/17, she went with his cousins to have fun in a “pub” in town. At a table, a little distant from hers, she noticed a couple and perceived that the woman called her a macaca, which was perfectly noticeable by the movement of the lips…Juliana is negra… She continued with her own business, although not liking anything about that absurd provocation, gratuitous, that persisted … It got to the point that someone at their table went to Juliana to apologize …

At one point when she went to the bathroom, on her return, she was attacked by the girl’s boyfriend, with a punch in the face! Already on the floor, she surprised by the sudden aggression, she felt herself being dragged by the hair and saw that it was the woman who was doing it while shouting: “YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE HERE, YOU MONKEY, SLAVE, GO TO THE SENZALA (slave quarters)! YOU THINK IT’S BAD TO BE CALLED BLACK?! IT’S WHAT YOU ARE, AND YOU HAVE TO STRAIGHTEN YOUR HAIR!!!”…

The security guards intervened, and also black, they were called monkeys and beaten by the guy (big and very strong). One of them had to have stitches on his forehead … The police were called, the guy was arrested, and in the CAMBURÃO (police truck), the girl was not taken because of her partiality with one of the policemen … (He shouted that he would pay a bribe and not be imprisoned).

Juliana had a corpo de delito (medical examination), opened a BO (incident report) and hired a lawyer … Everything being registered, she is now is to wait for justice, which, if it comes, will not erase the aggression that she suffered to her dignity, to her HUMANITY, to her soul…

The “guy” paid bail, around eight thousand reais, and was released on 6/19…

Neither Juliana nor her cousins understood the reason for so much violence… It was visible how much the couple was altered, it is not known if by ingestion of some drink or drugs… Nothing justifies (this)!

Here are the characters of this sad, revolting and shameful story:

– THE VICTIM – Juliana – Pedagogue – Pos-Graduation in Psychopedagogy – Excellent      professional – Professor of the Public Network
– THE AGGRESSOR – The “guy” – Rich Businessman
– THE AGGRESSOR – The “woman” – A doctor and professor at a university in Cuiabá

Note from BW of Brazil: Several things to point out in this story, all that once again utterly destroy any existing mythology about race relations in Brazil. As I’ve already addressed the idea of the existence of only veiled racism, let’s move on to the other points. 

One) Once again, we have an issue of a black person being outside of “their place”. The mere presence of the victim was enough to warrant not only insults but also a violent aggression. 

Two) Again, the popular usage of the term macaca, a favorite in Brazil, to dehumanize a black woman and also the rejection of Brazilian society of natural, black hair. 

Three) The victim (from Uberlândia in the state of Minas Gerais) possesses post-grad degrees in her profession, again debunking the myth that if black people would earn a college education and secure gainful employment, the racism (that doesn’t exist) won’t affect them. 

Four) One of the aggressors is a rich businessman and the other a Ph.D level college professor. In other words, they are the cream of the crop of the society and this is their behavior. It speaks to the fact that many white Brazilians don’t and never will accept Afro-Brazilians as equal human beings to be respected. It also makes one understand what type of people are employed in Brazilian universities. I wonder how this professor feels about affirmative action policies. 

Five) Again, we see an elite Brazilian having no fear of any consequences for his action. We’ve seen in past posts where someone attacks a black Brazilian and, faced with possible punishment, say they will just pay a fine and walk away free. In this case, the guy said he would simply pay a bribe a walk. In the end, he paid a fine and walked. If the man is indeed rich, how would an R$8,000 (US$2,420) fine stop him from doing this again? As I’ve written before, a perfect crime. And speaking of this, let me add number six…

Six) I’ve often read Brazilians say, “we can’t be racist because there are laws against it.” Really? There’s been a law against racism for decades, but for some reason, it doesn’t seem to impede racists from doing what they do best. 

I hate to keep repeating myself, but there’s nothing surprising or shocking about this incident. Revolting? Of course! Unfortunate? An understatement. But I’ve been exposing this sort of thing to my readers for years. 

Source: Gazeta Digital