Note from BW of Brazil: One of the main motives for the creation of this blog was the expose persons outside of Brazil to a facet of Brazilian society that people continue to try to insist doesn’t exist, push under the rug, diminish its severity or label those who denounce it as ‘vitimistas’, or those who ‘play the victim’. For decades, Brazilian society have sworn that racism, racist actions and insults are things that only happen in places such as the United States. But with more and more Afro-Brazilians getting access to a college education along with the rise of the internet, there is a deeper understanding of how racism works as well as the ability to denounce it by finding strength in the common experiences of others.
Unfortunately, on the internet those Brazilians who no one wants to believe exist have found a place to share and spread their racist views and opinions about Brazilians of visible African ancestry. On popular social networking sites such Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, Brazilians have provided endless evidence of the fact that the nation’s long held belief in the ‘racial democracy’ is simply a myth as social scientists and activists have argued since at least the 1940s and 50s. To document this even further, the black women’s organization Crioula came up with an ingenious campaign that share such racist sentiments for all the world to see! Taking various racist comments posted on social networks, the group took them, blew them up into enormous billboards and posted them in the hometowns of the persons who made the comments. The campaign gained worldwide attention, as international and alternative news programs featured the campaign on their programs.
The campaign even earned an award from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity distributes awards in the areas of communications, advertising and related fields. 11,000 registered delegates from 90 countries visit the seven-day festival held in June in Cannes, France, that hands out Grande Prix awards along with Gold, Silver and Bronze Lions (1) (2). At the end of the video created to divulge the campaign, one of the men caught posting a racist comment on the internet was brought face to face with the woman he insulted. After all, as a phrase in the video says, “You can’t stop racism without facing it.”
Congratulations are in order for the ladies of Crioula for coming up with such a creative campaign in the battle against such a serious problem! See a video about the campaign over at Vimeo here.
Billboard that exposes racists: A bronze that’s worth gold
Racists who hide behind the keyboards were exposed through the campaign “Espelhos do Racismo” (Mirrors of Racism), launched by the NGO Criola and created by W3Haus. The case won, so far, two Leões de Bronze (Bronze Lions) in PR and Outdoor respectively.
By Leonardo Araújo
It’s not simply a bronze. It’s a bronze that’s worth gold. First, because the Leão de PR (Lion of PR) is the first in the history of W3Haus, which is healthy for the market used to other names. But the most important is the cause. “But it is a campaign for an NGO”, so what? There are so many campaigns for NGOs that can inspire retail customers. The very use of data made for the case can help – a lot – to sell more.
But that does not matter here. At least not now. It’s time to honor the work of W3 that threw light on a problem so present in Brazil. A problem that insist on hiding, which is not discussed as it should be.
It’s amazing how in 2016, in the twenty-first century, that we still see and hear cases of racism around here. And to top it off everyday situations witnessed in the streets across the country, now it has been increasing on the Internet, a safe field for cowards who often hide behind a fake profile on social networks.
Recently we had two cases because that because they dealt with famous people quickly came to the fore in the mass media. In July 2015, the weather reporter of Jornal Nacional, Maria Júlia Coutinho, was bitterly attacked by a group of fakes. In the month after that, we had the actress Taís Araújo, who likewise was called names of all forms simply for being black.
In both cases, those responsible were investigated and punished when found. But I confess that when I found out I was wondering, “What if they were not public figures, would it have had the same end? Would it have been divulged the way that it was?
Probably not, and this is very sad because we know that every day cases like this happen with anonymous men and women who “lost” their human rights because they have a different skin color.
There are some campaigns that you need to keep the key moments in a special place of the mind. Moments like the revelation of the film Hitler or the classic songs of the chinelo Rider or when Patricia Lucchesi wore the bra. Do yourself a favor, watch the end of the video, with the request of the apology of the racist and keep this scene in that particular place in your brain.
Source: Update or Die, Pensador Anônimo
Notes
- See Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity Wikipedia page
- See Festival de Publicidade de Cannes Wikipedia page
That guys BS apology doesn’t mean ANYTHING. Just because one white person apologized for their racism doesn’t mean all white people will follow suit. Brazil is still a very racist country. And even though this Billboard campaign was put up to inform the world of that, the racism WILL continue regardless.
The white guy who apologized may or may not truly be sorry. Who knows? But i will say that even if he IS truly apologizing, what next? How is his apology going to undo the humiliation and degradation that these beautiful black women have to endure on a daily basis. Where is the true comeuppance for these women?
I am very disgusted by the fake apology from the white supremacist.
I am more disgusted at the so called black woman(and I am assuming that she is black and classifies herself as black) who accepted such a plastic apology. It is only a matter of time before that white supremacist is back on social media to do the same thing again. I wonder if this apology would be accepted if it were a white woman instead of a white man. Black people have to be the most naive people on the planet and black women have to stop accepting things as the honest truth just because it comes from the mouth of a white man.
Will any of these white suprmacist criminals be prosecuted for such acts of abuse and violence? Probably not. These types of projects are cute but if they don’t lead to justice and compensation what is really the point??
Exactly my point in my last post. I don’t think that guys apology was genuine. I think he’s sorry he’s got caught and is embarrassed by it. Also like i said before, how is his “apology” going to make anything better? Brazil has been run by a system of White Supremacy for over 400 years and one white person apologizing isn’t to change that system. It also isn’t going to change the way the MAJORITY of white people think in Brazil.
I’d say that “white” Brazilians publicly acknowledging that they committed acts of racism is a HUGE act in Brazil, since you really didn’t see this type of thing on such a large scale as recently as LAST YEAR! This is because Black people in Brazil continue to hold pressure on the necks of the members of society until there is at least some acknowledgement that something wrong has been done and that it needs to be stopped. In spite of what some might thing, this is, indeed, a sign of progress. I suspect that as more Black Brazilians stay “woke” and keep the dialogue open, you will continue to see this kind of progress being made more and more each year.
Those of you who expect for any system of white supremacy (which is 500 years old and deeply ingrained in the collective psyche of everyone on the planet) to go away in one sweeping motion because of one action by a single person or a group of people)…um…well…good luck with that…
Complaining about white supremacy on sites like this is one thing. Doing the actual hard work that is required to bring down an entire system, unfortunately, takes much more time and effort.
Luckily, Europeans are having a collective freak out! In addition to their low birth rates, one of the most powerful members of the European Union (“the UK” which is composed of Britain, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland) just decided to leave the European Union (aka, royally f*cking itself in its collective white *ass)! Some may see conspiracy, but I see this as even stronger evidence that the dominant white mind / white collective is in a death spiral that they themselves have created. If you want to see a complete end to white supremacy, wait…
I’m sorry but an apology isn’t a sign of progress at all. A the end of the day the White man who “apologized” is going to go back to living the good life in his nice suburb and white community. While the Black woman he apologized to is probably going to go back to a decrepit, run down, poverty stricken favela.
I keep stressing this over and over. An apology from a White Supremacist doesn’t mean shit unless its backed up by some type of comeuppance. Is that white man going to help that Black women find a good job? Is he going to give her the money to open her own business? Is he going to help stop Black Brazilians from being killed by the racist MPs? Is he going to tell the rest of his White friends (who are more than likely White Supremacists themselves) to stop being racist?
The answer to these questions is no. Why? Because he loves his White Privilege to much to do any of these things. The global African Diaspora(Brazil included) needs ECONOMIC RESOURCES/ OPPORTUNITIES AND REPARATIONS not fake BS apologies from the oppressors who put us in our situation in the first place.
Luckily, not all Black people have placed ourselves, our happiness, and our ability to be successful in the world at the hands of white people. I feel REEEAAALLLYYY sorry for Black people who want a racist white dude to apologize AND become a leader in the fight against white supremacy. AIN’T GONNA HAPPEN!!
The fact is that we CAN do many of these things for ourselves (as MILLIONS of us have been doing for many many many many years without applause from the media, and to the jealous hatred of Blacks who insist that we can only find success if whtie supremacists “allow” us to.) The fact is that WE Black people have the tools to help ourselves. Thank GOD we have finally begun to use them en masse.
Nah, this dude’s applogy will suffice for many of us because, in the grander scheme of things, he and others like him just aren’t that important to us! He does not have the power to stop us from doing anything – not today. If you are still an enslaved victim to him in your mind, I would suggest you begin to liberate yourself from his invisible shackles. Then you will need to get educated yourself about the tools that are available for you. Then, you will have to leave behind those who are still enslaved – at least for a while – lest they pull you back into slavery. After you have reached your summit of success, if you so choose, go back to help other enslaved minds (and try to ignore their unwillingness to happily and readily use the very tools that you used to find your own success). Expecting white folks to do anything other than what you are complaining about is a recipe for disaster (for YOU – not them). Instead, GET YO MONEY HONEY and leave the white supremacists in the dust.
$ 245 MILLION ALREADY GIVEN BY RICH BLACK PEOPLE….