Note from BW of Brazil: Wow! Last night was an example of what you might miss if you don’t stay tuned! Last night this writer happened to be flicking through the channels when I came across the late night variety show Altas Horas on Globo TV. I admit that I was once an avid viewer of the program but in the past few years I’ve distanced myself more and more from the absurdity of television. But as it turns out, something worth seeing took place on this program last night. When I turned the channel to Altas Horas last night, I saw a young woman whose story we had prepared a few days ago and posted earlier today appear on the program. But it was the last thing I remember before blacking out for the night…
Anyway, the young woman was Dandara Marques from the northeastern state of Pernambuco who had just experienced a racist incident in the land of “Brazilians aren’t like that.” I learned today that not only was Dandara on the program, but so was Emicida, probably Brazil’s hottest rapper right now, as well as Domênica Dias, the daughter of legendary rapper Mano Brown. This trio and another young woman brought the noise on the topic of race that once again shows why black people have to be the ones with the leading voices on this topic.
Reviewing the video of last night’s show, it was quite amazing to see how Emicida obliterated myths about race, racism and miscegenation in Brazil in about 90 seconds! In a minute and a half, he touched on a number of topics that have been approached on this blog including racism: the perceptions of non-Brazilian blacks who have visited or lived in the country and the country’s acceptance of racial mixing as long as the skin color continues to get lighter, a value system that continues to influence numerous Brazilian families. We see evidence of this preference for whiter skin in numerous ways and it often comes out in simple everyday dialogue. For example, we’ve featured a number of posts detailing the arrival and treatment of recent immigrants to Brazil from various African countries and Haiti. Back in January, a woman shared a brief dialogue she had with another woman on the question of Haitians arriving in Brazil.
“In a day of hot debates, comes an occurrence: I was in the store near my house when a group of Haitians came in, including my acquaintances…I commented to a lady at the cash register: ‘In a little while there will be more Haitians than Brazilians here….lol’. And she came with this pearl: ‘The worst thing is that they are ‘mating’ with the Brazilian women and will darken the people.'”
As we have mentioned in numerous previous posts, starting in the late 19th century, the official policy of Brazilian elites was the embranquecimento or whitening of the population by flooding Brazilian with millions of European immigrants, promoting widespread miscegenation and then later, during the presidency of Getúlio Vargas, prohibiting the entrance of more Africans into Brazil. By Decreto-Lei #7.967 of 1945, the expressed objective of the prohibition of Africans was to “preserve and develop, in the ethnic composition of the population, the characteristics of its European ancestry.”
With this long history of anti-black discourse, would it be far-fetched to believe that most Brazilians would prefer to see its long history of race mixing lead to a whiter population rather than a blacker one?
Rapper Emicida criticizes racism in Brazil: “The taxi doesn’t stop, but the police truck stops”
Courtesy of UOL
Rapper Emicida criticizes racism in Brazil: “The taxi doesn’t stop, but the Military Police truck stops”
In the tone of an outburst, Emicida rapper heavily criticized racism in Brazil during his participation in the Altas Horas late night variety show on TV Globo in the early hours of Sunday (20). For the rapper, the idea that Brazil is a “racial democracy” is not true.
“I feel that Brazil has a debt to diversity rather than a vocation, because it doesn’t exercise this vocation. Brazil applauds miscegenation when it lightens, when it darkens, it condemns. That’s a big problem, especially of blacks from abroad coming to Brazil, it is most glaring. This idea of racial democracy, that “Brazil is the paradise of the three races, this is not true when you have dark skin,” he said.
“And we have this culture of oppression screaming and the oppressed remain silent, feeling they are wrong. So if the girl is raped, the guilty one will be her; If the person is discriminated against and put out of the bank, they will say ‘ah, it wasn’t like that ‘,’ you were wearing a baseball cap’,’ it’s because you were wearing a sweatshirt, a backpack ‘. No. You know that the taxi didn’t stop for you and the viatura [Military Police truck] stopped. This is the urgent problem of Brazil,” he added.
In July, insults against Globo journalist Maria Júlia Coutinho had already raised the debate about racial prejudice.
Maju, as she is also known, suffered offenses in a publication of her picture on the official page of news program Jornal Nacional on Facebook. Some internet users joked and published derogatory and racist comments such as “She just got a job in the Jornal Nacional because of quotas. Filthy black” or “Go do the weather forecasts in the senzala (slave quarters).”
“Everybody was worried. A lot of people thought that I would be crying through the halls. But the truth is this, guys. I’ve read about the issue of prejudice since I can remember. Of course I am very angry, saddened by this, but I don’t lose heart,” she said during the JN. “I grew up in a very conscious family, my parents always oriented me. I find it important that legal measures be taken to prevent attacks on me and others,” she said.
The journalist also thanked the rebound and the manifestation of affection of colleagues and the public. “I also want to express it here because I was very happy with the care, I received thousands of e-mails, messages. But the most important thing is that the militancy that I do is with my work, always well done, with great affection, with much dedication, with great competence, which is the most important thing. The prejudiced ones barked, but the caravan passes,” she added.
Emicida, Dandara Marques and Domênica Dias on Globo Talking about racism in Brazil. It’s a finger on the wound
by Enderson Araújo and Felipe Freitas
“This thing of racial democracy in Brazil does not exist, this thing was invented. The racial democracy in Brazil is like this, the taxi doesn’t stop for blacks but the Military Police truck stops”
The Rapper Emicida, was a guest of the Altas Horas late night variety program of Globo TV, which was this Saturday (September 19). The program has a framework where people tell real stories they experienced, in the program this Saturday racism was discussed, in the opportunity, Serginho Groisman chatted with the young black Pernambuco woman, Dandara Marques, who was the victim of racial discrimination in a network social, after her photo published by someone from São Paulo, with comments like “Give me a box of matches so that I can do a progressive on this unfortunate (one),” referring to the hair of Dandara who works in environmental management.
According Dandara, the words were ‘strong’. “I always went through it, but not in such an explicit way as well. He put me in a very open situation, a social network, everyone had access to it,” she said. Beginning her comment, Dandara explained to the audience of public and viewers, who Dandara was: “For those unaware, militant black woman Dandara, a warrior ally of Zumbi dos Palmares, I was and I am Dandara.” Read more here:
Before opening the frame where he would talk to Dandara, the host, Serginho Groisman, asked a girl in the program’s audience about racism. It was Domênica Dias, daughter of (famed rapper) Mano Brown, in the opportunity, the host asked the young woman about racism, she said that racism is more violent when directed against the black woman, it has a much greater force of destruction, but we can perceive this in the production of novelas (soap operas), where black women appear as objects of sexualization or household domestics; there are few that had a position of power.
During the program, Serginho questioned (rapper) Emicida about racial issues in Brazil, some people watched the program more to hear Emicida rhymes or listen to the Samba classics of musician Jorge Aragão and Diogo Nogueira, but what really impressed was listening to “Passarinhos”, one of the new tracks from Emicida, and hearing his positions regarding racism, citing in his first intervention that Brazil is a country racist because 77% of its murders are black youths per year.
In his second intervention, he came after the also invited guest, Marcus Caruso, a white know it all actor – decided to talk about racism and defend the racial democracy. Emicida had to explain to him:
1 – Brazil is as follows: When miscegenation lightens, people applaud and when it darkens society condemns it. Racism is wicked and cruel.
2 – This thing of racial democracy in Brazil does not exist, this thing was invented. The racial democracy in Brazil is like this, the taxi doesn’t stop for blacks but the Military Police truck stops…
The artist received a standing ovation, and mentioned that we are at work, I believe he meant that the country still has its way, that militancy is essential to change the scenario, having black assuming posts, Rap entering the schedules of major broadcasters, is a breakthrough, but blacks still bother (society), the example of Dandara stamping her black beauty. Whiteness is really a place of power. Whiteness is really a privileged position.
Thank you Dandara, Emicida and Domênica, you put the finger in the wound of a racist, sexist, homophobic and unfair country to the majority, which is us blacks.
Source: UOL, Mídia Periférica
I applaud these artists! This is great to see. I hope this trend of speaking on white supremacy catches on. I salute them all!