Note from BW of Brazil: How can anyone really be surprised by a commnet such as this one? Numerous studies dating back to the 1940s show that whether one is considered negro (black), mulatto, pardo (brown/mixed), mestiço (mixed race) or any of the other terms used to describe race or color in Brazil, if said person is considered “non-white”, all of the negative attributes come attached with these terms.
This is one of the points I made in reference to the story about Machado de Assis, perhaps Brazil’s greatest writer, being defined as a “mulato”. For elites, a man of such stature simply COULD NOT be categorized into an “inferior” racial category. In past articles, I’ve referred to a book entitled A cabeça do brasileiro, by Alberto Carlos Almeida that basically shows that Brazilians have a pretty well-established manner of thinking when it comes to stereotypes of people based purely on what one looks like.
Beyond obvious racist thought, it is pretty intriguing because it shows that, regardless of the rhetoric that says we can all be whatever we want in life, Brazilians are more likely to associate a person’s physical appearance with an occupation they could imagine said person being, whether a college professor, a taxi driver or an auto mechanic. Author Almeida made the point that Brazilians DO create less barriers for a white that is an auto mechanic than a preto (black) or pardo who has the same profession. What’s the point in denying these facts?
Well, this question once again harks back to the idea that Brazilians have “prejudice of being prejudice“. People will freely make racist statements or jokes or discriminate against people they define as non-white; it is part of the culture. But once someone calls them out for being racist they cannot admit it because Brazil’s decades long mythology would have us believe that “Brazilians aren’t racists” because they “are all equal”. In the story below, Adilson Durante Filho is not different from any other Brazilian. Regardless of his claiming that his words were “absolutely different” from his beliefs, both his racist thought and the denial of being racist is so typical of what happens in Brazil every day.
Secretary of Tourism of the city of Santos says ‘Brazilian mulattos and pardos (mixed race/brown) are all of bad character’.
Courtesy of Notícia Preta
An audio that has leaked on the networks this week reveals the speech of the Assistant Secretary of Tourism of Santos, Adilson Durante Filho, being explicitly racist and saying, among other outrages, that ‘Brazilian pardos and mulattoes and mulattos are all of bad character’.
The Secretary, who is also an adviser to Santos Futebol Clube, sent the audio in a WhatsApp group saying: “Here we are among friends. Whenever you have a pardo, the pardo, what is he? He’s not that negão (straight up black guy), right? But it’s not the branquinho (white guy) either. He is the moreninho (a little brown) in his color. These guys – you have to distrust all, all that you meet. This color is a mixture, it is, of a race that has no character. It’s true, this is a study.”
Then he adds: “Every pardo, mulatto, [you] have to be careful. No mulatto type [cites a name]. [He] is a type for Indian, Chilean type, these pieces of shit. I’m saying the Brazilian mulatto, understand? The Brazilian pardos. They are all of bad-character (sic). There is not one that is not.”
In a note, Durante Filho assumes the authorship and says it’s “an old audio” recorded “in a moment of unhappiness and driven by emotion, due to a fact that shook me up a lot.” The addressees, he said, were members of “a small group of purported friends of WhatsApp.”
After the announcement of the audio, the Secretary asked for an unpaid leave, but until now the mayor of Santos, Paulo Alexandre Barbosa (PSDB), has not informed as to whether he will release him from the position.
Read, below, a note from Adilson Durante Filho:
“With regard to an old audio of a few years ago that circulated in the social media, of my authorship, I would like to expose that, in a moment of unhappiness and driven by emotion, due to a fact that shook me up a lot, I ended up expressing myself absolutely different from my beliefs and way of acting. I never intended to affect anyone, even though I was in a small group of so-called WhatsApp friends.
I declare that I have no prejudice because of color, race or creed, because the way I was raised would not allow me to be different. I humbly apologize to all who have been offended, and express, through this communication, my deepest regret over the words generically uttered.
Read, below, the note from the mayor of Santos, Paulo Alexandre Barbosa:
“As mayor, African descendant, citizen, son of former shoe shiners of humble origin, I express, vehemently, repudiation of any manifestation that defends or propagates prejudice of origin, race, sex, color, age and any other forms of discrimination, regardless of the means, circumstances or period of time that it occurs. It always will and must be absolutely condemned.
The city clerk involved in the lamentable case that became public, Mr. Adilson Durante Filho acknowledged the grave error, apologized, publicly recanted and is aware of his responsibility and the possible consequences of this act committed in the sphere of his private life. He applied for unpaid leave of absence from his duties so that he can provide the necessary clarifications arising from his manifestation.
The official’s administrative position shall be suspended at the expense of his remuneration and shall remain suspended throughout his period of leave.
Source: Notícia Preta
HOW COULD HE CATAGORICALLY LEBLE PEOPLE AS THAT? HE MUST BE MORON.
Why don’t criminal organizations decapitate the heads of racists like these instead of cutting each other’s heads. People like him need to get a message. We are dying as a race in this country anyway. Why not at least take some of them with us?