Note from BW of Brazil: So here we go again! The article below actually surfaced about a month ago but is very pertinent to a discussion that’s been ongoing for a number of years but especially since Brazil began to implement a system of quotas to increase access of non-whites to Brazilian federal universities. Those opposing the possibility of using race-based quotas have always argued that this proposal can’t work in Brazil because 1) It discriminates against poor whites, 2) It undermines the idea of merit and 3) Because it’s not possible to know who’s black in Brazil.
Activists in support of affirmative action have always maintained that Brazil’s preto (black) and pardo (mixed/brown) groups have always constituted its black population and that the two groups are nearly identical in quality of life indicators in comparison to the population that defines itself as branco (white). They have also argued that the Military Police, who assassinate far more pretos and pardos than brancos, know exactly how is black, a situation that also applies to the mainstream media where most faces are white. It has also been shown that pretos and pardos who enter universities through the quota system perform as well or better than non-quota students.
But the argument that quotas are not fair has raged on. And as such, we are seeing a trend that could have actually been predicted when the affirmative action policies began more than a decade ago. Many years ago, we saw the Teixeira twins being used as an example for why quotas wouldn’t work when one was accepted as black and the other rejected. Then more recently, we saw a man with white skin and light-colored eyes define himself as afrodescendente (African descendant) to gain access to a career in foreign diplomacy. And then we have today’s case that will re-introduce a phenomenon that recently caused controversy at another university that we will discuss in a future article. As you read the story, also keep in mind a recent court decision that “a candidate must look black in order to qualify for racial quotas”.
Doctor declares himself black and passes into 1st place in selection process
Courtesy of O Dia
A professional has been working for six months in the Centro de Medula Óssea do Instituto Nacional do Câncer (Inca or Bone Marrow Center of the National Cancer Institute). The Conselho Regional de Medicina do Rio de Janeiro (Regional Council of Medicine of Rio de Janeiro) will investigate the case
A cardiologist from the Federal Fluminense University, with specialization courses at Harvard and at the Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV or Getúlio Vargas Foundation), Bruno Feijó Ouriques will be investigated by the Regional Council of Medicine of Rio de Janeiro. The CREMERJ will determine whether there were irregularities in the doctor’s approval in first place through quotas for blacks in concurso público (selective process) (1) for intensive care of the Bone Marrow Center of the National Cancer Institute (INCA) in Rio. He has worked in Inca since August 2015.
Doctor declares himself black and passes in 1st place in Inca competition
Diário Oficial shows the classification in the quota reserved for blacks. His skin tone is light. In a statement, the Regional Council of Medicine of the State (CREMERJ) is examining the possibility of irregularity. “The Council believes that there should be greater scrutiny both at the time of the selection process and the appointment of the successful candidate,” the statement said.
The doctor Bruno Ouriques claims that he doesn’t consider himself white. “This is your assessment (the reporter). My ethnicity is extremely subjective. The law is very clear about that. It’s not how you see me, but how I see myself,” he repeated, over the phone. Bruno didn’t respond when asked if he had any black ancestry in his family (2).
Ideological falsehood
For the lawyer Luiz Paulo Viveiros de Castro, an expert in Administrative Law, although the law says that the candidate defines his own race, there is a principle of reasonability. “A person can self-declare whatever. But it is a public document, so it can be considered ideological falsity if it is to obtain an advantage. It is a question of common sense, because otherwise all Brazilians could be considered black. It could have criminal consequences,” he said.
According to the Ministry of Health, in the hypothesis of verification of false declaration, “the candidate will be eliminated, and if he had been named, he will be subject to the cancellation of admission to the service or public employment after administrative procedure in which they are guaranteed defense.”
The President of the Conselho Estadual dos Direitos dos Negros (Cedine or State Council of the Rights of Blacks), Luiz Eduardo Negrogun said he repudiated the fact. “It has nothing to do with ethnic origin. It is simply opportunistic attitude. After so many years of disrespect to with the Afro-descendant community, when there is minimal reparation we still have to put up with this. The mechanism needs to be improved so that it is not permitted,” Negrogun avaluated.
Question and Answer
When does the candidate make a statement of that he/she is black?
The candidate makes a self-declaration at the time of registration. The person must be declared preta (black) or parda (brown), according to the question of color and race of the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics).
Does the law apply to all selective processes?
The law applies only to competitions linked to the federal public administration. They are excluded in municipalities and states.
How long has this law been enforced after its enactment?
The law has been in force since June 10, 2014. It applies to competitions whose edicts have been published after that date. It is valid for ten years.
When an irregularity is found, how is the applicant punished?
If the nomination for the position has already happened, there will be an administrative procedure and their admission can be canceled.
How is racial classification justified by the race/color question of the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics)?
According to IBGE, the classification reflects “the very history of Brazilian relations in the last two centuries.”
Source: Último Segundo, Tudo Sobre Concursos
Note
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A concurso público is a selection process which aims to evaluate competing candidates to an effective position of a government entity of a nation. Although the process usually being prepared by specialized companies, the responsibility for evaluation of services falls to the legally designated Human Resources. Usually competitions are required to assess the competence of candidates for the position for which they are competing and also to prevent politicians occupying elective positions using their influence to provide government jobs to relatives and acquaintances, thereby disrespecting the principles of equality and equality.
- To be fair about this issue, for people who view whiteness from a North American perspective, Ouriques could be classified as “non-white” because, judging from the above photo, he doesn’t look as his racial heritage would be purely European. On the other hand, in Brazil, he could very well classify himself as branco. But it’s important to consider, 1) that he didn’t respond to the question of having any black people in his family and, 2) he could be a person who has always identified himself as white but decided to “pass” as black to fraudulently take advantage of the quota system.
Any quotas created for black people will be poached by others, because, that’s what others do. We suffer and take the brunt of harsh treatment. Instead of non-blacks championing their own plight, they piggyback off of the black struggle. In the US, Affirmative-Action was implemented to help African-Americans. However, whitewomen and so-called hispanics are the primary beneficiaries of said policies. Obviously, this white dude has no shame. Karma will punish him in time…Rest Assured!
It does look he has some (and probably not that distant) black ancestry, just look at his hair. But that is of course not enough, this is complete bullshit. The quota system should be for those who are considered black in *Brazil*, and he is very clearly considered white there.
“It does look he has some (and probably not that distant) black ancestry, just look at his hair”
He would not be mistaken for African American in the U.S.
I disagree. People would probably consider him latino or italian-american by his looks. However, if he self-identified himself as African-American, I don’t think anyone would question it in the US because for years there were white looking people who were considered “black” due to the “one-drop” rule. Look at Mariah Carey, for one.
This is bound to happen in places like Brazil, whereat least 50% of the population lies, cheats, steals, on a daily basis – particularly white Brazilians who are actually in a position to lie, cheat, and steal daily and get away with it! All of the people I read about in Lava Jato scandal are white. And I recently read an article about how about 1.700 government workers – all white – are milking the system for about R$ 10 BILLION per year, in the form of legal loopholes that allow them to have “supersalarios” or ridiculously high salaries!
It is not at all surprising that yet another white Brazilian is lying, cheating, and stealing his way to the top! Though you have white criminals ruining the country with impunity, the quota system should souldier on because of the millions of true Blacks who can benefit from it. Brazil will always have problems with white people being corrupt little devils because its all they know how to do, since they typically don’t have any real talent! Hopefully, in the next 10-15 years, we will see more Black Brazilians like Joaquim Barbosa – people who had to actually work to get where they are – assume more positions of power and apply those skills to “the system”.
“To be fair about this issue, for people who view whiteness from a North American perspective, Ouriques could be classified as “non-white” because, judging from the above photo, he doesn’t look as his racial heritage would be purely European.”
The U.S census lumps most Middle Easterners, North Africans, Central Americans, and South Americans into the “White” category even though most of them do not look purely European. And Ouriques looks closer to these people in phenotype than he does to African Americans. This guy does not even look as Black as Obama and Obama is half White.
“To be fair about this issue, for people who view whiteness from a North American perspective, Ouriques could be classified as “non-white” because, judging from the above photo, he doesn’t look as his racial heritage would be purely European.”
I have seen some Italians who are darker than Ouriques like Nicholas Turturro and Jim Croce for example.
Jefferson,
I agree with you and I was in no way implying he could pass as African American. Just that, the vast, vast majority of Brazilians, including the “whites” like this guy tend to have African ancestry too, and just looking at his hair I can tell you it is extremely likely he has African ancestry. I’ve seen guys like him “transform” into a black person just by letting the hair grow. What’s important though is that the quota system should be exclusive IMHO to those who cannot pass as whites or just pass as blacks when’s convenient. I have spoken about this a few times in this blog and that is why I think one of the “black women” appearing in the background of this blog (namely Camila Pitanga) is neither black nor could benefit from the quota system in Brazil (but maybe in the US). This Ouriques guy is just a pathetic shameless dude.
uughh, read the own logic of my ugly text and made me want to puke.. I meant of course “quotas should NOT be available to those who just want to pass as black when’s convenient…”
I don’t know this man, but neither do any of us. Maybe he did just lie, but maybe he didn’t. Perhaps one of his parents is “black” and he has felt like he was not white during his life. The problem is that race is very subjective in Brazil. I’ve met plenty of Brazilians who I was surprised to hear that they considered themselves white when to me they didn’t look it. That doesn’t mean that they don’t have an easier life than a dark skinned person, for sure they probably do, especially if they have money. The government says that the person applying for affirmative action must LOOK black. But what does that mean? Even within this post some people have said they can see the African descent, and others said they couldn’t. If they go down that road then it’s going to end up being like S. Africa and its old apartheid system in which they would use all kinds of tests on people’s skin and hair to determine who was white, colored or black. Maybe they need to make applicants write an essay on how they’ve faced discrimination in Brazil and how they could benefit from the affirmative action. I’m only HALF kidding. It would take a lot I think for someone who has been white all their life to make that up and have it be believable. (Although I guess some people might hire someone to write it for them, and then change some of the details…)
@celestedolores – Brazil ALREADY has an system of apartheid in place, similar to the one in South Africa and it has segregation similar to the kind you would see in the USA. The only difference is that none of the segregation/ apartheid is written as a law. This makes the monster particularly difficult to fight in Brazil because it’s easy for people to throw up their hands and say ” who knows…?” when it is convenient for them to. For “woke” Brazilians, this segregation, discrimination, and social apartheid are crystal clear. For those who are not yet woke..well…they sound kinda like you. I would recommend that you read the following article from this blog if you need understand where and how these things are happening in Brazil:
https://blackwomenofbrazil.co/2016/03/04/when-i-discovered-that-im-black-ill-tell-my-story-because-i-also-have-one/
Obrigada pelo artigo. Vou ler nos próximos dias. Bom, acho que precisa se saber um pouco mais sobre alguém (e não somente comentários neste blog) antes de julgar se a pessoa é consciente ou não.
Nah, I’m pretty judgemental – I have always been and probably always will be because it is my nature. If you do not wish to be mistaken for someone who is not conscious, then do not write as though you are not conscious of anything or as though you do not have fully formed opinions on any subject that is written about. Get off the fence Felicia (unless, of course, you don’t want to…)
If you are sensitive to having your words criticized, then you should never ever ever comment on a blog anywhere EVER! If you CAN take being criticized (as most of us who comment on blogs have been criticized for our opinions), then just keep it moving…