For those of you who are only familiar with the history of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade bringing Africans to what would become the United States in the 17th century, a brief history lesson. The US only received 4% of the estimated 12 million slaves shipped to the New World. The other 96% were sent to Latin America and the Caribbean. Of all Africans, Brazil received around 40% sent to the Americas, almost 10 times more than the US. Slavery started in Brazil nearly 100 years before it began in the US and lasted 25 more years after it was abolished in the US. According to various scholarly reports, slavery in Brazil was more brutal than its US version with slaves suffering all sorts of heinous acts of torture and cruelty.
It is against this backdrop that one must refer to when reading the following story….
When Crato went back to being a slave house
posted by the Casca de Banana blog
On February 6, 2013, at 3pm in the afternoon on, Bárbara de Alencar street, in downtown Crato (state of Ceará), Francisco do Nascimento was tied to a pole and remained so for two hours. The reason: in an outburst, he broke some store windows.
Francisco do Nascimento, a resident of the city’s São Miguel neighborhood has a history of other outbursts, such as setting his neighbor’s car on fire. He also has several entries in the Hospital Psiquiátrico Santa Tereza (Santa Tereza Psychiatric Hospital). According to his niece, the family did not know what else to do with Francisco do Nascimento: there were no vacancies at the hospital and he was becoming increasingly violent.
The town of Crato is located in the northeastern state of Ceará (in red)
During the two hours that was tied up, some people tried to free him, an act in which the two men who arrested him violently intervened. At most, the dazed crowd stupidly admired the spectacle of the man shouting, screaming and asking for help. Several authorities were in on location, like the soldiers of Ronda (1), that fearlessly watched, leaving Francisco as he was with the claim that they wouldn’t transport a crazy man.
But there is another history that bore down on Francisco do Nascimento: being born black and poor. And worse: needing psychiatric care. Thus, being black, poor and crazy, Francisco do Nascimento could be tied up, exposed to public ridicule and stripped of his human dignity, just like his ancestors.
For my part, I just could not believe that after so many centuries, I could still witness a black man being sacrificed in a public square.
Notes
1. Ronda do Quarteirão (often shortened as “Ronda”) is a public safety program implemented in the state of Ceará in 2007 in five pilot areas, and then expanded. Source: Wiki
Source: Casca de Banana
Hi BlackwomenofBrazil, just yesterday I had a meeting with a staff member of SecultBA (Secretaria de Cultura do Estado da Bahia) in Pelourinho and was told the meaning of Pelourinho- the the pole that African slaves were tied to for punishment. When she said during slavery times, never would I have thought such a thing could happen in modern day!I wish I could re-blog this post on my blog! This is no way to treat anyone! He needs psychiatric care and that what he should be given!
I don't know if one part was more brutal than the other, but i do know that father YAH said that Israyl would be scattered to the FOUR corners of the earth, HalleluYAH for sharing this story with us…
I cannot believe in 2013 this is going on. Brazil needs to Fight these demons .
May God have mercy on Brazil for this because everyone deserves to be treated like a human being. Those who tried to intervene God bless you. I pray for the family because any family with mentally ill members know the sadness and know the horror of trying to cope, they did what they could to keep him alive and out of harms way. The government has failed. I don't know if bringing up slavery is to bank on the imagery or what, this is purely about mental health and lack of proper care.
Those statistics actually make a lot of sense to me. Otherwise how would he have so many Afro-descendants in the Caribbean as well as other places? If you think about it, the journey to North America at the time would have been much more daunting because it was so far away from the mother land.Also, the blog is not saying that there weren't any issues after slavery was abolished in North America. They are just highlighting the difference in time that it took the US vs. Brazil to abolish slavery which might explain why Brazil seems to be lagging behind the US in terms of race relations. Keep sharing the knowledge Gatas Negras!