Note from BW of Brazil: The roots and backdrop of today’s story can be found in previous posts where I discussed a man, who for all intents and purposes looks white, attempted to get into a diplomat program through affirmative action policies meant for black people, another story that discussed people who will claim blackness when it is convenient and advantageous, and also my coverage of the various cases of fraud being exposed in the quotas system with white Brazilians boldly taking places in universities by lying about their racial identity. The story below could have huge consequences on the system of affirmative action because, if the ruling were to spread to other institutions of higher learning, we could see an onslaught of “white” Brazilians who don’t look as if they have African ancestry claiming positions meant for those who are visibly black. Because, as we know, in Brazil, due to the process of embranquecimento, or whitening, it is quite common to see people with fair skin, light-colored eyes and nearly straight hair who are descendants of a visibly black person of only two previous generations.
Discussion about racial quotas ends with 13 racial quota commission members quitting at UFRGS
Thirteen of the 17 members of UFRGS collegiate, created to investigate cheaters in racial quotas, ask to leave after rectory decides to qualify for a vacancy any person who declares to have black grandparents
By Anna Russi
Members of the evaluation commission of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), created to end the fraud in the racial quotas system, quit, one-to-one, yesterday. Of the 17 members of the board, 13 asked to leave. The reason was an order from the president of the institution, Rui Vicente Oppermann, dismissing the decisions and agreements of the group, debated for nine months in 2017, and determining that anyone who claims to have black grandparents is fit for placement.
On the eve of the beginning of the hetero-identification of the candidates classified in the first semester of the vestibular (college entrance examination) of 2018, the commission was negatively surprised by Ordinance no. 800 of 1/29/2018, of UFRGS, a fruit of negotiation between the university and the Regional Office of the Citizen’s Rights. The method and procedure had been agreed upon and constructed jointly in 2017.
Gleidson Renato Martins Dias, coordinator of the national forum of hetero-identification (see note below) commissions, defined the events as treason and irresponsibility by the rectory of UFRGS. “They’re tearing apart everything we’ve built. They don’t see the repercussions they can have. Some institutions have failed to respect black people as constructors of concepts that can guide a turnaround in society,” he commented.
In his view, anyone who claims to have black grandparents does not necessarily fit the racial profile for racial quotas. “If someone says they have black grandparents, it’s probably because their father and mother are not. So, it could be fitting for a person who is phenotypically white,” he said. According to the coordinator, the measure indicates a political position. “Now, let’s discuss this judicially,” he said.
The evaluation of the resources will be made by two committees: the appeal and the permanent of initial verification. However, according to Article 3 of Order No. 800, the final decision will be from the dean’s office.
In 2017, the movimento negro (black movement) denounced at UFRGS a list of 400 names of students who were supposed to have used the mechanism of “self-declaration” and the concept of “pardo” (brown) to defraud Affirmative Actions. Before that, another 15 cases were in progress in the university, without unfolding.
Regarding the denunciations, UFRGS reported in a note that, out of 400 names, duplicates were removed, persons who had not registered and students who did not occupy racial quotas. The assessment involved 334 students, who were called to appear before the committee. Of these, 274 were present – 35 had their declaration deferred, and 239, rejected. The position of the university is that the permanent committee, responsible for self-declaration assessments as of this year, follows Normative Guideline No. 03 of the Ministry of Planning.
To avoid bad faith
Note: Hetero-identification is the process in which the examining board of the competition or the entrance examination verifies the candidate’s self-declaration and if it fits the criterion of racial quotas.
Source: Correio Braziliense
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