While Black Women of Brazil has consistently reported the treatment of the Afro-Brazilian population in terms of representation, inequality and the racial aspect of homicides, the way Brazilian society perceives these inequalities are based on a few important factors: 1) the continued belief that “everyone is equal” in Brazil, a facet of the myth of “racial democracy” and 2) the way the mainstream media portrays inequality, hides the racial aspect of inequality or is completely silent on the racial aspect. Although evidence is abundant of how the vast majority of homicides in Brazil have race, gender and class, reports show that the society doesn’t perceive the racial element in the alarming rates of murder that has gripped the country for several years. For more, read the report below.
For coordinator of black youth group public policies don’t take into account the racial factor of society
by Livia Francez
Research by the organization Data Senado found that although data from the Ministry of Health attest that young blacks are the main victims of violence in the country, the Brazilian population tends to think that violence affects young blacks and whites in the same proportion. The survey was conducted between October 1st and 11th this year, with 1,234 persons from 123 municipalities of the country.
The survey was released on Wednesday (7), during a ceremony held in the Senate, in which the House joined the campaign “Racial Equality pra Valer (Racial Equality is worth it)”, of the Secretaria de Políticas de Promoção da Igualdade Racial (Seppir or Secretariat for Policies to Promote Racial Equality).
Most survey respondents (62.3%) responded that violence between young blacks and whites occurs at the same rate, while 31.4% responded that violence occurs more strongly among young blacks than whites. The official statistics reveal a reality that does not resemble the search result. According to the Ministry of Health, 53% of homicides victimize young people, of whom 75% are black with low levels of education. The majority are male.
The coordinator of the Fórum Estadual da Juventude Negra (State Forum of Black Youth or Fejunes), Luiz Inácio Silva da Rocha, announced that preliminary data from a survey that is being produced by the Agência de Notícias dos Direitos da Infância (Andi or the News Agency for Children’s Rights) shows that one of the major challenges for changing this mentality is in the media’s current approach about the extermination of black youth.
He says the news does not make the connection between the violent death of black youth and what causes these deaths. The lack of recognition ends up instilling in society the idea that the lives of these young people are less valuable, that are historically second-class citizens.
Luiz Inácio also warns that implemented public policies do not take into account the racial factor. He laments the idea that violence against young blacks remains justified by the perpetuation of the image that this portion of the population represents criminality.
Headline from Terra website: “Violent death of young black shocks less, points out research”
The Data Senado research confirms the idea of the Fejunes coordinator. To avoid that the responses to generic questions distort a perception more detected than respondents think about the issue of violence, the interviewers from the Senate had specific questions. One of them was “is homicide the leading cause of death among young blacks,” and on this question, 56.6% of respondents replied affirmatively.
Faced with the question “is the violent death of a young black less shocking than the violent death of a young white man,” 55.8% of respondents agreed with the statement. Moreover, to 55.1% it’s correct to say that “the main cause of homicides of young black men is racism.”
Source: Seculo Diário
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great balance between this article and the conversation with Helena Oliveira SilvaI wonder what are the thoughts in Brazil about all the people who want their states to cede from the USA?If any answer, please leave a comment on my wordpress.