Note from BW of Brazil: Alright so today’s piece is late. The subject, late night talk show host Danilo Gentili, has been discussed in previous posts. Not being a fan of his, or his show or much Brazilian television in general, this writer really only hears about things the guy says/does when others watch and report on it. I’ve seen enough of his act to conclude I won’t waste my time with his brand of “humor”. But even so, in order to understand how racism functions in Brazilian society, it’s necessary to analyze those in the media who have a certain influence on the ways that citizens think, behave, react or what they perceive as being “just a joke”.
The influence of Danilo Gentili in the case of racism against Maju Coutinho
By Paulo Nogueira
Do you know why fanatics have dared to publish insults in broad daylight against journalist Maju Coutinho? Because they saw what happened to (talk show host/comedian) Danilo Gentili – their hero – when, in an argument on a social network, he told a black man eat bananas.
Nothing. Nothing happened. The insulted man went to court and lost. In one of the most infamous sentences of the Republic, the judge found that there was no offense’s in Gentili attitude. The judge Marcelo Matias Pereira didn’t see injuriandi animus. Meaning: Gentili, according to Pereira sent the victim a smile, a hug in the form of bananas.
Good examples thrive, and evils ones even more.
Had Gentili received due punishment, the racists who attacked Maju would keep their hatred and fascism to themselves.
You have to punish manifestations of racism in an exemplary fashion. Not long ago, on Twitter, a web user posted racist comments about the agony of a futebol player who had a sudden cardiac arrest in the middle of the game. England instantly moved on the case, but Internet users began to make jokes with bananas and other things. The next morning, the police were at his house to arrest him. Quickly judged, he was sentenced to community service. Public opinion was revolted by the joker, and the media gave ample space to the story. No one did anything similar in social networks in Britain.
In Brazil, the Gentili case had the opposite outcome, and has inspired other sociopaths. Advanced societies use the name and shame technique in situations like this. You publish the offender’s name to embarrass him. Brazilian leniency is charging a high price. And there was no punishment.
As wisely noted the Brazilian university professor in which (President) Dilma (Rousseff) was attacked in the United States (1), manifestations of a fascist character cannot be tolerated, or the society frays apart. Fascism is in racism, homophobia and in things of the sort. The professor pointed out an interesting thing: it is not a problem only of the government but also of the opposition.
Democratic and civilized opposition is one thing. Fascist opposition – of whose agenda figures back to the military dictatorship – is something else. Fascism must be exemplary repressed by the government, and a decent opposition has to convict it.
But where are the energetic actions of the government? Where are words in favor of civilization from men like FHC (ex-president Fernando Henrique Cardoso)?
The opposition, starting with Aécio (Neves), is silent, criminally silent, because it thinks that the action of sociopaths somehow helps in trying to eliminate by dirty means 54 million votes. But it’s an absurd error. It’s not a party being insanely attacked. It’s decency. It is the idea of a civilized country.
In the same week we had pornographic adhesives, insults to Dilma in the US and racism against dumped against Maju Coutinho. They are things that are part of a society that fell ill.
The signs were already clear when a judge – reflecting the prevailing mentality in court – cleared Danilo Gentili of a racial crime. Gentili went unpunished, and today drags his miserable Ibope (TV ratings) to the TV station of Silvio Santos (SBT TV).
May the same thing not happen with the villains who brutalized Maju Coutinho – and not with those responsible for the adhesives and for the attack on Dilma in the United States.
Note
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President Dilma Rousseff was harassed by four protesters in front of Blair House, the residence of President Barack Obama visitors, which is opposite the White House. The four protesters – two women and two young men – carried placards and cassava. They shouted: “Go Back to Cuba! Out Dilma! Out Foro de São Paulo (2)! Out PT (Worker’s Party)!
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Foro de São Paulo is a conference of leftist political parties and other organizations from Latin America and the Caribbean. It was launched by the Workers’ Party (Portuguese: Partido dos Trabalhadores – PT) of Brazil in 1990 in the city of São Paulo. Source
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