White Brazilian women joke that two black Brazilian women at Harvard’s ‘Brazil Conference’ have lice in their braids

White Brazilian women joke that two black Brazilian women at Harvard’s ‘Brazil Conference’ have lice in their braids

Note from BBT:

1. Image of cabelo crespo (kinky-curly hair)
2. Ratinho case
3. Brazilians in the United States

Brazilian women report racism during Harvard conference

According to the complaint, a trio of white students said that the braids of two black speakers had “lice” in them

Two black Brazilian women said that they had experienced racism during the Brazil Conference program at Harvard University in the United States on Sunday, April 7th. According to comments made by the women, three Brazilian women students at the famed unversity laughed and joked, speaking in English, that the two girls that wore braids had lice in their hair.

“What they didn’t expect was that I speak English. I immediately looked at them so that they understood that I had understood the racism that was happening there. They left after I looked at them,” remembered Naira Santa Rita, one of the speakers, standing with her colleague, Marta Melo.

According to Naira, the situation went down on the previous day, Saturday, April 6th, 2024, at a lecture held during the Harvard conference. Detailing what happened, Naira said that she considered reacting at the moment that she perceived the racist joke, but held back when she thought about the fact that she had a lot more on the line than the three white students she called out.

“In other situations, I would have confronted them, because embarrassment, especially in situations of racism, is pedagogical, but in the face of such violence in a space like the Brazil Conference, which considers itself inclusive, diverse, I had to calculate. Because Marta and I, black women, have much more to lose than three white girls from Harvard. If we had confronted them, we would have been seen as angry, scandalous and even playing the victim black women,” she said.

Naira and Marta presented the case at the end of a panel on social impact that mediated by popular Brazilian actress and presenter Regina Casé. Speaking on their experience, they demanded more representation in the organization of the Brazil Conference and requested effective measures to address racism at the event.

“As long as we have speeches full of empty practices, not only Brazil, our beloved country, but also the Brazil Conference and its structures will continue to reflect and perpetuate the maintenance of racist, exclusionary structures that in no way represent the Brazil we want,” said Naira.

On social media, the Brazil Conference organization expressed regret at what happened and affirmed that it repudiated any act of racial discrimination. The organ also said that it would take the necessary measures to address the situation.

In a new publication, it said that the team responsible for the conference’s social impact table had met after the two Brazilian women’s report in order to “find the appropriate course of action”.

The Brazil Conference is an event organized by the Brazilian student community in the Boston area since 2015. The event takes place every year, always in the month April.

According to the event’s website, the initiative seeks to bring together a knowledge hub to discuss the “challenges and possible paths” for the country. Participants in the last edition included Brazilian government authorities from political parties such as the Psol (Socialism and Liberty Party) and the MDB (Brazilian Democratic Movement) as well as Brazilian researchers and artists.