Note from BW of Brazil: You know, as I watched this story on the sensationalist ‘news’ program Brasil Urgente on the Band TV network last Friday, several things popped into my head. First, I wondered, is this even real or is it staged? This is not to say that racial supremacists groups don’t exist, and coincidentally (or not?) I had just posted a recent story about a Financial Times piece that declared that the existence of neo-Nazi groups in Brazil challenged the country’s myth of ‘racial democracy’. As I’ve already written, even if such groups didn’t exist in Brazil, the idea of a ‘racial democracy’ has been been thoroughly debunked for at least 60 years now. Moving on…
Looking at the news story, I thought of a couple of things. One, nowadays it’s pretty common that stories are passed off as legitimate ‘news’ that turn out to be staged events or complete lies. Two, I always find it interesting in dealing with the Jewish issue why no one bothers to ask why some people don’t like Jews. The stories that pop up from time to time that talk about anti-Semitic attacks always focus on what the protagonist of the hate crime/speech did or said but never analyze where such sentiments come from. As usual, we see the typical Hitler and swastika images, but why didn’t anyone ask the instigators why they didn’t like Jews? If you researched the topic you’d find some intriguing results….
There have been a number of past posts in which I personally would have liked to have asked the person caught insulting or attacking another group why they felt the way they did. Like the guy in Rio who killed 40 people and said he had an addiction to killing white women. Why white women? Or the group of assailants that robbed only white passengers on a bus in Belo Horizonte. Or how about the white woman caught assaulting a black psychologist on Avenida Paulista because “All blacks will be condemned for the voodoo they do”. Why does this woman condemn black people for certain religious beliefs/practices? I mean, as she’s citing the Bible, does she know that the Bible and Christianity is FULL of paganism? Probably not…
The third thing that caught my attention (and I didn’t notice this until I saw the Buzzfeed article on the incident) was the fact that at least a few of the guys preaching white supremacy weren’t even white. Again, we’ve seen this before, but if this story is in fact legit, it just goes to show how Brazil’s sophisticated form of racism is capable of indoctrinating the very would be victims of white supremacy into promoting the very ideology that oppresses them (even if they don’t realize it)! It’s always so funny to me to hear so many people express the idea that Brazilians ‘can’t be racist because we’re all mixed’. Such people are clearly not willing to analyze the depths of racial confusion of a country that produces brown-skinned white supremacists.
They are pardos (mixed race), but preach white supremacy, says police chief
Police questioned suspects of criminal association in a case involving threats against Jews. One has the nickname “Caramel”.
By Tatiana Farah
The Civil Police questioned on Friday (13) three suspects of racism and criminal association involved in threats against members of the Jewish community in São Paulo. The group spread anti-Semitic posters on Augusta Street and spread hate speech on the internet.
The men are suspected of being neo-Nazis linked to a skinhead group called Kombat RAC. RAC is the abbreviation for “rock against communism” (rock contra comunismo in Portuguese).
The group posted offensive posters to Jews and even released a video last week in which it provokes a rabbi with offensive words and shouts of “fora, judeus” (get out, Jews).
With search warrants and seizures, police seized knives, soco inglês (brass knuckles), posters and T-shirts at the suspects’ homes, which were taken to Decradi (Precinct of Repression of Racial Crimes and Offenses in Rio de Janeiro). There was also propaganda material of apology to the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler (1889-1945).
Police had requested the temporary arrest of the suspects, which was denied by the courts. With this, they were released after giving testimony.
The suspects are Wesley André Muniz da Silva, 24, Altieres Paulo Cassemiro, 24, and a 15-year-old teenager who arrived at the police accompanied by his mother.
Another member of the group, Guilherme Jacullo Evangelista, 26, was not located. His father was at the police station and testified.
The suspects already have police records. The same men and the adolescent had been detained in the early morning of January 4, in the Anhangabaú subway. They carried material of racial prejudice and knives and participated in a fight against punks. After giving testimony, they were released on the occasion.
Guilherme, known as Caramelo (Caramel), and Wesley have records going back to 2011 for engaging in episodes of racism and violence, including assault on women (Wesley’s case).
According to the precinct chief, Kelly Cristina de Andrade, the detained suspects preach supremacia racial branca (white racial supremacy), although they have cor da pele parda (brown skin color/mixed ancestry).
“We can’t say that here in Brazil people who preach certain [racist] ideologies have a certain [racial] profile, well-defined as outside of the country. Here we have already come to see in this specialized police station blacks who preach white supremacy.”
They were recognized as being responsible for offending the Jews after a video they made went viral on the WhatsApp phone app earlier this month.
The precinct chief said that in their testimonies they confirm that they are members of the Neo-Nazi skinheads group, because pro-Hitler material was found in their homes and all four can be identified in the video.
“They can’t deny it (they are part of a neo-Nazi group). Everyone confirmed it,” said the chief.
The Federação Israelita e a Confederação Israelita do Brasil (Israeli Federation and the Israeli Confederation of Brazil) denounced the case to the Civil Police and the Federal Police, delivering images of the posters and copies of videos to the authorities. The investigations began in late November.
A target of threats and offenses, the rabino (Rabbi) Moré Ventura of Sinagoga Sem Fronteiras defended that the suspects be arrested. “It is not possible for these individuals to remain on the streets, after all the allegations of violence. The fact that they recorded a video showing their face shows that they fully trust in impunity,” the rabbi told BuzzFeed Brasil.
Source: BuzzFeed Brasil
In many parts of latin america and the caribbean, many “light brown” skinned people consider themselves to be “white”. A simple look at how they treat their darker skinned counterparts is only one of the indicators that would validate that. The racial disparities that exist in many of these societies is also clear evidence of this. The fact that it spills over into “white” supremacy may be shocking to some but is just another extension of what has been happening on a daily basis in these societies. Just take a look at “Treatment of “darker skinned” people in Any part of South America, and Mexico” ” Treatment of Haitians by people in the Dominican Republic” Its all over and not in any way hidden. The Real Irony of this article is that the “white supremacists are actually black” and they may not know it!!!
I am saying again that when you are not American you have a difficult time understanding that in the Caribbean in particular mulattoes (to use that offensive term) are not blacks. Even as a kid I heard of light-skinned prominent mulattoes from Guyana being refused hotel accommodation in the US, much to their embarrassment and the glee of black people. When someone in the US once referred to me and another Caribbean student as black I turned around to look at his reaction. I once traveled with a group of Latino students in a taxi and the next day the lady from the Dominican Republic greeted everyone but me. I got the message loud and clear. So the article doesn’t surprise me. That is why in Brazil it is just possible that Bolsonaro can win in the next elections. The mulatto escape hatch described by Degler is a reality outside the US. Right on, Septimo.