In this 50th anniversary of the military coup in Brazil, it is important to be reminded of the hideous role that the military regime had in promoting the ideology of racial democracy in the country. The leaders of the regime were well aware of how important was to continue stating that racial discrimination did not exist in Brazil and as result there was no need to develop any measures to promote racial equality. This said, I reproduce below a passage of the book Race in Another America, by sociologist Edward Telles, in which he quotes a book published by the Brazilian army in 1969, the book is titled Brazi 2000: A Future without Fantasy (Brasil Ano 2000: Um Futuro sem Fantasia): No, we have not become violent racial segregationists, but we cannot consciously pride ourselves on our racial democracy. How will we react when blacks overcome social and economic disadvantages that segregate them, and the university educated among them are no longer 448 out of 5,600,000 individuals ? Today, blacks do not cause trouble, but what will happen when they have enough economic power to buy titles to private clubs or to into the more expensive private schools or force their admission into important offices or positions, or live in first-class neighborhoods ? Will we be mature enough to accept them as brothers in everything or are we headed to racial conflict ? Interestingly enough the text is in dialogue with Jorge Bens song, Zumbi released some years later: I want to see what will happen. When Zumbi arrives.
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 09:32:54 +0000
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