Brazil has an extremely diverse population, with over half of its population being of African descent. The public universities however have historically accepted primarily the upper class white citizens that attended private secondary schools, and that encompass only 12% of the population. A law passed in 2012 required that 50% of spots in the public universities be reserved for students from public schools, low-income families, and those of African or indigenous descent.
This racial-quota mandate was signed into action to combat the “disparities in social status, salaries, and living conditions that suggest that poverty is intimately related to skin color in Brazil.” While a little over 50% of the population is black, most recent reports indicate 67% of the people living in Brazil’s favelas (shantytowns) are black. The mandate stems off the universally accepted belief that higher education is one of the leading ways to rise from poverty.
This racial-quota mandate was signed into action to combat the “disparities in social status, salaries, and living conditions that suggest that poverty is intimately related to skin color in Brazil.” While a little over 50% of the population is black, most recent reports indicate 67% of the people living in Brazil’s favelas (shantytowns) are black. The mandate stems off the universally accepted belief that higher education is one of the leading ways to rise from poverty.
Although the racial-quota provides opportunities for many who would never be able to afford a higher education or rise in social status, there is widespread controversy with this mandate. Critics state that the quota is "is bad for the future of Brazil, because the main objective of universities is research and to achieve quality." Brazil's economy and production has boomed in the last decade, aiding the country in rising to be the 5th most powerful country. Critics believe students who did not attend private schools are unprepared, and are setting themselves for failure and the potential failure of Brazil for not producing the greatest researchers and workers to its capacity.
After ten years of research with a quota implementation at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, a study by Ricardo Vieralves found that there are fewer dropouts among students admitted through quotas, and they are the ones who graduate the fastest. "Quota students have a new opportunity, and they grasp it and study like crazy...They have lower grades in the beginning but are level with the others by the middle of the course and sometimes excel non-quota students in the end." The ultimate goal is that by having a racial makeup in the universities that is representative of the country, Brazil will begin to combat the years of inequality directly attributed to the slavery system that was banned over 125 years ago, but has had a legacy that's "impacted generations of Brazilians of African descent."
While the quota is appears to be systematically progressive, implementation of the mandate itself has yet to fully take place, and has given rise to student protesting. The mandate gave the 59 public universities until 2016 for full implementation of the quota. Black students that have been accepted as part of the quota have received "alienating, subtly racist comments" against them on a daily basis. Blacks continue to have the lowest paying jobs, yet hear "Everyday that racism does not exist in Brazil," leaving black students feeling confused and divided.
In response to this division and continued racial stigmatization, Lorena Monique dos Santo, a student at the University of Brasília, started the "hey white guy, give me a break" campaign. Inspired by the "I, Too, Am Harvard" campaign in the United States that highlighted the experiences of Black students on Harvard's campus, Lorena started a tumblr and used the hashtag #ahbrancodaumtempo (hey white guy, give me a break), and encouraged other students to get involved.
While Lorena openly states that her experiences are very different from the experiences of blacks in the US because "racist systems are much more visible and there is an actual segregation between black and white communities [in the US]," she found the Harvard campaign and the recent student protests to be a positive example for trying to dismantle the confusion and still-prevalent existence of racism in Brazil from years of slavery. As translated from an interview, Lorena said:
"It is impossible to believe that the social and racial segregation that has been happening during 388 years of slavery, in addition to 115 years without any restorative policies, can be fixed with only 10 years of affirmative action. These quotas are an emergent, superficial measure, as they only cover the part of the population that manages to finish middle and high school, leaving out the most fragile parts of the black population."
For more information and sources:
#ahbrancodaumtempo Tumblr:
http://ahbrancodaumtempo.tumblr.com/
Original article in portuguese:
http://www.brasilpost.com.br/2015/04/04/racismo-unb_n_7003848.html
English translated version:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/10/brazil-racism-universities_n_7035450.html
http://www.brazilophiles.com/2015/04/12/20-examples-of-brazilian-racism-and-responses-to-it/
After ten years of research with a quota implementation at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, a study by Ricardo Vieralves found that there are fewer dropouts among students admitted through quotas, and they are the ones who graduate the fastest. "Quota students have a new opportunity, and they grasp it and study like crazy...They have lower grades in the beginning but are level with the others by the middle of the course and sometimes excel non-quota students in the end." The ultimate goal is that by having a racial makeup in the universities that is representative of the country, Brazil will begin to combat the years of inequality directly attributed to the slavery system that was banned over 125 years ago, but has had a legacy that's "impacted generations of Brazilians of African descent."
While the quota is appears to be systematically progressive, implementation of the mandate itself has yet to fully take place, and has given rise to student protesting. The mandate gave the 59 public universities until 2016 for full implementation of the quota. Black students that have been accepted as part of the quota have received "alienating, subtly racist comments" against them on a daily basis. Blacks continue to have the lowest paying jobs, yet hear "Everyday that racism does not exist in Brazil," leaving black students feeling confused and divided.
In response to this division and continued racial stigmatization, Lorena Monique dos Santo, a student at the University of Brasília, started the "hey white guy, give me a break" campaign. Inspired by the "I, Too, Am Harvard" campaign in the United States that highlighted the experiences of Black students on Harvard's campus, Lorena started a tumblr and used the hashtag #ahbrancodaumtempo (hey white guy, give me a break), and encouraged other students to get involved.
While Lorena openly states that her experiences are very different from the experiences of blacks in the US because "racist systems are much more visible and there is an actual segregation between black and white communities [in the US]," she found the Harvard campaign and the recent student protests to be a positive example for trying to dismantle the confusion and still-prevalent existence of racism in Brazil from years of slavery. As translated from an interview, Lorena said:
"It is impossible to believe that the social and racial segregation that has been happening during 388 years of slavery, in addition to 115 years without any restorative policies, can be fixed with only 10 years of affirmative action. These quotas are an emergent, superficial measure, as they only cover the part of the population that manages to finish middle and high school, leaving out the most fragile parts of the black population."
For more information and sources:
#ahbrancodaumtempo Tumblr:
http://ahbrancodaumtempo.tumblr.com/
Original article in portuguese:
http://www.brasilpost.com.br/2015/04/04/racismo-unb_n_7003848.html
English translated version:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/10/brazil-racism-universities_n_7035450.html
http://www.brazilophiles.com/2015/04/12/20-examples-of-brazilian-racism-and-responses-to-it/