Quotas for Afro-descendants: the recovered person who wants to forget

There are approximately 500 years we forged a society in Brazil, at least in modern terms. The Brazilian State is a more recent phenomenon, although it is also in constant formation.. This is important to note because it reminds us that what we have today is the result of yesterday's effort and, about everything, we will have tomorrow what we build today.

in view of this, let us now turn to the center of this article: the issue of quotas for afro-descendants.

Unfortunately, access to Brazilian universities is not as wide as we would like. Only a small portion of the population manages to enroll in a university course, and even less to finish it. worried about it, several Brazilians have identified the cornerstone of the problem in the skin color and want to act on it. There is no doubt that we should all be ashamed of Brazil's belated abolition, but this should only occur in a diffuse way in the social body. This means that we must be willing to correct a situation., but always in a diffuse way so that we do not create equally distorting concrete social conditions. let us never forget that 20% of places reserved for Afro-descendants also mean 20% less than vacancies for non-African descendants (and that certainly helped to build this country just like all the others).

Strange to ask for justice blind to differences or a secret vote while asking for special conditions before society and the State. Black movements should be encouraged and applauded as they allow for greater development of civil society, the organization and forwarding of demands. still, should be better observed when seeking to create a social divide.. Creating a sub-identity of your own is commendable, to separate from the whole is dangerous (USA and Europe have already given us examples of this). We must regain ascendancy in order to seek specific contributions to the Brazilian broth.

having this mind me, there are some suggestions for the defenders of quotas and for the parliamentarians and rectors who are currently dealing with this issue.:

If the quota is for Afro-descendants and is a way for us to redeem all their contribution to Brazilian society (recognition), let's do the complete job: let us rescue afro-descendant cultures. For this, it is not enough for the candidate to claim to be afro-descendant, he will have to recover (I imagine just revealing what you already know, after all, they already have the identity) your culture. A test with knowledge of the African region from which they come must be taken., simple and important things like geography, history and current events. To these candidates, the possibility to do, as a foreign language test, a proof of the main dialect or language spoken in the region of your ancestors.

The purpose of these actions is to encourage a broad acceptance of the candidate and his culture in Brazilian society, so let's not stop at statistical formalities!

University is not a place to do social justice. It is the place where important cadres are formed, essential to a country that wants to be worthy of its population. To subordinate this condition to quixotic dreams is to get it wrong twice: one deceiving afro-descendants, promising a social inclusion that cannot be guaranteed by the university; another encouraging the formation of identities in favor of groups and not society.

How many deans sought budget cuts in order to allow for the expansion of vacancies (that are specific to Afro-descendants)? How many parliamentarians asked for and effectively fought to improve the quality of public education, increasing the chances of these students entering university courses? How many race movement leaders have asked for scholarships for Afro-descendants, allowing them to search for qualification?

I would also like to leave one more suggestion: if it really is believed that differentiating criteria on ethnic or racial bases are adequate or even sufficient to recover a cursed heritage that we have, let's not forget the Paraguayans. If today your country faces major development and welfare problems, to a large extent this is due to the murder of most of its male population during the Paraguayan War.…

As long as we insist on looking at the consequences and not the causes, we will continue to live in the social mediocrity we are in today.

Moral of the hist & oacute; ria: To seek justifications for the present in the past is to hide under a time that did not exist.

Daily: For those who defend true democracy in Brazil, everything that preaches separation and differentiation is a crime.

Council Liter & aacute; rio: With the daughter in the pain of giving birth, laziness went out in search of the midwife. Seven years later he was still on the road, when he stubbed out. screamed very angry:

– It's what the hell happened…

After all, when did you get home with the midwife, found her daughter's grandchildren playing in the yard. (Popular Tales and Fables from Bahia – Basil of Magellan)

magazine Author (www.revistaautor.com.br)

Pol & iacute; tica

Yes V – nº 43 / January 2005