Diversity: The Great Divide Between Protest Groups in Brazil

There's a big difference in the two camps protesting in Brazil, according to Kiratiana Freelon, a Rio de Janeiro-based multimedia journalist.

"When millions took to the streets of Brazil last weekend to demand the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff," Freelon wrote for Fusion, "most of them fit a similar profile: They were white, wealthy and conservative."

Rousseff, for her part, said during a press conference that what "is happening right now represents an assault against democracy. Therefore, I will never resign."

Rousseff's Worker's Party, started by her predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has been embroiled in a two-year corruption investigation, but many in Brazil agree with Rousseff, and say the allegations are an attempt at regime change.

Demonstrations in support of the goverment filled the Brazilian streets last Friday, and Freelon said these people "were black. They were white. They were gay. They were union members. They were leftists. They were artists. They were teachers. In short, they were much more diverse."

The policies of Rousseff and Lula are credited for lifting millions out of poverty and furthering equality along social and economic lines.

Felipe Santos Cabral, an 18-year-old college student told Freelon that he defends them "because as a black person, I need to protect my space in the universities and in the schools … the right thinks that the place of black people is in the favela, and in the slaves’ quarters.”

The current political upheaval in Brazil is viewed as a scandal of corruption and money-laundering by some, but for many who belong to the working class and minorities, it's an expression of the deep divide between the wealthy, predominantly white, upper-class Right, and the Black, Brown and white, artists, activists, and workers of the Left.

Brazil lived under a military dictatorship from 1964 through 1985. Rousseff was a member of the Marxist-Leninist Revolutionary Armed Vanguard Palmares, a group that actively fought against the right-wing military junta. She was tortured while serving a prison sentence for her revolutionary actions.

Although she has since moderated many of her positions, the president is still held by many to be a symbol of Brazil's progressive turn.

For the diverse protesters who came out in support of Rousseff, her ouster would be a grave blow to their inclusive democracy.