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  • Taís Araújo‬'s profile picture on her Twitter account.

    Taís Araújo‬'s profile picture on her Twitter account. | Photo: Twitter, @taisdeverdade

Published 18 November 2015
Opinion
Brazilians started online social media campaigns to counter racism targeting a popular television star but is this enough? Afro-Brazilian activists say no.

Most Brazilians take pride in living in a "racial democracy." According to them Brazil is supposedly a country that evaded racism through the amicable blending of its native, African and European inhabitants. But an event earlier this month is once again challenging this myth, when popular Black Brazilian actress Taís Araujo gained media coverage because of a series of racist comments made on her Facebook page.

Twitter user @LeonaDivaa shares screenshots of the racist commentary on Tais’ fanpage. Dozens of social media users compared the actress to a “monkey” and a zoo animal, while making sexually derogatory comments and taunting her for her skin color and natural hair.

Tais left the highly offensive comments on her Facebook account, deciding to publicize and take legal actions against the racist insults rather than erase them. In Brazil, for the last 20 years racism has been a non-bailable offense, however most offenders rarely face punishment.

Brazilians, in response, seemed to be taken aback by the rampant and open attacks against the actress, who has been called “Brazil’s Beyonce.” What followed evidently was an outpouring of solidarity on social media, using the hashtag #SomosTodosTais (or #WeAreAllTais) Brazilians started an online campaign, which was widely reported in the Brazilian and international press.

“I still can't handle the fact that racism is still alive in such a mixed country such as ours. #SomosTodosTaís”

 

“I’m disgusted living in the same planet as these people #SomosTodosTaisAraujo”

The campaign for Tais followed other similar social media campaigns earlier this year, including #WeAreAllMaju in support of Maju Coutinho, Brazil’s first Black weather woman on prime time news, and #WeAreAllAranha, created in solidarity with soccer player known as Aranha, after they both were the victims of public displays of racist insults.

But while, hashtags like (#WeAreAllAFamousWrongedBlackPerson) have become popular recently, many Black activists in Brazil have voiced their discontent with these campaigns.

Most Afro-Brazilian social activists were thrilled Taís decided to publicize every step of her legal process - images of her leaving a precinct after making a testimony made headlines and stirred emotions - but activists are also at odds with how most (white) Brazilians only address racism when a celebrity is involved.

Famous Afro-Brazilian activist and blogger, Stephanie Ribeiro, went as far as writing an article entitled: "Please Stop Individualizing Racism."

"I'm not saying that Taís doesn’t need support,” said Ribeiro. “I'm saying that racism is a structural issue of a society who refuses to confront it openly and prefers to isolate individually."

So when a popular television starlet such as Taís is publicly discriminated against, social activists end up dealing with a bittersweet opportunity. On the one hand, people start talking about the issue of racism but as soon as they post their “I'm-not-a-racist” status, they almost immediately go back to believing that this is nothing but a (long-running) series of isolated cases.

 

Thanks to decades of effectively denying its existence most Brazilians are completely oblivious to what racism actually means, leading them to perpetuate it even while they think they are defending Tais.

 

“So many ugly black chicks for you guys to be racist against and you choose Taís! She's so pretty I have a hard time considering her black.”

“But how could I possibly be racist here? I just said Taís didn't deserve this LOL”

Brazilians have been taught that we live in "racial democracy". According to this belief, Brazil evaded racism through amicable blending of its three primary peoples, Africans, Europeans, and Indigenous Americans. This myth is rooted in the book, The Masters and the Slaves, by sociologist Gilberto Freyre in 1933. Freyre argued that racial hierarchy was abolished with slavery, despite the fact that Brazil was the last colony to formerly free its slaves.

This widespread myth is still largely used by many white conservatives who proclaim that we, Brazilians, are not racists. For them, racism started here after the full implementation of the affirmative action policy that reserved racial quotas for university applicants in 2012 after very heated legal discussions between those who believe that the enslavement of the Africans trafficked here has left a legacy that needs repairing and those who believe such actions are racist against whites and Blacks, depending on which concerns one wants to voice - ignoring the obvious reality that, to this day, Black folks in Brazil are at the bottom of racial and social inequities and are rarely found in high paying jobs in hospitals and universities or in leading roles on most media.

Of course, racism did not die with the abolition of slavery or begin with affirmative action, but over the last couple of years, as more federal universities adhere to the affirmative action quotas, and the presence of Blacks in higher positions increases, the intolerance has become more frequent in social interactions.

The Brazilian government only started establishing affirmative action policies in 2002 under President Lula da Silva after decades of campaigns by Afro-Brazilian social movements. To most Black social activists, the university quotas did not install racism in Brazil as right-wing advocates denounce, but simply brought it to light.

But for these right-wing detractors, calls and equal opportunity programs are the same as slavery, demonstrating their fear of Black advancement.

 

 "I'm also white and I like dark-skinned people but I can't stand injustices! Both sides must be punished for any sign of racism! Not only white people are racist, Black people are way more and still whine for any little thing. I've already been bullied and faced a lot of prejudices but if I were Black they would say it's racism! Not everything is racism! I hate injustices! Even though there's no more slavery they want to install white slavery and that we won't take!" – a social media commenter wrote.

 

While Brazil may be internationally known for its "mulatas" (mixed Afro-descendants) and its large Afro-Brazilian population, when you turn on the television or go to a newsstand all you see are white and light-skinned Latin faces. Even in our traditional telenovelas, or television dramas, only a few of them starred a Black protagonist. They're easy to count because most of them were played by Taís.

Taís became a renowned actress in 1997 when she took the role of Xica da Silva, a historical Brazilian figure who was enslaved and gained her freedom through a marriage to a powerful white settler. Only 17-years-old when the production started, Araújo gained rapid media attention for her talented interpretation of the sassy former slave. Now, the actress can seen in the hit television series Mr. Brau - the first show to pair a leading black couple - with her husband Lázaro Ramos.

Notwithstanding how often it is that non-famous Afro-Brazilians attest to having faced similar hateful speech as Tais has by complete strangers both online and offline, Brazilians still seem to be surprised whenever anti-black racism is publicized and offer an outpouring of hashtag solidarity that is rarely observed when the target is not a celebrity whom subsequently are often ignored or accused of "self-victimization," leading to frustration among Black Brazilian activists.

“I bet you soon enough the same people who call us "victimists"every time we talk about our everyday racism will come up with a  ‪#‎somostodostaís‬. May the hypocrisy show begin!”

“#‎SomosTodosTaísAraújo ‬(We are all Taís Araújo) until you guys see a Black kid cross your way, then you cross the other side of the street or clutch your purses. It must be great to remember (racism) only when it happens to a celebrity, because we all know that when it happens to a nobody you tell us it's cheap"self-victimization," paranoia, a great misunderstanding or anything that suits your aim to diminish our complaints. The least you all could do is try and disguise your phoniness, will ya?”

As for Tais’ response to the attacks, the star posted an open statement in which said she was surprised by insults launched at her and her family (Taís and Lázaro have two beautiful kids together) stating she would take the proper legal measures against those who targeted her while encouraging other victims of discrimination to do the same.

“It's quite upsetting to know that it's 2015 and we still need to talk about this, but enough is enough! Last night my fanpage was attacked by racists. Absolutely all of their comments are now registered and will be sent to the police. I'm not going to erase any of them. I find it extremely necessary that people read them so as to feel exactly as I felt reading them: ashamed of knowing this sort of cowards are still among us,” she said.

“I want this to serve as an example to us all: the next time you come across any kind of discrimination denounce it. Don't silence yourselves and show theses cowards you're proud of who you are and keep giving them a hard time. That's the only way we can make Brazil a more civilized country. My only answer to this is love!”

While her call for love as the best way to win over bigots is admirable, it’s likely she forgot that in her debut role as the enslaved Xica, even after falling in love with Xica and marrying her, the white settler did not become an abolitionist nor free the rest of his slaves.

As Blacks ascend the social ladder and start occupying the same social and professional circles formerly exclusive to the white elite, bigots will feel the urge to put them "in their place." Fortunately, as a result of this ordeal, a great number of Afro-Brazilians are retiring their "mulato" pride in Brazil’s “racial democracy” and replacing it with a more politically aware identity.

Ironically, enough, all of this happened just in time for the "The Month of Black Consciousness" in Brazil that started last Sunday on November 1st, where Brazilians will celebrate Black history, culture and achievements.

 

Leopoldo Duarte is a graphic designer turned social activist blogger who loves to dissect everyday racism in Brazil and to contextualize the social injustices news media fail to deepen.

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