Brazilâs Ongoing Race Problem: Recent Study Uncovers Shocking Treatment of Darker-Skinned Children in Interracial FamiliesPosted in Articles, Brazil, Caribbean/Latin America, Family/Parenting, Media Archive, Social Science on 2017-07-10 02:22Z by Steven |
Atlanta Black Star
2017-07-01
![]() SALVADOR, BRAZIL -Social psychologist finds Black Brazilian children in interracial families face shocking racism. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) |
âThe most shocking story I heard was told by a young woman, a university student who came to see me⊠she was phenotypically âBlackâ but her mother was âwhite.â She told me that when she was little, her mother would sing a lullaby with these words: âPlantei uma cenoura no meu quintal / Nasceu uma negrinha de avental / Dança negrinha / NĂŁo sei dançar / Pega no chicote, ela dança jĂĄâ [I planted a carrot in my backyard. / It sprouted a nigger girl in an apron. / Dance, little nigger girl! / I canât dance. / Show her the whip, sheâll dance alright.] Her motherâs lullaby wasnât just racist, it was a slave ownerâs song.â â Social psychologist Lia Vainer Schucman from a June 2017 interview with AgĂȘncia FAPESP in Brazil
Perhaps youâve heard of the âbleach bath,â a popular process designed to significantly lighten oneâs skin. Or maybe the clothespin, the laundry drying device that doubles as a nighttime nasal clamp to narrow the width of what is regarded as a phenotypically Black nose. Here in the 21st century, such tragic racialized practices and psychoses are, unfortunately, still alive and well in countries across the globe.
This acknowledged, there is a common perception that the more racially diverse and interracial a society and its relationships become, the less racism it will endure. It is a questionable line of reasoning particularly prevalent in Brazil where racially mixed societies and families are the norm. It fuels the popular national narrative that racial prejudice cannot exist in South Americaâs largest country since âsomos todos iguaisâ (âwe are all equalâ).
A recent study by social psychologist and researcher Lia Vainer Schucman says otherwise. In it, Schucman interviewed interracial families from regions across Brazil willing to discuss the manifestations and impact of racism within their units as part of her postdoctoral work at the University of SĂŁo Paulo. Sponsored by AgĂȘncia FAPESP, a media service of the SĂŁo Paulo Research Foundation, Schucmanâs research is the subject of her upcoming book, âFamĂlias Inter-Raciais: TensĂ”es entre Cor e Amorâ (Inter-Racial Families: Tensions Between Color and Love)…
Read the entire article here.