Lula and social equality

The UN General Assembly proclaimed the period between 2015 and 2024 as the International Decade for People of African Descent.

Resolution 68/237 highlights the need to strengthen national, regional, and international cooperation regarding the full enjoyment of the economic, social, cultural, civil, and political rights of people of African descent, as well as their full and equal participation in all aspects of society.

As proclaimed by the General Assembly, the theme for the International Decade for People of African Descent is "recognition, justice and development," and the implementation of the Programme of Activities for the International Decade for People of African Descent, which was approved by the General Assembly, should be implemented at various levels.

At the national level, the UN recommends that countries take concrete and practical measures through the adoption and effective implementation, both nationally and internationally, of legal frameworks, policies, and programs to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance faced by people of African descent, taking into account the particular situation of women, girls, and young men.

In Brazil, the issue is sometimes obscured by the myth of racial democracy, which is being overcome through anti-racism laws aimed at transforming reality.

There are fundamental laws such as the Statute of Racial Equality and the Quota Law; the Statute is essential for suppressing the crime of racism and, interestingly, the law also punishes discrimination based on origin and background.

Brazil only recognized itself as a racist nation in 2001, at a conference in South Africa, where it acknowledged the existence of the structural inequality caused by racism.

We cannot forget the Lula administration. On January 9, 2003, in the first month of his government, Lula signed Law 10.639/2003. It states: "The school calendar will include November 20th as 'National Black Consciousness Day'." Symbolic and indicative of the progress that would happen with Lula as president. Today, approximately 1.000 municipalities and five states in Brazil celebrate this date.

In addition to Black Awareness Day, the inclusion of African history in the school curriculum occurred in 2010, with the introduction of the Statute of Racial Equality.

During Dilma's presidency, the Secretariat for Policies to Promote Racial Equality was created, along with the Quota Law for universities.
It is worth noting the creation of the University of International Integration of Afro-Brazilian Lusophony. Lula created the University of International Integration of Afro-Brazilian Lusophony (Unilab), with campuses in Redenção (Ceará) and São Francisco do Conde (Bahia), which brings together students from Brazil with professors and students from Portuguese-speaking Africa. The university's objective is to promote closer ties and the exchange of knowledge between Brazil and Africa, something spectacular that deserves praise and our unwavering defense.

But what worries me, and this is what I bring to reflection again, is the resistance of a segment of society to criticizing the affirmative action law in education, because, as the human rights expert recently said, "criticizing the affirmative action law in education is to be ignorant of history. (...). In fact, the affirmative action law consists of affirmative action that must be maintained until inequality is overcome. We are still experiencing weaknesses and setbacks."

It cannot be overlooked that IBGE data shows that thanks to public policies for access to higher education such as FIES, PROUNI, and the expansion of places in public universities, in 2004, 16,7% of black or mixed-race students were in college; in 2014, this percentage jumped to 45,5%.

But what inequalities am I referring to?

Well, let's look at the figures presented in the Bulletin of the São Paulo Lawyers Association.

According to a 2016 study by the IDB – Inter-American Development Bank and the Ethos Institute, 4,7% of executive positions are held by Black people, compared to 94,2% by white people. Furthermore, according to the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), Black and mixed-race people are 73,5% more likely to live in homes with precarious conditions, and only 55,3% of homes where Black people live have sanitation, compared to 71,9% of homes where white people live.

Black people are more exposed to violence, and in a Brazil where 60 homicides occur annually, 71% of the victims are black.

And although the Afro-descendant population is the majority in Brazil, out of 513 federal deputies, only 22 are black.

Therefore, the path to equality involves recognizing inequality and, by empowering Black people, taking an important civilizational leap, burying the myth of racial democracy that only deepens exclusion from education, housing, and health.