Luislinda's attitude only reinforces prejudices.

Even in a government that is a constant source of outrage among Brazilians, starting with its illegitimate origins, the performance of the Minister of Human Rights, Luislinda Valois, is noteworthy for a particular reason.

In a country where the condition of Black women is a social tragedy recognized by statistics and scenes from daily life, in which they face the double oppression of being both women and Black, instead of helping in the necessary fight against prejudice and discrimination, the minister's behavior only contributes to reinforcing what should be eliminated and weakening what should be strengthened. This is the regrettable aspect of the recent case in which Luislinda Valois was involved.

Instead of joining the internal and external revulsion against a decree from the Temer government that relaxes rules for punishing slave labor, as would be the duty of every Brazilian citizen, particularly the Afro-descendant population, who arrived in the country enslaved, it was discovered that the Minister of Human Rights was busy claiming -- for herself -- monthly salaries of R$ 61.400, 80% above the legal ceiling for state employees.

Just to give you an idea of ​​what this means in a country where Luislinda Valois holds a ministerial position and is a retired judge from the Court of Justice of Bahia, according to IPEA/2015 data, the amount is equivalent to 59 times the average monthly income of a Black woman in the labor market, which relegates her to the lowest rung of the salary scale. On the first rung above, a Black man earns 50% more; two rungs above, a white woman earns 70% more; at the top of the pyramid, a white man earns 150% more than a Black woman.

The R$ 61.400 requested by the minister also represents an overrun of more than 80% of the constitutional maximum. Another shocking point is that, to demand such a large increase in wages, unthinkable given the general poverty of most Brazilians, the minister was able to put herself in the position of that citizen who works without any income – precisely under the "slavery-like" conditions that the Temer government is trying to protect.

Claiming that the spending cap prevented her from receiving her full ministerial salary, since it was already almost entirely covered by her judge's pension – equivalent to 23 times the average pension received – she wrote that "work performed without corresponding compensation, which is called remuneration, undoubtedly resembles slave labor." Later, in an interview, referring to her current salary of R$ 33,700, she claimed it was enough to stay home "in slippers." But she asked: "How am I going to eat? How am I going to drink? How am I going to buy shoes?"

It can be acknowledged that Luislinda's monetary claim is not original. The constant effort by a segment of the Judiciary and other sectors of the State's leadership to find shortcuts to circumvent the salary cap is a well-known plague.

It can also be argued that the unusual reaction generated by the specific case of Luislinda Valois stems, at least in part, from her being a woman and Black. That seems indisputable to me.

None of this, however, justifies an unreasonable claim based on the accounting of the "cheap flip-flops" accessible to someone earning R$ 33,700 a month. In February, when her appointment was announced, it was discovered that the Presidential Palace had tried to embellish the new minister's resume with a fabrication—the title of Ambassador for Peace of the United Nations in 2002, an honor that doesn't even exist in the UN statutes. Even more compromising, the title was conferred upon her by the Universal Peace Federation, an NGO founded by the South Korean billionaire Sun Yung Moon, known worldwide as Reverend Moon (1920-2012), a sponsor of far-right causes and a frequent target of tax evasion allegations.

Luislinda's appointment to the ministry sought to achieve a clear symbolic component to compensate for one of the many legitimacy deficits of the Temer government. In a ministry denounced from day one as a government of white men, she represented an attempt to polish the image of the coup coalition. In a society that is waging a necessary and difficult battle against racism and the oppression of women, Luislinda Valois's behavior only contributes to reinforcing stereotypes that weaken the struggle of the most suffering and poorest to raise their heads and defend their rights.

Even acknowledging that nothing can be expected from members of Michel Temer's government on any issue of public interest, this is and always will be the focus of attention regarding her actions, especially since she is the Minister of Human Rights.