Pimentel advocates for the mobilization of the black population to prevent the loss of gains.
“We need to be vigilant, because the same parties that supported the coup and ousted President Dilma Rousseff are committed to undoing the great advances achieved by this segment of the Brazilian population during the Lula and Dilma governments,” warned Senator José Pimentel (PT-CE), at a conference on racial equality over the weekend in Fortaleza. He cited as examples the legal action taken against the decree that expedites the demarcation of lands occupied by remnants of quilombola communities and against the quota policy to guarantee access for Black and Indigenous people to higher education institutions.
Ceará 247 - Senator José Pimentel (PT-CE) stated that constant mobilization is necessary to prevent the loss of rights gained by the Black and Indigenous population during the 13 years of PT government. Participating in the opening of the IV State Conference for the Promotion of Racial Equality (CONAPIR) this weekend in Fortaleza, Pimentel said that "it is necessary to be vigilant, because the same parties that supported the coup and ousted the President of the Republic, Dilma Rousseff, are committed to undoing the great advances achieved by this segment of the Brazilian population during the Lula and Dilma governments."
Pimentel cited as an example of this risk of loss of rights the Direct Action of Unconstitutionality (ADI), filed in the Supreme Federal Court (STF) by the PFL (current DEM), in 2004, against the decree that expedites the demarcation of lands occupied by remnants of quilombola communities (Decree 4.887/2003). The decree was issued during President Lula's first term. “On Thursday (November 9th), the STF resumed this trial, which only began in 2012 and is still not concluded. We obtained another favorable vote, bringing us to a favorable score of two to one. But eight votes are still needed. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain mobilization to avoid setbacks,” he warned.
Pimentel also recalled that, in 2012, the DEM and PSDB parties appealed to the Supreme Federal Court (STF) to have the policy of reserving places to guarantee access for Black and Indigenous people to higher education institutions throughout the country declared unconstitutional. "Fortunately, by a majority vote, the quota policy in universities was upheld by the STF, but we need to remain mobilized," he said.
The senator also highlighted that most of the achievements obtained by Black people in Brazil resulted from struggle and not from changes promoted by the government. "If we analyze the liberation of slaves at the end of the 19th century, it was not a gift, but rather the fruit of a previous struggle by many Black people, particularly from our quilombos, and their resistance," he stated.