TV 247 logo
      Search
      HOME > Media

      (Video) “This is part of a sexist and racist culture,” Luana Genot tells Luciano Huck, regarding a question posed to a Black woman.

      The executive director of the Instituto Identidades do Brasil, Luana Genot, gave a lesson on structural racism in a live broadcast with Luciano Huck, after the presenter asked a Black woman if all her children would have the same father.

      (Video) “This is part of a sexist and racist culture,” Luana Genot tells Luciano Huck, regarding a question posed to a Black woman (Photo: Reproduction)

      247 - The executive director of the Instituto Identidades do Brasil, Luana Genot, gave Luciano Huck a lesson on structural racism after the presenter asked Geralda, a 63-year-old Black nursing technician, if all her children had the same father.

      "This is part of a sexist and racist culture that permeates our daily lives, associating the trajectory and narrative of women, and especially Black women, with having multiple partners. In short, these are questions that you often don't ask men. You see men with so many children, including white men, and we don't ask: 'Oh, how many women are your children from?'" she said in a live broadcast with the presenter.

      Luana classified the TV presenter's attitude as a "microaggression," committed daily against women, especially black women. "I think that women like Dona Geralda, who are women like me too, we are very used to hearing this type of microaggression. To always being questioned about our relationships, and we don't want to hear that anymore." 

      The presenter tried to justify himself. "Not wanting to defend or justify myself. It's just how my mind worked until last Saturday: Understanding the person's story, regardless of who they are, is the best way for me to shed light on the path of the story that is to come," said Huck, stating that he would ask the same question if he were "a white man."

      "My approach was much more about the curiosity to piece together that person's story than to judge them based on how many partners or marriages they've had," she stated.

      View this photo on Instagram

      In Brazil, television is the main mass media, reaching millions of people's homes daily. It plays a role beyond simply informing; it's also educational. The same is true for entertainment, responsible for the leisure of many Brazilian families, and while we are having fun, without realizing it, we are being shaped by opinions that, regardless of the intentions of those who create them, contribute to the construction of our perspectives. I spoke with @lucianohuck and we discussed structural racism and sexism, and the white voice in the anti-racist struggle. As @djamilaribeiro1 rightly says, you can't start a discussion about racism by saying, "I'm not racist." Nor can we start a discussion about sexism by saying that we are not sexist. I always say that we reproduce racism and sexism regardless of our intentions because they are part of our structures. I believe the most important thing is to always be willing to listen and exchange ideas, to stay updated, and never minimize what the other person feels. Communication is not just what we say. Communication is also what people understand. And communication produces different effects on different groups. Individually, you may never have experienced or realized you've encountered Huck's approach of asking if Dona Geralda's children share the same father, for example. But you can't minimize the fact that structurally, women, especially Black women, are immediately associated with dysfunctional homes, and that this association is directly related to our legacy of slavery and colonialism that objectified Black women, and this has consequences to this day. Our communication produces different effects on different groups, and we cannot neglect this; changing our language is fundamental to advancing the anti-racist struggle. In my view, the role of white people is not just passive listening, but an active one, for example, using the spotlight to spread the message and encourage reflection. How good it is to be able to exchange ideas and to inspire other exchanges of ideas, reflections, and especially concrete actions in the anti-racist struggle. What do you feel most unsure about regarding the anti-racist agenda in your language?

      A publication shared by Luana Génot (@luanagenot) in