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HISTORY Former Brazilian correspondent for ''The Guardian'', Jan Rocha, suggests that Brazil's current social apartheid is rooted in entrenched attitudes that accompanied a long History Of Slavery , which was abolished at a late date in the year in 1888. "Brazil never had a Political or Cultural Revolution , or any violent rupture of the status quo. Slavery was abolished, but what took its place was not equality and fraternity, but an unofficial system of first and second class Citizenship , a social apartheid....Rocha, Jan. ''Brazil In Focus: A Guide to the People Politics and Culture'', Interlink Books, 2000. According to Maria Helena Moreira Alves, these inequalities were exacerbated by the differing treatment of urban migrants during and following the Great Depression , when internal migrants, who were mainly descended from Indians or African slaves, were given no government assistance or training in adapting to large urban centers, and thus were pushed into a "social apartheid", forced to live in slums and take unpleasant and menial jobs that whites shunned. By contrast, European and Japanese immigrants were directly assisted by a number of government programs, as well as other benefits."Internal migrants from Brazil, many the descendants of Indians or African slaves, were totally abandoned to their own endeavors in the city, with no governmental subsidies, no programs of immigration support, no job training, and no housing programs to help the process of adaptation. In short, Brazilian migrants found themselves pushed into a ''social apartheid'' in the slums of the city, their jobs limited to those that white would not touch, such as garbage removal, hard construction work, and menial jobs in industry. In contrast, many European and Japanese immigrants came under the auspices of programs organized by their governments which assisted them with the cost of their transportation and of housing, helping them find employment, trained them, and provided a number of other benefits." Alves, Maria Helena Moreira "Sao Paolo: the political and socioeconomic transformations wrought by the New Labor Movement in the city and beyond." In Gugler, Josef. ''World Cities Beyond the West: Globalization, Development and Inequality'', Cambridge University Press, 2004, pp. 202-203. ECONOMIC AND RACE-BASED This parallels between South Africa during the apartheid era and modern-day Brazil is strengthened by that fact that inequities in the economic and social status particularly affect , and the disadvantaged classes do not interact at all with the wealthy "except in domestic service and on the shop floor"."Few studies, for instance probe the implications of these distressing conditions for social, class, and political relations. In those that do, "social apartheid" is a common theme—a class gulf so wide that interaction ceases, except in domestic service and on the shop floor. Social apartheid is the motive force behind the spread of closed residential communities in São Paulo—one of the few going concerns in an otherwise sluggish real-estate market. According to the advertisements, these communities are enclosed behind walls five meters high, protected by sophisticated security systems, and patrolled by round-the-clock guards who also carefully screen all visitors. Maids and other day laborers are searched every time they enter or exit. Inside are gracious homes and children playing in the street as in any affluent suburb in the United States, except that this is an island in a sea of squalor." Schneider, Ben Ross. "Brazil under Collor: Anatomy of a Crisis", in Camp, Roderic Ai. ''Democracy in Latin America: Patterns and Cycles'', Rowman & Littlefield, 1996, p. 241. ISBN 0842025138 According to Francine Winddance Twine, the separation of both class and race even extend into what she terms "spatial apartheid", where upper-class residents and guests, presumed to be white, enter apartments buildings and hotels through the main entrance, while domestics and service providers, presumed to be black, enter at the side or rear.Vasalians often described what can be called a form of spatial apartheid that they encountered in the city of Rio. This racial and class segregation is reflected in the design of apartment buildings in elite neighborhoods. The spatial geography of urban Rio bears some striking similarities to the Jim Crow southern United States. There is a ''social'' entrance, reserved for building residents and guests who are presumed to be white, and a ''service'' entrance, located at the side or the back of these buildings, for the exclusive use of domestic mads and service providers, who are presumed to be nonwhite or black." Twine, Francine Winddance. ''Racism in a Racial Democracy: The Maintenance of White Supremacy in Brazil'', Rutgers University Press, 1998, pp. 80-81. Carlos Verrisimo states that Brazil is a racist state, and that the inequities of race and class are often inter-related.Verrisimo, Carlos. Apartheid in Americas , ''CrossRoads'', December/January 1994/1995. '', Volume 2 Issue 2, Spring 2003. Despite Brazil's retreat from military rule and return to democracy in 1988, social apartheid has only gotten worse. STREET YOUTH Social apartheid is also tied the exclusion of poor youth (particularly street youth) from Brazilian society.Brandão, Caius. The Landmark Achievements of Brazil's Social Movement for Children's Rights: The Social Apartheid in Brazil , ''New Designs for Youth Development'', v.14-3, Fall 1998. The role of the police in keeping the inhabitants of Brazil's many ''. ''At Home in the Street: Street Children of Northeast Brazil'', Cambridge University Press, 1998, p. 214. REACTION "Social apartheid" is a common theme in studies of the implications of Brazil's huge income disparities, and the term "social apartheid" (and the inequities associated with it) are recognized as a serious issue even by Brazil's elites, who benefit from it:
'', September 16 , 2002. His loss in the Presidential election of 1994 to Fernando Henrique Cardoso has been attributed in part to the fear Lula aroused in the middle class by his "denunciation {Link without Title} of the social apartheid which permeated Brazilian society.""Lula's campaign tactics (his lengthy tours of the country, or ''caravanas''), his obviously proletarian origins and his denunciation of the social apartheid which permeated Brazilian society frightened the middle class. Cardoso received 54 per cent of the vote as compared to Lula's 27 per cent (S. Branford and B. Kucinkski, ''Brazil:Carnival of the Oppressed. Lula and the Brazilian Workers's Party'', London, Latin American Bureau, 19945, p. 4)." Lievesley, Geraldine. ''Democracy in Latin America: Mobilization, Power and the Search for a New Politics'', Manchester University Press, 1999, p. 99, note 63. SEE ALSO
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