In an interview with CNN Rádio, on CNN no Plural, the coordinator of Policies for the Promotion of Equality and Race at the Geledés Institute, Maria Sylvia Aparecida de Oliveira, explained the importance of black feminism.
According to her, black women have another starting point for the rights conquered by feminism than white women.
“While white women went out to claim the right to work and study, black women were building the Brazilian nation, kidnapped from Africa, and who took care of the house and children of these same white women.”
“Beyond the gender issue, black feminism brings the racial issue”, he added.
Maria Sylvia believes that, in Brazil, racism is treated “as if it were a pathology, a matter for each individual”, when, in fact, society is structurally racist.
“Racism is a phenomenon that structures social relations in Brazil, subtle at times and at other times explicit, such as racial slurs.”
Precisely for this reason, she argues that if we do not treat racism as “a phenomenon that structures relationships, we will continue to experience these cases of racism, we have to think about transformative education that does not reproduce and perpetuate racism.”
Despite admitting that social networks can provide an important impetus to the discussion of racial issues, she bets on “collective struggle.”
“The fight against racism has to be not only of the black population, but of society in general”.
Source: CNN Brasil
