The Observatório de Combate ao Racism no Carnaval de São Paulo delivered a letter to the Liga das Escolas de Samba demanding penalties for racist acts at Carnaval. The group, formed by sambistas and researchers, also asks that the organization of the party in the capital of São Paulo be reviewed, to rescue the history and black presence. The letter was motivated by a racist position taken by the president of the X-9 Paulistana, Reginaldo de Souza, known as Mestre Adamastor, at the Anhembi Sambadrome, on the 19th, when he asked the members of the school to raise their fists, similar to the gesture of “power for the black people”, used by several groups that fight against racism in the world. Then Northwind said that the gesture had no meaning. “Balanizing a gesture of high symbology and unity for the anti-racist movement, a milestone in the struggle and resistance of black people in the diaspora and against any and all social injustice”, emphasizes the document delivered by the observatory to the league. The group sees the leader’s attitude within a broad context of structural racism in the organization of carnival, which took away the protagonism of black people. “It became evident that the holders of power and management of the carnival are contributing to the erasure of the true history and social function of the samba schools as a network of sociability, territories where black men and women resisted, facing all sorts of violence and persecution to keep their black-African heritage and form organizations that for a long time were criminalized and condemned by the white and racist elite”, says the document. Proposals In the document, the observatory made a series of proposals, which begin with the recognition of the group as an independent and consultative body of the carnival organization to carry out training and propose affirmative actions. It is also proposed that the league make an education and communication program for the communities of the samba schools about black cultural and historical heritage. The observatory also wants a review of what it calls the “cameratization” of carnival, with large companies promoting high-cost events during the passage of the samba schools, taking the protagonism of the associations. For the group, this situation disrespects public investment in the stands and samba dancers. The regulation of the float pusher activity is another of the group’s claims. “Whose function has been carried out by a majority of people living on the street and the outstanding performance of black men and women, who experience humiliation in providing an increasingly precarious service.” Agência Brasil contacted the Liga das Escolas de Samba and is awaiting a response.
Agência Brasil
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