Quota Law will remain anyway, says minister

The Minister of Racial Equality, Anielle Franco, said this Tuesday (4th) that the Quota Law is the greatest reparation policy in Brazil and will “remain in any case”, although there is a need to broaden the debate around the legislation. For the minister, the payment of scholarships to students included in the Quota Law is essential. Anielle also defended the reinforcement of the application of Law 10.639, which establishes the guidelines and bases of national education, to include in the official curriculum of the teaching network the mandatory theme of History and Afro-Brazilian Culture. According to the minister, it is necessary to have teachers prepared to strengthen anti-racist education as a whole, including quilombola areas and the discussion on reducing the dropout of black students. “Why is there so much evasion in schools? Why can’t you keep up? It does not have a decent permanence scholarship for students. Either you work or you study, ”she said. Today, during the inaugural class of the graduate program in psychosociology of communities and social ecology at the Institute of Psychology at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Anielle pointed out that she was born in the favela of Maré, in Rio, and that, as a shareholder, the R$ 300 he received helped with expenses and allowed him to stay at the university. “I remember perfectly that the only thing that kept me at UERJ [Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro] it was those R$ 300. I remember how important it was to have paid in quotas”, recalled the minister, in a lecture on the theme Ten years of the Quotas Law, 20 years of Law 10,639: What has changed and where are we going?. According to Anielle, the permanence grant for quota holders has to be strengthened, including an increase in value. The minister said she hoped that, in next year’s budget, the resources could be assured. “In addition, the debate on transversality is important. It is obvious that we have, within the ministry, a budget that is not the greatest. We have to ask that there be a little bit of Education, a little bit of Economy, Health. That’s what we’ve been trying to do, and dialogue. We only have 80 days of government, but construction is happening. Within the affirmative actions, we are going to propose this permanence scholarship for both students and professors”, said Anielle to Agência Brasil after the lecture. Racism Salão Pedro Calmon was packed to attend a class by the Minister of Racial Equality – Tânia Rêgo/Agência Brasil Addressing the students, the minister pointed out that she often heard racist and disqualifying comments, questioning the fact that she knew how to speak English, which learned when she received a scholarship to study in the United States as a volleyball player, and to be from the favela of Maré. “When I returned to Brazil and joined Uerj, I heard: You shouldn’t speak English. Will you come here? Shareholder? Did you pass first with quota? How can this be? How can you be from the Maré favela and speak English?” With the Salão Pedro Calmon, in the rectory building of UFRJ on Campus Praia Vermelha, crowded, and as a teacher since she was 17, Anielle Franco recommended students to intensify their knowledge. “It doesn’t matter if you debate with a racist teacher. No one takes away your knowledge. Nobody knows what it’s like to take two buses and a train [para ir à universidade], but you know. When we talk about the Quota Law and [Lei] 10,639, knows why many of these laws were not applied as they should have been. Because of racism. We need to have professors prepared to deal with black students. They need to empathize,” she emphasized. “It is unacceptable in 2023 to have a racist teacher. Sometimes, the teacher arrives in the classroom and does not understand what it is like to have a student who came from Magé [região metropolitana do Rio]by Belford Roxo [na Baixada Fluminense]. We know what it is because we go through it”, said Anielle, also recalling the difficulty of student mothers who need to take their children to university because they do not have daycare centers. Decree In the lecture, the minister highlighted the signing of the presidential decree that stipulated the percentage of 30% occupation of commission positions and positions of trust by black people in the Executive Branch, including direct administration, autarchies and foundations. According to Anielle, the measure had never been adopted. “The importance of this, people, of this political act is immeasurable. We are going to have 30% on the Esplanada for the first time”, she said. Anielle asked the students not to give up on their plans when facing situations of racism and gave a message: “Putting racists in their place, because we treat racists like this: put them in their place”. And she added: “We put it in place with our knowledge.”

Agência Brasil