With red flags in their hands and shouts of “fire on the racists”, protesters from the black movement staged, at the beginning of the night of this Tuesday (23), in front of the Consulate General of Spain in São Paulo, in the west zone of capital of São Paulo. The protest was motivated by the repeated racism suffered, in Spain, by the Brazilian soccer player Vinícius Júnior. “What he experienced is aggression from a racist state and a Spanish extreme right that oppresses blacks, immigrants, LGBTQIA+, and women. It wasn’t an isolated case, it wasn’t just a fan. They have already called him a monkey, wished for his death, staged his hanging. It is racial violence”, says the text prepared jointly by participating black movement entities and read in the form of a minstrel in the act. The athlete plays for Real Madrid, a team that competes in the Spanish Championship, organized by La Liga. Last Sunday, Vinicius Júnior was the victim of yet another racist action in a Spanish stadium. During his team’s 1-0 defeat by Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium, home of the opponents, Vini Jr. heard racist insults and shouts of “monkey” coming from the stands. “The Spanish State owes us compensation, Santander, Microsoft, Puma, Panini, and all those who sponsor La Liga owe us compensation. La Liga owes us reparation. You racists need to understand: They will not pass,” the document adds. Representatives of the Unified Black Movement, the Union of Blacks and Blacks for Equality (Unegro), the Raiz da Liberdade Movement, Uneafro Brasil, and black movements linked to leftist parties, such as PT, PCdoB and Psol, were present. “The Spanish state has traces of a neo-fascist extreme right, which is against the immigrant policy. What La Liga expresses is what the black population lives in that country. Vini is very brave in denouncing racial violence and in helping to break a silence. Vini is very hated by racists because he reacts to this violence”, highlighted Simone Nascimento, from Movimento Negro Unificado. Protesters hung banners at the gates of the consulate and projected phrases such as “La Liga Racista” and “Chega de Racismo” on the building’s facade. “We are here again in a demonstration against yet another racist act that always happens to our black people, to our peripheral people and, this time, it happened on the other side of the world. There in Spain. We will no longer accept this, we have no more room for racism, for religious intolerance, for homophobia, for any type of prejudice, we have no more space for these people”, stressed the president of Unegro, André Alexandre. São Paulo councilor Elaine Mineiro (PSol), or Elaine do Quilombo Periférico, defended that, in addition to the accused fans, the Spanish State should also respond for the racism practiced against the player. “It is important that we are here calling the Spanish State to responsibility, because States, nations all over the world, have become accustomed to making excuses for not holding racists accountable,” she said. “We are going to make the Spanish State responsible,” she added. The report contacted the Consulate General of Spain in São Paulo, which has not yet responded. Manifestations were requested, also still without response, from the companies Puma, Santander, Microsoft and Panini.
Agência Brasil
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