Brazilian government officials are using their president’s first visit to Europe since he was elected to raise awareness and fight racial discrimination faced by the Brazilian community in Portugal and elsewhere.
The minister of racial equality, Anielle Franco, was one of the authorities who traveled with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Her mission was to bring discussions about racism to the table.
“We won’t be able to solve 523 years of problems in one visit, but I hope we can keep going because that’s what we’re here for,” Franco told reporters Sunday, referring to centuries of oppression faced by black people.
She is the sister of Marielle Franco, a black Rio de Janeiro councilor who fought for racial justice and was shot and killed in 2018.
When he was elected, Lula said he intended to attack Brazil’s racism and slavery legacy. Portuguese ships carried nearly six million enslaved Africans. Most went to Brazil.
The leading European human rights group has previously said Portugal needs to address its colonial past and its role in the transatlantic slave trade to help fight racism and discrimination in the country today.
“Let’s build a future without forgetting the debts of the past,” Franco wrote on Instagram. “Let’s build a future where countries cooperate with each other to seek justice and reparation.”
In a letter addressed to Lula on Sunday, the Lisbon-based migrant association Casa do Brasil said that cases of discrimination against Brazilians in Portugal were on the rise.
A study by Casa do Brasil showed that 91% of Brazilians in Portugal, a community of approximately 300,000 inhabitants, have already experienced some type of discrimination in accessing public services.
Franco met with Portuguese parliamentary affairs minister Ana Catarina Mendes on Saturday to discuss policies to fight racial injustice.
Both governments have agreed on a national strategy to combat racism.
“We have to make this happen,” Franco said.
Source: Terra
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