The medical student was ordered to lose her job and pay compensation for complaining about traits inherited from her great-grandfather. The decision is subject to appeal and the defense strengthens the self-declaration criteria
A medical student at the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Unirio) was sentenced by the Federal Court to lose her position and pay compensation for the fraud quotas. The appeal was brought by art Federal Public Ministry (MPF) and was sentenced last week.
- The student will have to return to the public coffers the sum of R$ 8,800 for material damage and R$ 10,000 for individual moral damages caused to Unirio.
- You will also have to pay R$10,000 for collective moral damages allocated to the Fund for the Defense of Diffused Rights (FDD).
- The decision is of first instance and can be appealed before the Federal Regional Court (TRF).
The student entered the university in 2017 through the targeted affirmative action system black, brown and indigenousclaiming to have black genotypic traits inherited from his paternal great-grandfather and brown family lineage, on the maternal side.
According to the MPF, through the mechanism of racial self-declaration, the student evaded the quota system and the tax return, as she was “phenotypically white and her parents had a standard of living and assets not consistent with what was declared”.
The student claims that when she entered the university, the only criterion used by the institution was self-declaration.
At the time Unirio didn’t have any commission for heteroidentification racial criteria for evaluating the admission of new students.
- The mechanism is a way to control the right to reserve places, and the commission can refuse registration when it concludes that the candidate’s phenotype does not fit into the declared racial group.
With the subsequent establishment of the commission in 2018, the student failed, during the retroactive hetero-identification procedure, to verify the information declared regarding her black or mixed race status, based on her physical characteristics.
In her defense, the student claimed that the university announcement did not include evaluation by a hetero-identification panel.
In the public civil case, MPF argues that the self-declaration has no presumption of absolute truth, and there is no impediment for Unirio to review and cancel the enrollment of students who fall outside of the quota policies in the face of signs of fraud.
The body underlines that “the Federal Supreme Court (STF), the Superior Court of Justice and the Federal Regional Court of the 4th Region (TRF4) have already understood that it is legitimate to adopt further investigation mechanisms on self-declaration to combat fraudulent conduct and ensure, in the university context, the change of the historical framework of inequality that characterizes ethnic-racial and social relations in Brazil”.
For the MPF, the improper filling of a vacancy reserved for racial quotas does not respect “the duty of the State and of society itself to build a society of solidarity, reduce social inequalities and promote the good of all without racial prejudice”.
In the ruling, the Federal Court states that “it is not possible to claim good faith in the defendant’s conduct, since, in the self-declaration form, she invokes ancestors to try to adapt to affirmative action policies because she is aware of her incompatible complexion and physical characteristics with phenotypic parameters and the objectives of such policies”.
The student’s defense claims that the ruling “is contrary to several decisions of the Federal Regional Court of the Second Region relating to the same former student, as well as the jurisprudence of the Superior Court of Justice on the matter.”
“In the public civil proceedings, it has already been decided by the TAR that the application of the hetero-identification criterion without provision in the notice is strictly illegitimate. There is therefore no need to speak of fraud on the part of the former student, since the self-declaration took place based on the criteria established at the time of admission. The Federal Public Prosecutor of Rio de Janeiro himself, in other situations, did not appeal in similar trials, and also expressed himself in court documents in opposition to the existence of any illegality in the students they joined before the establishment of the hetero-identification commissions”, says the former student’s lawyer.
Unirio said he “considers it critically important that the university is an inclusive and popular space, with a significant presence of men and women of color in its academic community, both in the student segment and among staff.” “In this way, the University sees the quota policy as an important achievement for society. At the same time, the management of the university is always guided by a commitment to fairness and respect for what has been established by the Court.”
Other cases
The case of the Unirio student goes in the opposite direction to several others that have come to light in recent months, after a A student who identified himself as mixed race was banned from enrollment by USP for the medical course.
Even at USP the situation of a student admitted to the Law course, who was also denied enrollment, as he was not considered brown by the straight identification panel.
At Universidade Federal Fluminense, a self-declared black student was barred from enrolling in his journalism course due to an audio glitch in his video.
In all three cases, the court ordered the university to enroll the students.
Recurring divergences between university and justice understandings of students’ racial identity has generated debates about how best to analyze criteria for identifying as Black and Brown.
The Federal Supreme Court (STF), however, has already defined that they must be analyzed based on phenotypic characteristics (such as skin color, shape of the nose and lips and hair structure), and not based on ancestry .
Source: Terra
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
