Born in France, to a white family, she arrived in Brazil as consul and saw a type of racism different from that experienced in her country
Alessandra Loras She is French, born in Paris, in a family where she was the only black woman. From the beginning I knew what racism was. Together with her husband, Damien Lorashe chose Brazil as his home and, as soon as he arrived, he missed seeing the representation of the mixed-race population in spaces of power. As the French consul in Brazil, she realized that, on many occasions, she was the only black woman in these spaces and needed to use her way of speaking to highlight what she calls “orchestrated segregation.”
Alexandra recalls that, when she arrived in Brazil, she thought she would find a country free from racism, as there are many references that come from football and Carnival. “After all, the population is mixed”remember. But he soon realized that this perception was wrong.
“When I arrive at a corporate function to meet a CEO, they ask me what I will deliver.” Alexandra classifies ongoing forms of racism as “micro-humiliations,” which she classifies as “sophisticated” remnants of slavery. “For me it was important to say that the racial problem is not just an economic issue. As a successful black woman, I still notice racism running through my body.”
In the club she frequents she needs patience to prove that she is registered and is not there as a babysitter.
“One thing I noticed in Brazil that shocked me was that through the carnival and football narrative, Brazil seemed to be a mixed country, with a lot of inclusion and no racism; when I arrived in Brazil I imagined that there were 56% of black people in congress, in corporations, in the media… Unfortunately I found less than 1% in all these spaces of power.”
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As a consultant for multinationals, he believes that the plurality of skin color is also fundamental in decision-making processes: “An all-white male scenario hinders business growth”he says, referring to the thousands of management positions in Brazil that are not occupied by blacks or women.
To give visibility to black women in the suburbs of São Paulo and help break this barrier, Alexandra created the Institute of Female Protagonisma welcoming environment and lessons that serve the lives and careers of many young women. Even the journalist speaks enthusiastically about the project”Black sisters-in-law”which already has more than 800 black lawyers from different parts of the world.
“Racism is so structural that today, even when blacks manage to graduate, they will hardly find a decent job,” concludes Alessandra.
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Source: Terra
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