Brazil: Racial inequality continues as Statute of Racial Equality turns five – Also a Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games update

Brazil: Racial inequality continues as Statute of Racial Equality turns five
While the Statute of Racial Equality in Brazil turned five, the country still struggles with inequality

By Lise Alves
The Rio Times

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – The Statute of Racial Equality in Brazil completes five years of existence on Monday, July 20th but still struggles to implement laws that will reduce the enormous inequalities between whites and blacks in the country. In its 65 articles, the statute attempts to create more balanced opportunities for blacks in areas such as employment, sports, culture, education, housing and communication.

For the Brazilian government the statute is a large step forward in obtaining equal rights for all in the country, while for others, rights for blacks still have a long way to go.

“The statute represents today for Brazil an organized victory, demanded by social movements, especially the black movement…. We can today say that in addition to the Federal Constitution, we have a national law which guarantees rights for Brazil’s black population,” said Nilma Gomes Secretary for the Promotion of Racial Equality (SEPPIR) linked to Brazil’s Executive Office in an interview to Agencia Brasil.

According to Gomes the main advances seen since 2010 have been the implementation of quotas for blacks in public service jobs and health policies aimed at the black population.

For the majority of the population, the notion that in Brazil there is no discrimination due to skin color has long been put aside. For Gomes, racism in Brazil is a phenomenon which is consolidated through its own denial. “The more we deny the existence of racism in Brazil, the more racism spreads,” says the SEPPIR executive.

The same can be said for foreigners. For many who came to Brazil expecting a more racially equal society, reality was a big surprise. Ky Adderley, founder of an educational consultancy group, is an American who has been living in Brazil for the past four years. He says he was expecting an entirely different picture. “The personal racism I experience here is worse than anywhere I have lived or traveled,” he told The Rio Times.

According to the National Household Sample Survey (PNAD) for 2013 blacks compose more than half of Brazil’s population (52.9 percent) but make up less than a third of those going to graduate schools, and are less than a fourth of those elected to the Chamber of Deputies.

“After living here in this country for four years and visiting for about a decade, and I have a better understanding the state of blacks in Brazil,” says Adderley. “Here we have nation state whose governing body isn’t representative of its majority demographics.”

But Adderley says that black Brazilians are slowly becoming more aware of their rights and are starting to demand changes.

“Black Brazilians have been coming into an era of black conscious reminiscent of the type that existed in the U.S. in the 1960s and 1970s. This awareness I believe will lead to black Brazilians making quicker progress [for their rights].”

More about Brazil and it’s culture:
African-Brazilian the county still remains divided along racial lines
___
Video: African Brazilian religions flourish across Brazil

___
Video: Africa In The City- Rights, Religion And Racism – Brazil Edition

___
Video: Brazil debates about racial discrimination

___
Video: Racism hits headlines with top appointment and actress scandal

___

Associated Press Probe: Sewage viruses at some Rio de Janeiro Olympic water venues

Associated Press

RIO DE JANEIRO- Athletes in next year’s Summer Olympics here will be swimming and boating in waters so contaminated with human feces that they risk becoming violently ill and unable to compete in the games, an Associated Press investigation has found.

An AP analysis of water quality revealed dangerously high levels of viruses and bacteria from human sewage in Olympic and Paralympic venues – results that alarmed international experts and dismayed competitors training in Rio, some of whom have already fallen ill with fevers, vomiting and diarrhea.
It is the first independent comprehensive testing for both viruses and bacteria at the Olympic sites.

Brazilian officials have assured that the water will be safe for the Olympic athletes and the medical director of the International Olympic Committee said all was on track for providing safe competing venues. But neither the government nor the IOC tests for viruses, relying on bacteria testing only.

__
Video: AP Probe: Sewage Viruses in Rio Olympic Water

__