President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva participated in the opening of the 5th National Conference on Promotion of Racial Equality, Conapir, on Monday night (15), in Brasilia.
The national stage of the event brings together in the federal capital, by the end of this week, about 1,700 delegates, 200 guests, as well as dozens of observers and exhibitors. The meeting was not held seven years ago.
In his speech to greet participants, the president stated that, despite advances in public policy, especially affirmative actions and inclusion of the black population in social programs, Brazil still lives with “everyday racism” faced by the black population.
“There is an imaginary that insists on putting black people in one place, usually in the place of servant, when not a threat.”
Without making direct quote, Lula mentioned the recent case involving the writer of São Paulo Lilia Guerra, author of The sky for bastards. She reported being accused of stealing a sheet and a blanket from a hostel days after returning from the Paraty International Literary Party (Flip), an event that took place between July 30 and August 3 this year.
“We cannot naturalize these absurdities. We cannot find it normal for a black writer, invited by a literary festival, to be unfairly accused of stealing the object of the hostel in which he stayed. It is inconceivable that Brazilian society is still in this place of prejudice and discrimination. It is unacceptable that a human being has limited opportunities or always under suspicion because of the color of the skin,” said the president, “said the president,” said the president, “said the president
Lula also criticized the criminalization of young black people from the periphery, “who remain preferential targets of repression forces,” and defended eradicate racism in the country, which is a crime and also a disease.
Conference
The national stage of the 5th Conapir has as its theme equality and democracy: reparation and racial justice. During discussions, delegates and delegates will participate in working groups, plenary and axles and xirês (wheel or dance in Yoruba) of discussion.
According to the Ministry of Racial Equality, the construction of the 5th Conapir was made in stages and covered the entire country. In addition to municipal and state conferences, there was a digital stage that received contributions by the participatory Brazil platform and free stages, as well as thematic plenary sessions. These plenary sessions discussed proposals and elected delegates from the quilombola, gypsies, indigenous people and terreiro segments, as well as women, LGBTQia+ and black youth.
“We know that only quality public policy with the people and the community is built,” said Minister of Racial Equality, Anielle Franco, during the opening ceremony.
In addition to the president and the minister, other federal government authorities and civil society leaders attended the event at the Ulysses Guimarães Convention Center.
“If you did not persist, you did not believe what you dream of, we would not have not done this conference with this dimension, because we spent seven years with a government that never thought of making a conference to listen to women and black men in this country,” Lula recalled in his speech.
The president also made a point of emphasizing the institutional weight that conferences have in the formulation of his government’s public policies.
“Social participation is the essential part of our way of rule and build public policies. We will be the more assertive the more we consider the desires, proposals and priorities of those and those for which policies are intended.”
