A case of racism occurred in the test for the Health Residency 2025 Social Service program, at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (Uerj), last Sunday (13). According to the management of the Faculty of Social Service (FSS), an inspector asked black candidates to tie their hair up in one of the exam administration rooms. The argument was that they would be bulky enough to hide cell phones and other materials.
The Uerj Production Center (Cepuerj), responsible for the selection process, decided to cancel all tests as it understood that the episode directly harmed equality. The test was rescheduled for December 8th. In a statement, Cepuerj said that it repudiates “any and all forms of racial discrimination”, and that “the agents involved in the incident were immediately removed from the test site and permanently removed from inspection activities”.
In a note issued by the Faculty of Social Service, the management argues that “racial prejudice is a social barrier that materializes in the daily lives of black people in the most diverse situations and its confrontation requires firm institutional attitudes that are coherent with the university’s mission. It is necessary to welcome those affected, access available legal resources and implement strategies so that such events do not happen again.”
