Racism and anti-racism in Brazil: the case of indigenous peoples

The original inhabitants of Brazil are facing one of the most dangerous moments in their recent history. Cattle-ranching, large-scale agriculture, logging, and land speculation are destroying the Amazon forest and leading to the invasion of indigenous reservations and the violent displacement of their inhabitants. FUNAI (Bureau for the protection of indigenous peoples) has been seriously de-funded, and its existence is now being threatened altogether. Assassinations of native indians have increased by over 200% in the last ten years, and cases of openly racism against them, such as refusal to offer medical services, exclusion from public transport, verbal and physical attacks as well as disparaging remarks in the press or social media have become a routine. At the same time, indigenous activism is stronger than it has ever been, with Amerindian groups organising themselves in unions and associations, and using traditional and new media to discuss and counter the violence against them. For the first time, indigenous authors are publishing their own books, and there has been a well documented surge of indigenous cinema production, as well as an increasing number of visual artists and musicians who are making use of Western media and venues to express themselves and, in their own words, educate the non-indigenous population about their own ways of life.

The purpose of this Research Network is to organise three events that will bring together indigenous leaders, artists and intellectuals with academics from the Humanities and Social Sciences with a view to discuss the current rise in racism and violence against indigenous peoples in Brazil, as well as strategies to resist it and contain it. Guided by recent theoretical debates on racism in the Humanities and Social Sciences, as well as by the natives' own experiences as discussed in loco and expressed in political and artistic works, the participants will attempt to answer such questions as: Why is racism against native populations growing so dramatically in Brazil in contradiction with politics of social-economic inclusion? How do cultural and environmental racism relate to racism more broadly? How is racism against native peoples propagated in the media and creative arts? How can the media and creative arts help to contain and revert the current increase in racism against native peoples? In which ways do the current economic and ecological pressures on the Amazon and other natural environments fuel (and are fuelled by) racism? How are indigenous leaders and their communities seeing the current rise in prejudice against them and how are they resisting it? What tools can traditional native knowledge bring to the debate about racism and the environment? What tools can current theories about race and ethnicity/indigeneity in Latin America bring to discussions about racism and prejudice against native peoples in Brazil? Can changes to the education system and school curricula help contain or revert the current rise in racism against native peoples? How does racism against native people relate to racism against Black rural communities and maroon communities? What practical and policy measures can be taken to contain and reverse racism?

The Network will bring together scholars from the University of Manchester, Universidade Federal do Reconcavo Baiano, and Nucleo de Cultura Indigena. The two events in Brazil will culminate with the delivery of a document to government officials summarising the discussions and proposing a series of measures to be taken by the Government in order to contain and reverse racism against indigenous populations and improve the welfare of indigenous communities whilst promoting sustainable development. The meeting in Manchester will bring the conclusions from the events in Brazil onto a broader theoretical forum, and thus advance knowledge about racism and race relations in both the Humanities and Social Sciences.

The activities proposed in the Network will hopefully contribute to policies that seek more sustainable development in tandem with the welfare of the native populations in Brazil, a middle income country. The activities of the Network will have the following non-academic beneficiaries:

1. Indigenous communities.
The Network will work directly with indigenous leaders and representatives from indigenous communities. The first meeting, in Bahia, will have the participation of several indigenous leaders, artists, and representatives from the communities, and will be co-organised by the native students at Universidade do Reconcavo da Bahia. The second meeting, in Brasilia, will also have the participation of indigenous leaders and artists, and will be co-organised by indigenous students form Brasilia. The Network will impact the communities by:
a) facilitating a meeting between groups and individuals that live far away and normally have no means to meet and discuss their problems.
b) facilitating a meeting between artists, leaderships, representatives from communities with academics working on racism, indigenous cultures, and issues related to development;
c) facilitating a meeting between indigenous peoples and representatives of Afro-descendants and maroon communities to discuss issues related to racism.
d) through knowledge exchange between academics and the indigenous participants, envisioning new ways of looking at racism and discussing strategies to halt or contain it.
e) creating a website that will include videos and texts from the meetings, which will work as a resource for the communities themselves.
f) publishing a book with some of the essays, speeches and reports from the meetings, which will also serve as a resource for the communities.
g) producing a document that will be delivered to the Brazilian government describing the problems currently faced by the indigenous communities and demanding appropriate response.

2. Third Sector
This Network would not be feasible without the direct contribution of NCI (Nucleo de Cultura Indigena), an NGO founded by indigenous leaders to protect and promote indigenous cultures. NCI has had a direct input in this proposal, and will be active in planning and organising all activities in the Network. AS NCI works directly with indigenous leaders, artists, and communities, it will serve as a mediator between the PI, Co-I and the artists and communities themselves. At the same time, the funds available through the Network will help NCI carry out its work as a promoter and defender of indigenous cultures.

3. Government and policy-makers
The second meeting of the Network will take place in Brasilia, Brazil's capital and home to Judicial, Executive and Legislative Powers. During this meeting, members of the Network and other participants will write a collective document summarising the conclusions from the first two meetings and proposing a series of measures to be taken by the government in order to contain and reverse racism against indigenous populations and improve the welfare of indigenous communities whilst promoting sustainable development. The document will be delivered to representatives of the government as part of a ceremony that will be widely publicised in the press.


Dissemination
Mainstream and alternative press venues will be informed of all three events. The Co-I, who worked for many years as a journalist, has good contacts in various newspapers, magazines and online venues in Brazil, and writes regularly for Carta Capital, a weekly magazine, which will certainly feature the events. Some of the talks and discussions will be broadcast live through Youtube (Manchester Youtube channel and Universidade Federal do Recôncavo da Bahia). Yande Radio Station (the first native radio to broadcast in Brazil) will also broadcast the main talks and discussions live.