1. A Nation Divided: Beneath Brazil's sequins and feathers the cancer of racism is rife
- Collection:
- Black Caribbean Literature (BCL)
- Contributers:
- Myrie,Garfield (Author)
- Format:
- Newspaper Article
- Publication Date:
- 1998-02-02
- Published:
- London, UK
- Location:
- African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Journal Title:
- The Voice
- Journal Title Details:
- 791 : 7
- Notes:
- "The children were killed so that they wouldn't grow up and become criminals, that's the philosophy of the people in power here. Being Black is as negative as it gets - it's a lot different from living here in England. I was really surprised when I came to Britain, to see Black people on TV, driving nice cars and dressing in fine clothes - it was a real surprise. In Brazil that would not happen. The only people you would see doing well would be the people with blue eyes and blonde hair." Earlier this year the Brazilian Centre for Expression of Marginalised Populations (CEAPM) planned to sue Transport Minister Eliseu Padilha after ahe made a racist remark about one of Brazil's national heroes, footballer Pele. A Brazilian Embassy spokesman told The Voice that it's not racism but rather the distribution of wealth that puts Blacks on the bottom of the pile. The spokeswoman said: "I am not denying that racism exists in Brazil but racism is a universal thing. The UK is more racist than Brazil. The main problem with my country is an economic/class one - the Black people do not have the economic muscle to climb to the top. The roots of this are deep in our history.