Brazil takes the fight against racism abroad

Brazilian government officials are using President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s first visit to Europe to raise awareness and fight against racial discrimination suffered by the Brazilian community in Portugal and elsewhere.

The Brazilian Minister of Racial Equality, Anielle Franco, was one of the officials who traveled with Lula. Her mission was to put the debate on racism on the table.

“We are not going to be able to solve 523 years of problems in a single visit, but I hope that we can move forward, because that is why we are here,” Franco told reporters on Sunday, referring to the centuries of oppression suffered by the black population.

Franco is the sister of Marielle Franco, a black Rio de Janeiro councilwoman who fought for racial justice and was shot to death in 2018.

When he was elected, Lula said his goal was to attack racism and Brazil’s legacy of slavery. Portuguese ships took almost 6 million Africans into slavery, most of them going to Brazil.

Europe’s leading human rights group previously said Portugal had to confront its colonial past and its role in the transatlantic slave trade to help combat racism and discrimination in the country today.

“Let’s promote a future without forgetting the debts of the past,” Franco wrote on Instagram. “Let’s promote a future where cooperation is mutual between countries to seek justice and reparation.”

In a letter to Lula on Sunday, the Lisbon-based immigrant association Casa do Brasil said cases of discrimination against Brazilians in Portugal were increasing.

According to a study by Casa do Brasil, 91% of Brazilians in Portugal, a community of about 300,000 inhabitants, have suffered some type of discrimination in access to public services.

Franco met with the Portuguese Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Ana Catarina Mendes, on Saturday to discuss policies to combat racial injustice.

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