Kamila Tuenia 

“It is not possible to think about health and education without touching on the racial issue.” 

The phrase was said by the social scientist, doctor in public health and professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Mercês Santos, in a class taught this week to postgraduate students at the Santos Dumont Institute (ISD), as a guest in the subject Education for Global Citizenship. 

The topic addressed by the teacher was Education for an anti-racist society, which included debates on the importance of promoting black representation, combating structural racism, the need to talk about racial issues and building an anti-racist society. The discussion brought to students the urgent need to question themselves “How can we build anti-racist education in a country where more than half the population is black, but where talking about racial issues is still a path full of obstacles and taboos?”

“What do we have to do with building anti-racist education?”, provokes the teacher. “We need to think that this issue has to go through our training. Education shapes thinking and is essential for society to start thinking without prejudice. Building anti-racism means seeking information on the subject, seeing blackness in society and, of course, recognizing privileges”, said Mercês. 

“What is race?”

One of the questions raised by the teacher in class was “What is race for you? How would you define it?” She says that whenever this subject is debated, people don't always know how to respond, sometimes they avoid it or don't feel comfortable talking. For Mercês, this is one of the reflections of what is defined as structural racism, a term used to characterize societies structured based on discrimination, which privileges some races over others. 

“It is part of structural racism that people, especially white people, do not understand or do not need to understand about racial issues, however, even though this debate has evolved a lot nowadays, it is by discussing, informing and debating about this that we get more close to racial democracy”, explained the teacher. 

“Our country and our state are dangerous places to be black and young”

“Brazil is a dangerous place to be black and Rio Grande do Norte is one of the worst places to be black and young”, Mercês also warned during the class. The reality can be drawn through data from the Violence Atlas, released in August 2020 by the Institute for Applied Economic Research (Ipea) and the Brazilian Public Security Forum (FBSP). The study analyzes the years 2008 to 2018 and points out that in Brazil, cases of homicide of black people (black and brown) increased by 11.5% in a decade. 

During the period, the states that had the highest homicide rates among the black population were located in the North and Northeast regions, with emphasis on Roraima (87.5), Rio Grande do Norte (71.6), Ceará (69.5 ), Sergipe (59.4) and Amapá (58.3). Between 2008 and 2018, there was also an increase of 13.3% in the rate of young people killed and homicides were the main cause of deaths among young men. 

Health 

Doctor in Public Health, Mercês Santos points to the National Policy for Comprehensive Health of the Black Population, established in 2009, as one of the necessary instruments in the knowledge of health professionals in training. The Unified Health System (SUS) guideline aims, according to her, to guarantee equality and the realization of the right to health for black people. Having as its hallmark the recognition of racism as a social determinant of health conditions, the Policy establishes objectives, guidelines, strategies and management responsibilities in all spheres, with a view to promoting equity in health.

Care, attention, health promotion and disease prevention actions, as well as participatory management, popular participation and social control, knowledge production, training and continuing education for health workers are among the document's guidelines. 

For the psychology resident of the Multidisciplinary Residency in Health Care for People with Disabilities, Giovanni Sampaio, one of the reasons why the study of racial issues in the training of ISD professionals is important is in the community. The territory in which the ISD is located, the rural area of Macaíba/RN, has the largest quilombola community in Rio Grande do Norte, Capoeiras. 

“I really think that the majority of users at Anita Garibaldi (the Anita Garibaldi Health Education and Research Center, from ISD) are black people and quilombolas, we have a quilombola community in our territory, so we need to be informed about these issues, because racial demands come to us all the time, including when it comes to mental health, from people who have suffered prejudice due to the color of their skin at home. And if we don't pay attention, don't inform ourselves about this, we also run the risk of putting ourselves in the position of a rapist”, reflects the psychologist.

Privileges and content

“When we talk about our difficulties in the face of racial prejudice, another guy, who is white, sometimes says “ah, I’ve also suffered this and that”. We have to remember that it also carries a historical reality that is not from the perspective of individuality or meritocracy”, says Mercês. She points out that it is necessary to reflect on privileges and, above all, listen to black people without invalidating their experience. 

“Whiteness needs to rethink its place of privilege. Why not take a look at these issues? It is extremely important to think and be informed about this, especially because racism is internalized, there is no problem in admitting this, but it is necessary to stop and listen when you are identified as racist, because this is not something individual, it is structural. Recognize and rethink at that moment, so as not to continue perpetuating oppression”, says the social scientist, who also comments that listening to black people does not mean listening to them just talking about racism. “Read, listen to music, study, watch black people. We also need to rethink the content we consume, the people we listen to. In your daily life, in your entertainment, in your group of friends, in your research there are black people”, he reflects. 

Reducing inequalities 

In the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the construction of an anti-racist society is included in goal number 10, which aims to promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, regardless of age, gender, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion, economic status or other situation. Furthermore, it aims to ensure equal opportunities and reduce inequalities, in particular through the elimination of discriminatory laws, policies and practices and the promotion of appropriate legislation, policies and actions in this regard.

The class taught by Mercês Santos is part of the discipline’s program “Education for Global Citizenship”, taken by students from the Institute’s Multiprofessional Residency in Health Care for People with Disabilities and Master’s in Neuroengineering programs and aims to contribute to this objective. The discipline is headed by the professor-researcher and general director of ISD, Reginaldo Freitas Júnior.

The SDGs include global goals that are at the heart of the Santos Dumont Institute's work, such as quality education, health and well-being, innovation and the achievement of gender equality, as well as the empowerment of women and girls.