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Challenges Faced By African Brazilian People in Brazil

History has recorded numerous cases of human beings who were treated inappropriately.

Some people used to classify themselves as more important than others. African slaves were

used by their masters from western countries as the source of labor. Most western countries

obtained people to work on their projects from Africa since they could provide cheap labor.

Brazil is one country which had the highest number of slaves. Most slaves in Brazil were Indian

and Africans. Portuguese, the colonizers of Brazil, wanted people to work on farms for the

higher production of coffee and sugarcane. The demand for more labor saw the Portuguese

acquire slaves from Africa. The slaves from Africa were met with various challenges since they

were not working from their will but forced to work by ruthless people and under harsh working

conditions. The enslaved people suffered repression by their masters, and they were denied their

several human rights. This study seeks to explore the various ways African were denied their

fundamental and equality rights and repressed by Portuguese during their enslaved era.

One of the challenges faced by the blacks was forced labor in the plantations, mining or the

household of their keepers. It is noted that the sole reason for the advancement of the slave trade

during the 15

century was in the plight of free labor that led to the establishment of black

slavery trade. According to Yuko Miki (5), the Africa slaves were to supplement the chronic

labor shortage experience in Brazil since the indigenous Indians were termed as hostile and

needed to be removed or tamed. PresidentVascocellos also pointed out that the effort made by

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the settlers in the coffee plantation was remarkable, but it would have been much better if all the

agriculture work were done by free labor from the African Brazilian.

Also, a lot of evidence is presented on how the Portuguese and the Europeans used

excessive force towards the Africans to work on their plantations. The masters employed

barbarous means to make them work or as they called it "maintain control." The working

conditions were also not favorable since they worked for long hours with few short breaks.

Additionally, food and water supplied to the workers were not enough that exposed the blacks to

inhuman treatments. One survivor from the slave trade narrated how they were treated during the

shipping to Brazil and in one occasion one of the slaves who due to thirst tried to stab a

Portuguese who had brought them water and was bitten to death and thrown overboard. When

the ship arrived at the dock, the slaves were sold to the Europeans or Portuguese, and the price

would depend on the skills possessed (Butler 971). For instance, a skilled shoemaker or an

experienced household cleaner fetched more money than the ones who had no skill and end up as

laborers in the plantations. The keepers only had to cater for food and shelter to the African

Brazilian slaves.

It is with no doubt that, the Africa Brazilians were subjected to suppressive conditions by

being forced to work against their will. First is being captured and sold to their masters against

their will and no compensation for their hard work. Also, their human rights were violated by

being wiped, long working hours or mistreatment by their masters. These suppression leads to

lowering of human quality as the black people were viewed as an inferior race that awaked racial

inequalities among the people in the world. The hatred arose and led to resistance and movement

in a fight for their freedom by the Afro Brazilians. The plight of good working conditions has

been resourceful in shaping today's labor laws and workers unions.

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The slavery in Brazil was marked with enormous racial segregation. To have a better

understanding of the aspect of racial inequality, it is essential for one to know how to identify

ethnic groups. There were two groups of African categories. The first one is the pardo, and the

other is preto. The sum of preto and pardo groups made up the black population in Brazil. Racial

segregation is a fact that is clearly seen in Brazil during the era of African Brazilian slavery.

Africans are found to spend their lives in shanty towns known as favelas, palafitas or mocambos.

There is a remarkable difference in the schools attended by the African Brazilians and the whites

in the country. World Health Organization has recorded Baixada Fluminense as a significant

poverty pocket which exposed the people to high risks of diseases. The five municipalities of

Baixada have no sewer which is a great risk to the people living in those regions. Children

played in the stench of gutters which carries filth via mud-ridden and street infested with

mosquitoes. These gutters are referred to as the ‘black gutters.‘ This kind of environment formed

a characteristic of areas where Brazilian Africans live. The sewage in these areas are untreated,

and this is a high risk to those people living in those areas.

Moreover, the Public policy does not address the issues of some infectious diseases such as

leprosy in Baixada. A study shows that seventy percent of children from Baixada do not get

proper nutrition. In areas where Africans Brazilians live there is an enormous uneven distribution

of state resources, and this split the people socially and economically. The biggest gap in social

inequality has the potential to separate those people who live in urban areas from the ones who

spend their lives in rural areas where poverty dominates, and Africans Brazilians are the

majority. Approximately seventy percent of those people from the rural areas comprise the

undercounted African Brazilian people (Seidman 110). Slavery in these rural areas was seen as

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the right thing hence there was no punishment. A great number of labor officials were killed

between 1964 and 1986

From the cases mentioned above, it is clear that Africans Brazilians were mistreated and

mishandled just because of their race. There is clear evidence that lives of people were

terminated and hence denied their right to live. According to my opinion, these people ought not

to have been killed since they were human beings just like any other person. Children were seen

to stay in places which exposed them to health risks. Prohibition of the blacks from attending

whites’ school should not have been there since students are the same even if their color is

different. Racial segregation was a total unfair treatment of the black people and should have

been avoided since it denied them rights to life and equality. Many people who had the potential

to make significant discoveries could not because of the treatments they were given during the

period.

Discrimination is yet another challenging repression suffered by Brazilian African people

up to date. To understand this disparity better, it is advisable to consider the race first. In the

hierarchy of earnings, the race of a person becomes the first determining factor. White women

received priority over the earnings of black men. African Brazilian women fall at the bottom of

the scale, and they earned the least. Blacks earn less than half the amount earned by the whites.

The earning of Afro Brazilian women earning is almost a quarter of what a white man makes

(Seidman 113). The study by the UN indicates that discrimination was also present during

punishing of the lawbreakers. Afro Brazilians were sentenced for a more extended period than

the whites for the same crime and there is a probability that there was a discrimination of black

people in the prisons (Afro-Brazilians 1). Killings of black people in cities such as Rio de Janerio

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by police were twice that of whites. Whites also discriminated Africans during jobs recruitment.

Afro Brazilians were also denied the right to full citizenship.

Discrimination against Africans had numerous negative impacts on their lives. The longer

period sentence given to Afro Brazilians is an indication that sentencing an African was not a

way of disciplining them but meant to make them suffer what they shouldn’t have suffered. This

kind of treatment denied them right to equality. Treating someone differently from the other

because of doing the same thing can only humiliate the person, and hence the government could

not achieve the disciplinary goals by doing so. It is evident that the twenty percent economic

participation of Africans to the Gross Domestic Product is. As a result unemployment. If African

Brazilian people were employed, they could have more contributions to the GDP. Consequently,

the whole Brazil would have benefited from the Afro Brazilian people.

Brutality is yet another suppression encounter by the Africa Brazilian. The slaves from

Africa were subjected to inhuman treatment, which transcended even after abolition of slave

trade. One kind of brutality is that the afro Brazilians was subjected to severe punishment by

their masters. According to (“25 curious facts about slavery in Brazil” 1) the slaves were

subjected to a maximum of 50 lashes as a form of punishment. During that period, capoeira was

also illegal and those caught were to be jailed for six months or be receiving 300 lashes. The

Africans were also merchandised as products in an open auction after being shipped to Brazil. In

addition, the afro Brazilians received inhuman treatment while working in the plantations. The

slaves started to work as early as 6.00 am and dismissed late as 10 pm. This long working hour

was accompanied with very little time to rest and also they had little to eat which was usually

bean broth. At times to change diet, the blacks were offered parts from the pigs such as the ears,

feet or tongue that the lords despised as supplement. On top of that, the blacks were supposed to

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start working from the age of seven. Consequently, the blacks aged faster and by the age of 35,

they had grown white hair and shaded teeth. Another form of brutality experienced by the blacks

was during shipping. According to research, the Africans were subjected to harsh conditions

such as congestion, lack of drinking water and food on top of brutal beating by their traffickers.

For instance, a famous ship that was used to traffic Africans to Brazil was known as tumbeiros.

This ship was named after the number of deaths of Africans who succumbed to the barbarous

treatments. The torturous treatment that the Afro Brazilian received from the hands of the

Portuguese was severe that some of them died of depression, diseases, and hunger. The living

conditions of the slaves were also poor such that they used banana leaves to shelter themselves

during rainy seasons. Rape was also a frequent thing where the masters took advantage of the

slaves no right to engage them in such brutality. In addition, groups of Indians children known as

karukas were also forced to prostitution to satisfy the sexual perversity of the white settlers. Such

animosity experienced by the afro Brazilians was a form of suppression that they had to endure.

Even today, the afro Brazilians are exposed to brutality from the indigenous. Statistics indicate

that an Afro Brazilian youth is skilled in every 23 minutes.

The Africa Brazilians encountered hardship during and even after slavery practice. The

experience was so advanced that many Africa loss their lives and today such history traumatize

many. Some modes of suppression that the Africans were subjected includes forced labor where

the Africans were to work for long hours and they had little to eat. Additionally, they were

comforted by a lot of brutalities and racial discriminations by the settlers and the indigenous.

Afro Brazilians received more punishment than other people for the same mistake, denial of

citizenship and poor living conditions. Some of the advance effects still apply today and more

lives are lost in an attempt to fight for equality. This research paper has sought to unveil such

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experiences in an attempt to reshape our knowledge on human rights and the struggle to freedom

of the Africa Brazilian and for the oppressed in general.

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Works Cited

“Afro-Brazilians.” Minority Rights Group, N.d, Minorityrights.Org/Minorities/Afro-Brazilians/.

Butler, Kim D. "Slavery In The Age Of Emancipation: Victims And Rebels In Brazil’S Late

19Th-Century Domestic Trade." Journal Of Black Studies, vol 42, no. 6, 2011, pp. 968-

992., doi:10.1177/0021934711399435.

“25 Curious Facts About Slavery In Brazil.” Black Women Of Brazil, 2013,

Blackwomenofbrazil.Co/2013/12/29/25-Curious-Facts-About-Slavery-In-Brazil/

Miki, Yuko. “Slave and Citizen In Black And Red: Reconsidering The Intersection Of African

And Indigenous Slavery In Postcolonial Brazil.” Slavery & Abolition, Vol. 35, No. 1,

2013, Pp. 1–22., Doi:10.1080/0144039x.2013.825457.

Seidman, Gay. "Beyond Racism: Race and Inequality In Brazil, South Africa, And The United

States" Contemporary Sociology: A Journal Of Reviews, Vol 33, No. 2, 2001, Pp. 105-

147.

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