In order to stimulate reflections on historical inequalities and institutional commitment to anti-racist practices, the Judiciary of the state of Tocantins concluded this Friday (June 27th) the Workshop on Racism in the Social and Historical Formation of Brazil. Held in three virtual meetings, the training brought together magistrates, civil servers and trainees in discussions about how racism manifests itself, often in a naturalized way, in the daily life of public institutions and in the administration of Justice itself.
The initiative is part of the Justice in Dialogue project, coordinated by the Projects and Contract Management Division of the Directorate of People Management (Digep), with the support of the Tocantins Superior School of the Judges of the State of Tocantins (Esmat). Throughout the workshop, Janaina Costa Rodrigues, a social worker and researcher, presented historical, social and conceptual reflections that help to understand the persistence of inequalities and the urgency of promoting more conscious and inclusive institutional environments.
For Janaina, "the proposal of this theme is a proposal to start the discussion of the workshop from a vision of totality. You can't talk about racism in isolation from the social, political and economic history of our country. Brazil is a country with slave-owning roots, this is systemic and it's very important to talk about this element”.
During the discussions, participants revisited historical data on the enslavement of black people, the impacts of the lack of reparation policies in the post-abolition period and the reproduction of stigmas that mark Brazilian society. The programming also discussed concepts such as institutional racism and recreational racism, as well as the intersectionalities among race, gender, class and other dimensions of oppression.
On the first day of the meetings (June 25th), Judge Rosa Maria Rodrigues Gazire Rossi drew attention to the way in which racism is still present in the Justice System and stressed the importance of creating spaces for discussion on the subject.
“So [racism] manifests itself not only in the composition of our Judiciary, but also in decisions, stereotypes and prejudices. That's why we're congratulated for giving ourselves this opening to deal with racism," she said.
The purpose of the workshop, according to Tania Mara Alves Barbosa, head of the DIVPGC, is to create continuous spaces for learning and self-reflection on how the history of Brazil has been marked by processes of exclusion and how this is reflected in the present.
“The general aim of the Justice in Dialogue project is to encourage reflections based on historical, philosophical and sociological assumptions about human rights issues, which have an impact on everyday socio-occupational life, with a view to combat prejudice, discrimination and all forms of oppression, providing an opportunity to respect diversity,” she explained.
Paula Maia, director of people management, reinforced the institutional commitment to tackle these inequalities. “The Judiciary can no longer remain neutral in the face of so much structural racial inequality that still marks the society we live in,” she stressed. For her, "Digep, in addition to supporting, is taking on the duty of fostering this space for discussion and critical training, so that we can revisit this past, deconstruct narratives of exclusion and think of a way to improve institutionally, bringing fairer, more conscious and equitable practices in diversity”.
The activity was conducted in a participatory and expository manner, with the presentation of data, videos, texts and practical reflections that stimulated the engagement of the participants. Among the main topics discussed were the myth of racial democracy, the impacts of institutional racism on interpersonal relationships and the possible ways to develop anti-racist practices in the Judiciary.
Throughout the programming, the institutional channels for reporting violations and the Protocol for Judgments with a Racial Perspective, a normative instrument issued by the National Council of Justice (CNJ) to promote more equitable decisions, were also disseminated. The training ended with a collective call for commitment to cultural change.
“The concept of racism is based on a power relationship and it's important to say that racism also occurs by action or omission, directly or indirectly,” said Janaina.
