Mestizophobia: UN Women promotes course in Brazil on “problem of mixing of races”

It is planned to run from August 8 and September 1 in eight states in Brazil a “Course About Gender, Race and Ethnicity for Journalists”. The course has the support of the Secretariat for the Promotion of Racial Equality (SEPPIR) and of the Secretariat of Policies for Women (SPM) of the government of the President Rousseff and is being promoted by the National Federation of Journalists (Federação Nacional dos Jornalistas – FENAJ) and the UN Women – UN Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women. According to the syllabus of the course, he will address, among other topics related to women, Blacks and Indigenous, “basics racism and the problem of mixing of races in Brazil”. The specific objectives of the course included “Identifying new parameters in the selection and structuring of news” and “stimulate the production of proactive news on Black and Indigenous women and integration of such groups as characters in stories in general.” The racial politics of the President Rousseff government advocates the imposition of a Black identity on mulattos and other browns and does not recognize Mestizo identity. The course will be taught in the cities of Manaus, Belém, Fortaleza, Recife, Maceió, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Porto Alegre, in that order. The Mestizo Nation Movement and other Brazilian mixed organizations consider the expression unacceptable, discriminatory, contrary to the Durban Declaration and are seeking clarification from the UN officials to which the Brazilian representation is subject.