MORENA - THE COLORS AND RACES OF BRAZIL
Faculty: tstephens@spanport.rutgers.edu
This is to say that I found your statements published in the CS Monitor on race, language and Political Correctness in Brazil to be personally offensive and intellectually inane. They were just as asinine as the list of "Politically Incorrect" terms published by the certain people in the Brazilian Government. I also strongly disagree that the Portuguese language needs fixing.
The use of the words "neguinha" or "neguinho" is not, as you say, a case of extreme racism. How typical of some MLA-type gringo branquelo professor to suppose that he has the right to tell a Brazilian (of any color) not only what words are acceptable, but to insinuate that he knows better then even the speaker the true meaning and context of those words. Such arrogance! According to the article it is as if you are saying: "You might think you are being affectionate when using the word 'neginha,' but you are really being a vile racist. Luckily, I the enlightened intellectual am here to illuminate you poor ignorant racists in Brazil as to what terms are proper and acceptable (to us!), and, if it be the case, we can actually tell you what you really mean when you use words we do not like."
Let me make this very clear, professor, there is absolute nothing wrong with the words 'neguinha' and 'neginho,' 'nego' and 'nega', 'negro' and 'negra,' or even 'preto' and 'preta' - when used properly. You may get into trouble depending on the tone or adjectives used with these words, but that is another problem. There is also nothing wrong with being African or black (negro), or with making references to the color of a person's skin. I hope you can understand this. I have tried to make myself as clear as possible, but then again maybe I don't actually mean what I say, or I don't say what I mean because I am too stupid to know that I'm really saying. Orwell tinha razao, não é?
The fact is that the use of these words is pervasive in Brazilian literature, drama and music - and daily life. My own family uses them extensively with each other. I have used them. I would really like to see you tell my brother- in-law that he is a racist when he refers to his children using these terms. It would be very interesting to see. You might even learn some new words like 'cacetada' and 'porrada.' Also, while on the subject, how do you feel about the word 'cabrocha'? O velho Joaquim, as we still call him, used to use this term for his daughter, my wife. I always thought it was a term of endearment. Was he one of those evil racists also?
Nor do I accept your statement that Portuguese needs fixing. If you had said that about peoples' attitudes or behavior or about people themselves, I would have let it go. Leave the Portuguese language alone. Camoes, Drumond, Castro Alves, Amado, da Cunha and so many others did fine work without much help from foreigners. If the people of Brazil ever decide to 'fix' their language, I am sure that you and other fine scholars at Rutgers University will be at the top of the list of people to be consulted. Until then, please refrain from playing PC and Thought Police games on behalf of the Brazilian people.
I expect an answer.
Indians
There are three basic racial sources for the Brazilian people. To the original inhabitants (Indians) were added successive waves of Europeans (mainly Portuguese) and Africans (mostly from the sub-Saharan west coast). In the 16th century, the area which is now Brazil was inhabited by several hundred indigenous tribes who, while racially similar, spoke different languages and had different cultures. Groups speaking the Tupi and Guarani languages lived along the coast and in the adjoining hinterland and they established intermarriages with the Portuguese settlers. Many tribes speaking other languages (Gê, Arwak, and Karib), on the other hand, lived in the interior and they took longer to establish contact with the "outsiders". Today Brazil's native Indians number about 250,000. They are divided into roughly 200 groups and they speak some 180 different languages. The Indians live in vast areas (328,185 sq.miles [850,000 sq.km]), equal to ten percent of Brazil's total territory, which has been set aside for them by the Federal Government. In these areas, which total over three times the size of the United Kingdom, the Indians are free to preserve their life-style.
Africans
Starting in the middle of the 16th century, Africans belonging to the Bantu and to the Sudanic ethnic groups (a large proportion of the Sudanic group came from the Yoruba nation from what is today Nigeria and Benin) were brought to Brazil to work as slaves in the sugarcane industry, and later, in the gold and diamond mines and the coffee plantations. The integration process that had begun between the Europeans and the Indians rapidly spread to include the black slaves.
Europeans
This racial mixing went on as Brazil began, at the end of the 19th century, to receive increasing numbers of immigrants from all over the world. Portugal remained the single most important source of migrants to Brazil, with Italy second, followed by Lebanon. In the first half of the 20th century, as a consequence of war or economic pressures, sizable contingents of immigrants came to Brazil from parts of western, central, and eastern Europe. In 1908, 640 immigrants came to Brazil from Japan. Because of the welcoming social environment, a Japanese migration trend was established. By 1969, 247,312 Japanese had emigrated to Brazil. Today Brazilians of Japanese descent are the largest such group outside Japan.
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