Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) Brazil Agency
Published 05/08/2024 19:56
Brasília – Senator Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ), son of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), was reprimanded by the president of the Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ) of the Senate, Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil-AP), after using an expletive to criticize the Minister of Racial Equality, Anielle Franco. The discussion in the collegiate this Wednesday, 8, was about a bill that intends to extend racial quotas in federal public competitions.
Flávio was criticizing the Ministry of Racial Equality for a proposal related to people affected by the rains hitting Rio Grande do Sul. Anielle’s ministry wants gypsy and quilombola families to be prioritized in the distribution of food by rescue teams. The state is suffering a climate tragedy that left 95 dead and another 131 missing as of Tuesday afternoon, the 7th.
“Is this what we want for society? As if the tragedy had chosen skin color. In this case of Rio Grande do Sul, we can’t even talk about the social condition, because it affects everyone. Imagine who is white and poor in this country now Fuck it, is that it?” said Flávio. Estadão contacted the Ministry of Racial Equality, but received no response.
After Flávio’s statement, Alcolumbre paralyzed the CCJ session and asked for the swear word said by the senator to be removed from the Senate’s shorthand notes. The former president’s son apologized and said he had become angry because of “provocations” made by other parliamentarians.
Then, senator Fabiano Contarato (PT-ES) defended Anielle and said that Flávio should “study history”. “Whoever is hit first will be the population that suffers the most. Not that white people don’t suffer. I have no doubt. But there has to be priority given to those who suffer most. It’s the reality of this unequal country. It’s structural racism. Go study history “, he stated.
In addition to the measure to prioritize quilombolas and gypsies in Rio Grande do Sul, Flávio also criticized Anielle for the term “environmental racism”, which was cited by the minister in January after the damage caused by the rains that hit Rio de Janeiro. Parliamentarians opposing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) criticized the definition, while government supporters came to the defense of the head of Racial Equality.
The project that was being discussed by Flávio and Contarato increases the total number of places reserved for racial quotas in public competitions to 30%, including indigenous people and quilombolas. Today, racial quotas for contests are 20% and only reach the black population, which includes black and brown people.
The law on quotas for competitions, which was sanctioned by former president Dilma Rousseff (PT) in 2014, expires on June 9, and the proposal being analyzed by the Legislature extends the system for another ten years. The CCJ approved the proposal this Wednesday, but it still needs to pass the Senate plenary and the Chamber of Deputies.
