Antonio Hamilton Mourão #racist blackwomenofbrazil.co

As the elections are less than two months away, the time came for the controversial figure to name a running mate for his run for the Palácio do Planalto. And as like-minded people tend to stick together, it should come as no surprise that his selection for Vice-President has made his debut as Bolsonaro’s partner by coming out the gate spitting racist rhetoric.

Out of the gate blazing, General Antônio Hamilton Mourão declared on August 6th that two ingredients within Brazil’s “cultural stew” are the “indolence” of the native Brazilian population and the “trickster” nature of black Africans.

Having a military background, like Bolsonaro, the military reserve made the statement at the Câmara de Indústria e Comércio de Caxias do Sul (Serra Gaúcha) (Chamber of Industry and Commerce of Caxias do Sul in Serra Gaúcha, Rio Grande do Sul). As can be expected, the declaration set the world of social media abuzz with repudiations of what many defined as open display of racist stereotyping.

Mourão went on to speak of the underdevelopment, social and political conflicts of Latin America, a region he referred to as a “condominium of peripheral countries”.

The intriguing thing about the general’s statements is that the declarations were brazenly made regardless of the social groups described in such disparaging terms. The general himself is of native Brazilian ancestry and city councilman Edson da Rosa (MDB), who is black, was among the dignitaries in attendance listening to his speech.

Knowing how his words could come across as offensive, he actually excused himself in the presence of Rosa regarding his comments on Africans. Below is an excerpt of his speech:

“And our Brazil? I have already mentioned our strategic nature. But you have a hard time turning that into power. There is still the famous ‘complexo de vira-lata’ (mutt complex) here in our country, unfortunately. We have to get over this. There is this political, economic and psychosocial crisis. We have a cultural heritage, an inheritance in which there are many people who enjoy the privilege. But there is a tendency for the comrade to want that privilege for it. It can’t be like this. This inheritance of privilege is an Iberian heritage. We have a certain inheritance of indolence, which comes from the indigenous culture. I’m an Indian. My father is an Amazonian. And the malandragem (trickery), Edson Rosa, nothing against, but the malandragem comes from the African. So, this is our cultural crucible. Unfortunately, we like martyrs, populist leaders and the macunaímas (see note one),” the general stated.

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