By Claudia Valenzeula | 4 June 2013
To overcome gender barriers is one thing; to overcome gender and racial barriers is quite another. Brazilian minister Luiza Bairros tells Claudia Valenzeula how she has done it
Brazil. Country of carnivals, beaches, economic growth and football. Its melting pot of religions, languages, demographics and cultures, not to mention abundant natural resources, vast wildernesses and huge, bustling cities, marks it out as a country of rich diversity and one well-suited to the global spotlight in which it finds itself. But its diversity has not always been a force for good. Although it is led by a female president, deep divisions remain, as the country’s minister for policies in racial equality promotion Luiza Bairros can testify. And having risen to a senior position in government, overcoming gender and racial barriers along the way, she speaks from a position of considerable authority.
“I cannot think of myself as a woman without thinking of me as a black woman,” she says. “A black woman from my generation does not establish as a goal to become a minister of state. When you know the ins and outs of racism, you know your expectations may have limits. Therefore, the obstacles placed before me throughout my career had more to do with race than only with gender. I say that with confidence because this is backed up by data revealed by statistics in Brazil. Racial discrimination is much more present in Brazilian society than gender discrimination.
“When observed from the salary perspective, Brazilian hierarchy puts white men at the very top, followed by white women, black men and then black women at the bottom,” she continues. “This shows an overlap of the presence of racism, rather than a gender issue per se. Gender issues do exist, but for a black woman the racial dimension will always represent more than gender. The racial condition makes gender discrimination much more complex for black women and, therefore, much harder to be overcome.”
Starting points
Such obstacles did not deter her from opting for a career in the public sector — a decision she made soon after graduation and prompted by her desire to serve the public and a longtime interest in public planning issues. A position with the Secretariat for Labor soon followed, where she focused on the exclusion of black workers in the labor market, something that she, fortunately, managed to avoid.
“Many times what is considered an asset in most people, can be considered a flaw if you’re a black woman,” she reflects. “I consider myself to be an assertive person, with some degree of courage and the ability to take hard decisions. This is usually seen as positive qualities in white women. In my case, sometimes are interpreted as arrogance and conceit. It is always an extremely difficult game for a black person to know what is expected of him or her, inside an environment dominated by racism.”
The struggle is ongoing. “I try not to care too much with how people interpret me,” she admits. “It’s a never-ending game. Sometimes you do absolutely normal things, and they are interpreted as excessive shyness. Other times you fight with strength, and it can be interpreted as arrogance or reverse racism. It is walking an extremely fine line. It’s one of racism’s most powerful weapons — setting limits for your actions, setting acceptable behavior that is considered appropriate for a black person, which is to be submissive. It is a struggle to escape the stereotype and be yourself.”
Bairros has never strayed far from confronting the shadow of racism during her career. Prior to her current role, she was involved in racism-fighting projects from the United Nations Development Program and served as the Secretary for the Promotion of Racial Equality in the State of Bahia for two years before her promotion to the ministry. Given what she believes is racism’s deep penetration of Brazilian society, it is clear that there is no shortage of issues to address.
“Racism is a very important piece of Brazilian society, to the point of structuring all of its hierarchies,” she says. “Today, despite all our advances, society is not unanimous on the matter. We live a very peculiar situation — Brazil deals with, faces, and debates racism, but we haven’t reached consensus on how to make its effects disappear. For example, last year the Federal Supreme Court of Justice unanimously declared Affirmative Actions constitutionally valid, and they have been used as public policy tools for a decade. Yet there are still influential conservative forces positioned against these measures, despite all evidence of the benefits they bring to society as a whole.”
Priorities in action
However, such is Bairros’ commitment to these reforms, she lists implementing the National Affirmative Action Program — ensuring that a host of individual policies are incorporated into the Federal Government by the end of President Dilma’s term in office — as one of her top three priorities. Another focus is strengthening the internal management and systems of her department, and completing the top three is a focus on the traditional societal groups: the Quilombola communities, the communities of African origin and gypsies.
We want to get all ministries to understand that issues related to these communities can only be dealt with if institutions work together in integrated manner,” she says. “These three priorities are linked together by another element, which is the National System for Promotion of Racial Equality. This system aims to foster collaboration among the three spheres of government, establishing federal, state and municipal competences for delivering the national policy for promotion of racial equality. As we implement these three linked priorities, we will make a huge step forward and reach the same organizational level as policies for food safety, for instance.” But that’s not to say incorporating diversity into policy-making will be easy.
“People, public managers and authorities must abandon racism,” she says. “If they fail to do so, they will not be able to manage processes of social inclusion. The problem in Brazil is that no one admits the existence of a white identity. There is a racial group that thinks of itself as universal — so universal that has no need for color. Therefore, white people — especially those in positions of power — do not consciously see that their place is a privilege and not an acquired right.”
Fortunately, the minister can wield significant influence in the fight for greater equality, and she goes on to express the faith that her position as a black woman is inspiring others to follow in her footsteps “I hope so,” she says. “As much as I was inspired by other women, starting with the ones in my family — my mother, my great-aunts, in particular. I was reminded of this recently with the approval of extended benefits for domestic workers in Brazil. With many of my family members having served as domestic workers, this was a meaningful moment because it has rescued more than six million black women in this kind of occupation who were previously never entitled to anything. So this has a deep meaning for black people in general.
“At the same time, I remember these female domestic workers in my family,” she continues. “They were always role models, women who would always be asked first — even by the men — what should or should not be done. So these were very strong role models of how you can have an underappreciated social position and not be stripped from your leadership role. I also have met strong militant women in the black movement. What I am as a woman today is the result of my participation in the black movement. It was in the movement that I understood that being black does not make you less of a woman.”
This understanding is something that has helped propel her forward throughout her long and distinguished career — itself far from over. With projects still to pursue, and programs to implement, she is hopeful that a fairer, more equal Brazil lies within touching distance. A brighter, more positive future is the ambition — and few can doubt her determination to make this vision a reality.
Claudia Valenzuela is a Director, Government & Public Sector, Ernst & Young Brazil. [email protected]
This article first appeared in the April 2013 edition of Ernst & Young's Citizen Today magazine.
