03 racist expressions that you should remove from your vocabulary
We often use racist expressions without even realizing it. Racism, prejudice against black and indigenous people, is structural in Brazil. This means that our actions, ways of thinking, and ways of seeing the world are conditioned by racism. And that politics, economics, and culture are also conditioned, because all of this is done by us, the people.
Professor Silvio Almeida speaks very highly of structural racism! He has a YouTube channel with several live broadcasts, interviewing important people in the construction of anti-racist theories and paradigms, as well as artists and creators. In addition, Silvio wrote the book “ Structural Racism ” from the Feminismo Plurais collection by Djamila Ribeiro.
As a black woman, I spent part of my life needing to understand and assimilate that I would have to work harder, study harder, and run harder to reach the same level as white people, for example. All we need is more equal opportunities, and for our differences to be valued!
Living in the city center also made all of this more latent and apparent. Before, in the family environment, racism came in a different way. But, it was during my process of moving that I noticed that it permeated my mind, and the way I saw myself in the world and understood my trajectory.
Do you also like the idea of living in the city center? Come and take a look at our apartments !
That's why I've brought you three racist expressions that you may have already used in your life, which show how our world works and denounce what we need to change. Let's get to know them and become aware!
Foot in the kitchen
It is unlikely that you will find a black person in Brazil who has never heard this expression. The famous “foot in the kitchen” explains a LOT about our country and the colonization process.
To update those who jumped on the bandwagon, colonization was a physical, spiritual, and mental process of conquest and enslavement of territory and people, carried out by white Europeans. In Brazil, it began in 1500 with the arrival of Pedro Álvares Cabral and his Portuguese troops. We grew up with the story that when they arrived here, the colonizers gave a mirror to the indigenous people and in exchange they received land, shelter, and food. This is a lie. Our history is permeated with much struggle and resistance by the native peoples and, later, by the black peoples.
The arrival of Africans to Brazil through slavery was shocking, and to this day we still experience the remnants and consequences of the slave regime. During slavery, black people were separated from their families and forced to work on sugar mills, farms, and plantations. The colonial structure consisted of a house, which had a slave quarters underneath or next to it, a place where black people stayed, slept, ate, and developed their affections. The slave quarters were dark, damp, and without any kind of protection or comfort.
In the homes, some black women were placed in the kitchen to prepare food for the masters and mistresses. Thanks to these women and the African people and their descendants, we have a variety of delicious foods. With indigenous wisdom and the vastness of African ingredients, fish, moqueca, acarajé, corn flour, pamonha, rice, beans, feijoada, palm oil, pepper, okra, sweet potatoes, and yams are part of our diet.
And because of this forced labor in the kitchen during slavery, the expression “foot in the kitchen” became popular, usually said to black girls who like to cook. “Foot in the kitchen” means that this black person has black ancestors who were enslaved in the house, and because of this, this forced labor and this inheritance, this person likes cooking and knows how to do it very well.
“Pé na cozinha” recalls and reaffirms the era of slavery, showing that black people today are still associated with labor, force and violence. I am a black person who loves to cook, I really do! I will still write a text with easy recipes for those who live alone. And it is not because I had great-great-grandmothers who were slaves that I love the stove, but because there is an ancestral wisdom in me, from another continent, that still runs in my blood.
I recommend you watch the documentary “From Africa to the USA – a gastronomic journey”, which talks about the importance of African cuisine in American cuisine! It’s on Netflix, in series format.
Bedside table: part of racist expressions
This is from the mouth of the people, so to speak. “Criado mute” is such a common expression that it took me a long time to understand that it is indeed racist and that we can now remove it from our vocabulary.
Black people who came into slavery were raised, and part of the oppression carried out by the colonizers was to separate these people from their families and friends, thus preventing them from communicating or building bonds more easily. Black men and women were placed with different peoples, and even enemy peoples, thus making resistance strategies and communication difficult.
Language is a fundamental part of any culture and community. It is through language that we identify ourselves, express our feelings and think. Language and thought are two sides of the same coin, and that is why it was part of colonization to take this away from black people. Having a bedside table was the dream of European colonists.
So, why not call the piece of furniture on which we place things a “nightstand”? This alludes to slavery and the idea that we need someone to serve, someone in an inferior position. In this case, the someone is no longer a black person – in some cases, we still have slave labor today – and has become a piece of furniture. Wood and nails that still carry Brazil’s racist history.
My father, a black architect and carpenter, made all the furniture for my house. He put everything together and left it exactly the way I had always dreamed! And during this process of moving, we had to design the room and the bed. So I paid attention to how I told him I wanted a side table. Obviously, saying “side table” takes a lot longer than saying “nightstand,” or it takes longer to understand what you want to say, but even so, it is a way for us to change our vocabulary and stop using racist expressions.
Little black guy thinks that....
But, the most classic of all racist expressions is this one. Okay... I can't say which racist expression is most used by Brazilians, but I would put my hand in the fire for this one. Well, I'll give you some context here about why "neguinho acha que..." is a racist legacy that we can change, and that's it!
With the process of slavery, the process of constructing the image of black people in Brazil began. Always reserved for spaces of subordination, without affection and with a lot of violence, whether physical, spiritual or aesthetic, black people were constructed as delinquents, thieves and outlaws. We had the criminalization of capoeira, through laws that prohibited this cultural expression from being performed, because it is of African origin! Then, the criminalization of samba, another cultural expression, but also a source of resistance for many black communities, which through samba managed to stay alive, strong and present in today's world. And currently, we have the constant fight against the criminalization of funk, constantly associated with pornography, drug trafficking and crime. Funk, like capoeira and samba, is an artistic expression of great relevance for black people, which also represents income, social advancement, community feeling and revolt.
Criminalization has always been part of the history of the black population. It is no coincidence that when we talk about a young black man who was in possession of 5 grams of some illicit drug, we say thief, but when it comes to a young white man, we just say boy. It is one of the colonial strategies used to this day to keep black people in an inferior position.
Therefore, when we use racist expressions such as “black guy thinks that...” “then comes black guy saying...” “several black guys...” we are usually referring to black people, or just people, who said or did something wrong. Using the word “black guy” or “negro” in a pejorative sense means that our social imagination is always conditioned by this colonization strategy.
Well, these are three racist expressions that we still use, but we can remove them from our vocabulary. Oh, and this text is not meant to blame anyone. White people are not always to blame these days, but rather responsible for maintaining the racist structure, and changing this means moving to support black initiatives and personalities!
Furthermore, living in the city center can be a first step towards learning about the black history of São Paulo, and thus becoming increasingly aware of the resistance of black people. I wrote a text about 03 places that are black territories in the city center , you can read it by clicking here.
Oh, I love knowing what you felt when you read the text, send me an email? omiobinrin@gmail.com
Want to know more about the center, culture and diversity? Check out the other texts on our blog!