Brazilian Minister Anielle Franco, from the Racial Equality portfolio, which was reactivated in the new government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, defended the importance of the Quota Law in the country, stating that it is the most important, currently in force , in the reparation that the country owes to the black population.
“The Quota Law is one of the biggest repairs we have in the country. I am the result of the Quota Law of the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), something that makes me proud and I have been saying it. I will repeat it a lot and I will thank President Lula, because today there is no more important reparation law than the Quota Law in the country,” said the minister in an interview with the Brasil em Pauta program, which aired on Sunday the 5th on TV Brasil.
The Quota Law completed 10 years of implementation in August of last year.
According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), between 2010 and 2019, the number of blacks in the country’s universities grew by 400%. The Higher Education Census of the Anísio Teixeira National Institute of Educational Studies and Research (INEP) of 2018 shows that the participation of indigenous people in higher education increased by 842% between 2010 and 2017.
When the Quota Law was created, there were already seat reservation programs for the black population in 80% of the country’s public universities. The pioneer was the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), which adopted the model in 2003.
The Law was the result of the struggle and elaboration of the black movement. Still in 1983, the then senator Abdias do Nascimento presented Bill 1332, which provided for the creation of 20% quotas for women and blacks in the public service and in universities.
Read More: For another 50 years? Find out the opinion of parliamentarians on the Quota Law, which is 10 years old (available in Portuguese)
In an interview with TV Brasil, Anielle Franco recalled that, although the Law is legitimized by numbers and has been in force for a decade, it is still common to hear negative comments against the regulations. According to the minister, this is something that has existed since the implementation of the law, in 2012.
“Speaking of 2012, which was the year I entered, there were still many people there who said ‘ah, the Quota Law doesn’t work’, or even said ‘beneficiaries can’t continue once they enter’, so I came from a 12-year career in the United States, my English was fluent and it was great, because I was able to verify within the university that this was not real,” recalled the minister.
As minister, Anielle Franco appointed sociologist Márcia Lima to the Secretariat for Affirmative Action Policies and Combat and Overcoming Racism.
Anielle Franco is the sister of Councilor Marielle Franco, murdered in March 2018 in Rio de Janeiro. Two people accused of being the perpetrators of the crime are currently in custody.
However, the case still lacks key culprits, such as the motivation for the crime and those responsible for directing the murders. Marielle Franco’s driver, Anderson Gomes, was also killed that day.
Editing: Flávia Chacon and Lucas Weber
