Una decolonizzazione mai terminata. Il modello portoghese di colonizzazione in Brasile e la costruzione dell’Altro/a africano/a nell’immaginario razzista

Abstract

In this paper I analys e how the narrative discou r se about t he presumed specific characteristics of Portuguese coloni zation in Brazil moulded racism in Brazil and Portugal. Recently in Portugal there have been episodes of police violence against black people. These episodes have to be considered not only as the product of contemporary racism and it s links with neoliberalism effects on marginalized groups , but also as the product of racist and colonial Portuguese ideology . In the case of Brazil, Portuguese colonization is a key element to comprehend the national ideology of mesticagem , and the false idea of inclusion of African descendants in Brazilian culture that it convey s. The restrictive valorisation ( Guillaumin , 1972) of black and indigenous people presents in Bra zilian racist ideology is in effec t rooted in the Portug uese model of colonization which has been represented as more “human” since the slavery time. Portuguese men are been described as particularly open to mingle with colonized people, especially women, of other cultures and “races”. The notion of lusotropicalism , with its celebrating spirit, has contributed to establish this representation and it has legitimized Portuguese colonization and e xploitation also in Africa. These harmful representation s of Portuguese colonization and lusotropicalism ideology have thus produced the double effect of negating racism in both Brazil and Portugal.