During the week, the speech by the president of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, about the country’s responsibility for slavery in Brazil had repercussions on different sectors of society on both sides of the Atlantic. Civil human rights defense entities, academics and political authorities welcomed the speech, but demanded a concrete project of reparation for the set of crimes and violations committed during the colonization process.
It was the first time that a president of Portugal recognized responsibility in a more forceful way, despite the position not being shared by the Portuguese government’s council of ministers.
“We have to pay the costs. Are there actions that were not punished and those responsible were not arrested? Are there assets that were looted and not returned? Let’s see how we can fix this”, said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
Negres a fond de calle (Slave ship) – Canvas by Johann Moritz Rugendas (1830) – Johann Moritz Rugendas
And how can we exactly quantify the “costs” and losses caused by a system of exploitation and oppression that lasted centuries? Would it be possible to come up with a cash value? Or would it make more sense to talk about political, social, cultural compensations? Experts consulted by Brazil Agency indicate a series of measures and paths that should be taken by the Portuguese – and Brazilian – State to repair crimes committed against Africans, indigenous people and descendants.
Ways of repair
Naiara Leite, executive coordinator of Odara – Instituto da Mulher Negra, participated in the Forum for People of African Descent at the United Nations (UN), in Geneva, a week before the Portuguese president’s declaration. On the occasion, representatives from Portugal spoke against racism, but were criticized by Brazilian organizations of black women, who demanded a more forceful position on responsibility for slavery and reparation proposals.
With the new Portuguese declaration, Naiara warns of the need to include the main victims among those who will build reparation measures. This is so that they are not isolated acts of politicians.
“My biggest concern is that civil society organizations need to have active participation in working groups and processes. Otherwise, we will not achieve a reparation project that can actually reduce or respond to the impacts of colonialism and slavery”, says Naiara.
At the UN event, the entities presented demands about what they believe to be appropriate paths for the Portuguese State:
. Creation of museums, memory centers and other public facilities that recognize the impacts of colonization on the Afro-Brazilian population;
. Include in the official curriculum of the Portuguese Education Network the mandatory subject “History of the Harmful Impacts of Portuguese Colonialism for the Brazilian Context”;
. Sign effective pacts and collaboration agreements with Brazil – as well as with other countries that were colonized by Portugal – with the aim of promoting reparation through financial investments, safeguarding memories and reviewing pacts and partnerships of nationality and transit between countries;
. Encourage all countries in Europe founded on colonial systems to adopt reparatory measures to countries in the Global South that were founded on colonial exploitation;
. Adopt effective measures to combat xenophobia and racism against the Afro-descendant population in Portugal.
Humberto Adami, who is president of the Slavery Truth Commission of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB/RJ), highlighted the financial aspect of reparation. He understands that it would be important to create a cash fund, with investments from all states responsible for slavery. A possible model would be the one created for the Jews after the Holocaust.
But the demand is complex and would probably take some time to happen. Therefore, immediate actions are necessary.
“It is difficult to raise this money quickly. You don’t just need to wait for a fund to be set up and talk about reparations two generations from now. You can work to reach people who are alive today. An initial way is to make small reparations that can mitigate the devastating effects of black slavery in today’s Brazilian society. There are several issues that point in this direction: the demarcation of quilombola lands, the issue of indigenous people, racial quotas. All are remedial measures. Portugal can act together with Brazil on these measures that are already underway”, says Adami.
“Costs” of slavery
Different European nations participated in colonization and enslavement processes, but when talking about the transatlantic trafficking of Africans it is impossible not to highlight Portugal’s actions. It was the first modern European nation to take possession of an African territory: Ceuta, in the north of the continent, in 1425. In the following decades, it created trading posts in the Atlantic part of Africa, known as trading posts, from where expeditions to the interior could be organized in search for valuables, such as precious metals and people.
It is believed that the first shipment of slaves to Portugal occurred in 1441, when they were forced to do heavy agricultural or mining work. The demand for forced laborers increases with the establishment of sugar mills in the Atlantic islands. With the conquest of a vast territory in America, indigenous and African natives became the main workforce. One of the researchers’ estimates indicates that at least 5.8 million enslaved Africans were brought to the Brazilian colony between the 16th and 19th centuries.
These people could be captured directly by force on the mainland or obtained through negotiations with local leaders. Prisoners of wars between rival peoples became commodities in exchange for horses, weapons and other goods. It is at this point that it has become common to hear from revisionists and far-right groups that Africa is equally responsible for slavery. Who doesn’t remember the phrase “the Portuguese didn’t even set foot in Africa, it was the blacks who delivered the slaves”, said by the former president of the Republic?
Historian Monica Lima, who is a professor of African history and coordinator of the African Studies Laboratory at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (LEÁFRICA-UFRJ), explains that this is a false equivalence. Although previously practiced by some people on the African continent, enslavement was multiplied by European demand and investment.
“Some Africans became rich through the slave trade, but it was something ephemeral, short-lived, linked to sovereigns in certain places. That they could be destitute and subsequently become enslaved. There is no enrichment of African society. Peoples were decimated and family ties were broken. On the other hand, there is an entire enrichment of important sectors of European societies and colonial elites, which is something perpetual, transferred to subsequent generations. It is not even possible to compare the type of enrichment of large drug traffickers located on the European continent or in the Americas”, says Monica.
Another frequently used argument is the absence of current responsibilities, since slavery would have been a phenomenon that happened a long time ago and would no longer be related to the present.
“There are people who say that black slavery was legal at the time, that the enslaved people have already died and some who question what they have to do with it today, if they didn’t enslave anyone. And the curious thing is that these arguments coincide with those of people who were against the abolition of slavery in the 19th century. They asked for slavery to continue a little longer, because it was interesting for the sugarcane culture, which would break the Banco do Brasil, etc.”, says Humberto Adami. “People need to understand that international treaties guarantee that there has been no prescription. The watch is still valid today. The crimes in the history of slavery are imprescriptible”, says Humberto Adami.
“The basis of prosperity and wealth that allowed the construction of national states was the work of these enslaved populations. The debt is enormous. People were deprived of everything, they were ripped from their lands and, once slavery was abolished, the enslaved people and their descendants were not benefited by any type of policy to rebuild their lives”, says Monica Lima. “Today, in regions where there is no basic sanitation, schools in worse conditions, public transport in disrepair, these are precisely the regions where the majority of descendants of enslaved people live.”
For Naiara Leite, one of the main legacies of slavery is racism, which hits black women more intensely, who occupy the base of the social pyramid.
“One of the impacts to date is related to State violence and how racism operates in public security institutions. It is because of this colonial burden that the black population does not even have the right to life”, says Naiara Leite. “Thinking about domestic violence, the number of femicides of white women has decreased over the years and that of black women has increased. Another example is the work agenda, in which black women are the majority in domestic activities. And this is a colonial legacy on our bodies and the places we occupy. A re-updating of the role of the maid”, says Naiara.
Brazilian responsibility
When analyzing responsibilities for slavery, it is important to remember that the system continued to be present in Brazil after separating from Portugal in 1822. And that, as an independent state, the system lasted until 1888, when it was the last place in the Americas to decree abolition. .
The Portuguese president’s speech during the week could therefore serve as a reference for the Brazilian State itself to intensify reparation measures for Afro-descendant communities and institutions, experts say.
“Brazil needs to advance at this stage too, because black Brazilians suffer the repercussions of slavery on a daily basis. It is not possible to think that only Portugal is responsible, if we don’t do our homework here and we continue to practice genocide of the black population, social exclusion, racism in the job market, attacks and fraud against racial quotas”, says Humberto Adami .
“The government of Portugal, Brazil and other countries that come to recognize slavery and the role in the colonization process must understand that they are not doing any favors to black people, to people of African descent, to African populations. This is a duty, an obligation. The first step is recognition. But it doesn’t take us more years or centuries for countries to present the reparation project”, demands Naiara Leite.
“Reparation also involves investing in people’s quality of life. This is paying a historic debt. It’s no privilege. It is a reparation and a possibility for Brazilian society to reconcile with its own history”, says Monica Lima.
Tags: Historical debt Portugal repair slavery
--
