You know, we’ve been talking about prejudice, racism, and xenophobia in Portugal for a long time, including in schools and academic settings (but also in social life, in companies etc.). This was the case of Maria’s son, a 7-year-old boy who was assaulted by a school assistant, and many other similar cases that emerged from this report (most of them about racism and xenophobia). We had the denunciation scandal at the University of Lisbon Law Faculty; we also brought up the case of the Guinean woman who was fired after reporting a racist co-worker in the company where she worked; we brought up the case of Anderson’s wife being invited to return to her land for having asked for a divorce; we brought up the case of Anderson’s wife being invited to return to her land for having asked for a divorce; we brought up the case of Anderson’s wife being invited to return to her home country just for trying to obtain a discount during a purchase negotiation; this is true for thousands of foreigners living in Portugal, not just Brazilians.
In fact, if there was a scale of European prejudice, we would be near the bottom. They despise Gypsies the most; then come the Middle Easterners, Pakistanis, Indians, and so on; then the Africans; and finally, the Brazilians, who are on a par with the Chinese.
And we Brazilian women are still stigmatized as whores.
But I’ll tell you something: new generations have been breaking free from the history of prejudice and xenophobia. Obviously, not everyone. However, given the number of immigrants in Portugal, young people deal with “otherness” much better than the old generation. This is based on my personal experience, and it is not an absolute truth. But I can tell you, for sure, that every time I witnessed a scene of xenophobia (live and in color), I saw several tugas* people appear to support the victim. For every prejudiced asshole, there are two or three more fighting against the absurd scene of their fellow citizen. I can even describe at least two situations.
The first happened at Loja do Cidadão do Cacém, in downtown Lisbon. The Loja do Cidadão is a place where everyone in Portugal who needs to deal with any document goes, and there are several of them. An African man was sitting waiting to be called. A Portuguese lady arrived, sat next to him, and, out of nowhere, told him that he stank. Without showing any reaction, he got up from his seat and stood up. In the first row of chairs, a 35-year-old woman, possibly older, turned around and said: “You are a racist, prejudiced, and disgusting person. We are labeled racist because of people like you.” Another Portuguese said: “You are ridiculous ma’am, if you are bothered by the man, go away. No one told you to sit there”; and that turned into a general discussion, cut off by the local security.
The second incident occurred when an elderly Portuguese woman stated that she did not wish to be served by me at the coffee shop where I worked because I did not speak her language. “The problem is not with the girl, it is with you who don’t know how to communicate, stop making us feel ashamed,” said a girl sitting at the only table inside the coffee shop.
Is this general? I’m sure it isn’t. But this is symbolic. We still have a long way to go before we reach an ideal environment. However, whether the tugas* want it or not, it will exist. And do you know why? Because Portugal is full of immigrants. According to the statistics, it is the highest number of Brazilians living legally in Portugal. Wherever I walk, bro, I am always bumping into Brazilians. A lot, on bizarre levels. Everywhere. EVERYWHERE. There are also Africans, Asians, and Middle Easterners. What do you see the least of? You’re correct, Portuguese. I hear a lot of BR, and a lot of other languages as fuck, but I hear very little Portuguese from Portugal.
And there’s more: the “local” population is aging, dying. Immigrants are the ones who are holding the country up. So they MUST naturalize our presence and give thanks to heaven that we are here providing labor and turning the economic wheel.
And do you know why I wrote this whole pact? Because it was reported that a professor at the University of Porto had been fired for referring to Brazilian women as a commodity. And he is not alone: another one is being investigated and has already been removed from activities. THE BILL HAS ARRIVED!
Only effective measures like this will put an end to this bullshit of saying things like “go back to your land”, “Brazilians are whores”, “nobody called you here”, and “this is not your land, that mess”, and so on. It is necessary to paint the town red and fire, expose, shame these individuals. They are the typical André Ventura’s voters, a Portuguese version of Bolsonaro or Trump, who hates immigrants, hates women, hates black people (not necessarily in that order).
Only a step change, a conscience change, a disruption with a history loaded with prejudice will solve the problem here (and anywhere). While it doesn’t hurt them, we won’t have peace.
*tuga – nickname, in Brazilian Portuguese, to refer to the Portuguese: “portugas”, “tugas”.
Tradução: Ana Santiago e Maria Martinez