Blacks are a minority in the top ranks in the states – 02/12/2023 – Power

The analysis of the first echelon of the 27 units of the Federation that took office in January shows that, like almost all other command posts in Brazilian politics, the secretariat in the states is mostly white.

Of the approximately 570 elite positions held by state executives, only 14% are held by blacks (blacks and browns) or by people who, despite having the physical characteristics of whites, declare themselves brown. Some Federation units are still in the process of restructuring folders.

According to the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), 56% of the Brazilian population declares itself to be black (9%) or brown (47%).

Of the 27 male and female governors, 18 are white, 8 declare themselves brown and 1, Jerônimo Rodrigues (PT-BA), indigenous.

The case of the heads of state executives is illustrative of how, in practice, the black presence in political command posts tends to be even smaller than declared.

The governor removed from the Federal District, Ibaneis Rocha (MDB), for example, has the phenotype of a white person – and so he declared himself in the 2018 election dispute. But in 2022 he changed his self-declaration to brown.

In the case of secretaries of state, the Sheet it considered the main top-level positions, used available self-declaration data (in the case of secretaries who ran in the 2022 elections) and analyzed the physical characteristics of the others, having sent the collected data to the advisory services of all state governments.

One of the greatest references of activism for racial equality in Brazil, professor and writer Helio Santos states that the actual number of blacks occupying state secretariats is certainly smaller and that, if they were submitted to a hetero-identification bank (used in some institutions where there are racial quotas to validate or not people’s self-declaration), a good part would not be approved.

“When people say that racial quotas are under threat, I say that, in my opinion, they always have been. Of all forms of racism, and there are several of them, the most vile is when society develops and approves policies for reparation and various non-black people say: ‘Look, there is this policy that benefits blacks, but I can defraud them because I have the privilege of impunity'”, says the professor.

According to Santos, who is president of the deliberative councils of Oxfam Brasil and Cedra, a positive sign would occur if at least 30% of the state secretariats were effectively commanded by blacks.

“For minimal impact, this should never be less than 30%, about half of the black population. [56%]. It’s 2023, after the black lives matter, after the election of a black vice president [Kamala Harris] in the US and a black vice president [Francia Márquez] in Colombia. A greater advance was imagined in Brazil, which is a pioneer in Latin America in policies to promote racial equality.”

Bahia, where 80% of the population is black, is the only state in which more than half of the secretariat declares itself to be black or brown (17, against 10 whites).

Region where there is the highest proportional concentration of whites in Brazil (75%), the South is also where the presence of blacks in command posts of the State Executives is smaller.

There are only two blacks, the secretary of Finance of Paraná, Renê de Oliveira Garcia Júnior, and the extraordinary secretary of Digital Inclusion of Rio Grande do Sul, Lisiane Lemos.

National president of Tucanafro (the PSDB’s black militancy nucleus), Gabriela Cruz says that the still massive predominance of whites in the title of state secretariats contrasts not only with the mirror of the population, but with the number “of black men and women who have competence and qualification to work not only in the areas of racial equality, but in several areas of knowledge”.

Gabriela —who was part of the transition team in the Lula government (PT) and is now a director at the Secretariat for Penal and Socio-Educational Systems in the Eduardo Leite government (PSDB-RS)— claims, however, that she sees progress, and cites her state as an example.

“Both in the Legislative and in the Executive of Rio Grande do Sul, for the first time in history there is a massive presence of black representation”, he says, referring, among other examples, to the appointment of Lisiane, to the presence of other black men and women in positions of command in the Executive and the historic election of the first black female parliamentarians to the State Legislative Assembly, Bruna Rodrigues (PC do B) and Laura Sito (PT).

“Obviously there is still a long way to go, but it is a step forward to see a black presence on a wall of secretaries where no black face has ever been seen.”

A Sheet showed last Friday (10) that the nomination of state secretaries also leaves something to be desired in terms of gender. The new governments of the 26 states and the Federal District will have, on average, 28% of the top positions held by women, despite the fact that they are the majority of the population (51.1%).

Of the elected governors, there are only two women, Raquel Lyra (PSDB-PE), and Fátima Bezerra (PT-RN).

The state of São Paulo reflects this reality in relation to blacks and women. The first echelon of Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans) has only 5 women and 2 black people for the 25 state secretariats.

In the Lula government, of the 37 portfolios, 10 are occupied by self-declared blacks, including Juscelino Filho (Communications), who has a white phenotype and declared himself as such to the Electoral Justice in 2014 to 2018. In 2022, he changed the declaration of his color/race for brown. There are also two self-declared indigenous people, Wellington Dias (Social Development) and Sônia Guajajara (Originous Peoples). There are 26 men and 11 women.

The lack of racial and gender diversity in legislatures is also a reality, despite the creation of quotas and incentives for the inclusion of blacks and women in politics.

In 2022, only about 25% of elected congressmen declared themselves black or brown, not counting the various controversial cases. Women make up about 15% in the Senate and 20% in the House.

Governments say they value diversity

The Government of Rio Grande do Sul stated that “black diversity and representation, as well as other social aspects, is a permanent agenda of the government, which does not end only in the composition of the first echelon”.

Santa Catarina said that “the evaluation for each leadership position within the state government took into account only technical experience and competence”, a response similar to that of Roraima, according to whom “the criteria for the composition of the first echelon of government take into account technical requirements “.

The Government of São Paulo stated that it invests “in valuing diversity in all spheres and in all senses”, working so that “all 46 million people from São Paulo feel represented and welcomed in schools, health services, police stations, without regard to race, gender, religion or sexual orientation”.

The Executive of Minas Gerais said that it is a desire of the current management to expand “the participation of representative minorities in leadership positions”.

“It is worth mentioning that, in March 2019, the Government of Minas Gerais launched Transforma Minas, a tool for renewing the selection process for leadership vacancies and strategic positions in public administration”, prioritizing technical criteria to the detriment of political indications.

In a note, the Government of Bahia listed self-declared indigenous people (like the governor himself) and black people in folders and bodies that concentrate some of the main activities in the state.

Espírito Santo stated that it values ​​the diversity of gender and race in the composition of the team, “so much so that the secretariat is formed by men, women, whites, blacks and indigenous people”, which occurs in the other spheres of the administration.

Acre stated that in the first four years of the Gladson Cameli government, diversity and human rights policies were adopted. “In the new administration, all these policies will be reinforced, ensuring the rights and guarantees of individual freedoms, equity, social justice and respect for women, blacks, indigenous peoples and the LGBTQIA+ public.”

Maranhão stated that the composition of the secretariat is not yet definitive and that it should undergo administrative reform in March, with likely new names at the head of the folders.

The Government of Sergipe stated that it still has no way of quantifying the number of blacks in the first echelon because the self-declaration of each one is still being received.

Pará said that “it does not carry out questions about gender identity, color or race in the process of nominating state employees so that there is no distinction between people”.

The other state governments did not respond to contact attempts.