Controversy reignites debate on affirmative action at USP – 06/23/2023 – Educação

The affirmative actions of USP (University of São Paulo) were once again the target of debates and criticism after an imbroglio that occurred during a ceremony honoring Professor Kabengele Munanga, one of the first black professors at the institution.

On June 2, during a ceremony, Munanga received the title of emeritus professor at the Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and Human Sciences (FFLCH) and, in a speech, criticized the university’s conservative stance in relation to ethnic-racial quotas over the last few decades. .

“USP renounced its position as a pioneer and intellectual vanguard to assume a conservative posture, attached to social Darwinism dominated by the discourse of defense of merit, quality and excellence, in the face of the exclusion from the university universe of millions of young people of African descent, indigenous peoples and poor whites from public schools,” Munanga said at the event. “Politically, USP has closed itself off and refused to face the debates about quotas that have unfolded over the last almost 20 years.”

In 2017, USP implemented a policy of reserving undergraduate vacancies for black, brown and indigenous candidates, becoming one of the last public institutions of higher education in the country to adopt quotas. The Quota Law, approved by the National Congress five years earlier, is valid only for federal universities and institutes.

After the honoree’s speech, vice-rector Maria Arminda do Nascimento Arruda broke protocol and asked for the floor to praise Munanga’s academic contributions and defend the policies of inclusion and permanence adopted by the institution. “I wanted to draw attention to the transformations that USP has been going through”, stated the vice-rector at the time. “Today, the University of São Paulo has 54% of its students coming from public schools. Today, the University of São Paulo spends more resources on permanence policies than on the professors’ payroll. And the University of São Paulo thinks that it is It is absolutely necessary to have an inclusive ethno-racial, gender, policy in all fields.”

The vice-rector’s intervention at a solemn moment became the target of criticism. In a note published on its website on the 15th, the USP Professors Association (Adusp) described Arruda’s pronouncement as an “aggressive speech from the throne”. “Although the vice-chancellor’s unexpected statement began and ended with praise for Kabengele’s contribution, its general meaning was that of a reprimand for the emeritus professor’s critical considerations”, says the text.

In a note sent to Sheet, Adusp reiterated its criticism of the vice-rector and said that her pronouncement confirms Munanga’s theses about the university. “Institutional racism disguised in speeches at USP is nothing new, much less surprising. However, when addressed directly to someone who is being honored, it requires that we publicly express our disgust with those who practice it, and our solidarity with those who suffer it”, says the entity.

Hours after sending the note to SheetAdusp backed off and informed, through its press office, that the board is reassessing its position and that the text does not represent the entity’s opinion.

There were criticisms of the pronouncement by the vice-rector of USP by other institutions. In recent days, a note of rejection signed by the Chamber of Racial Policies of the UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) has circulated in WhatsApp groups, accusing Arruda of having publicly embarrassed Munanga. “With such conduct, that vice-rector reveals her contempt for the anti-racist cause and for black ancestry”, says the note.

UFRJ, through its press office, confirmed the authenticity of the note, but did not comment on its content. On Thursday (22), the university’s highest body transformed the Chamber of Racial Policies into a General Superintendence of Affirmative Actions and Diversity.

In turn, the vice-chancellor stated, also in a note to the Sheet, that his management has given unprecedented attention to the social inclusion agenda of university students and cites the creation, last year, of the Pro-Rectory of Inclusion and Belonging, a body dedicated to the implementation of affirmative action policies and with a capillary action by through councils in all USP units. “Communing with these values ​​of solidarity and inclusion, I was very happy to participate in the ceremony granting the title of professor emeritus to Kabengele Munanga, an opportunity in which we all recognized the academy’s debt to the black population, and in which the recent efforts made by the USP in the sense of repairing it”, says Arruda.

The controversy that took place during the tribute to Munanga reignites the debate on affirmative action at USP at a time of reorganization of the pro-quota movement within the institution. The student movement and the black movement are asking for more permanence actions for low-income students who have been entering the university in greater numbers since the adoption of graduation quotas.

In addition, the rectory is required to extend ethnic-racial quotas to graduate programs and teaching competitions. Last month, USP approved quotas for competitions for professors with more than three vacancies —the measure was seen as insufficient, since most competitions contemplate only one vacancy.

There is also pressure for the university to expand its affirmative action program to include other marginalized groups, such as transsexuals and transvestites and people with autism.

On the other hand, Arruda’s administration is praised for offering 50 exclusive postdoctoral scholarships for black people in the amount of R$ 8,479 per month. The initiative, unprecedented, is seen as an instrument to maintain the ties of black researchers with the university while they are unable to be allocated in teaching competitions.

In an interview with Sheet, in February, Munanga highlighted the importance of affirmative actions in the fight against racism in Brazil. “Quotations are to bridge a 400-year gap [de escravidão]. A 400-year gap cannot be reduced in 20 or 10 years. Despite the quality of the policy, this will take generations,” he said.

Munanga is an anthropologist and retired professor at USP. He was born in Bakwa Kalonji, in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, in 1940. He has been in Brazil since 1975.

Throughout these years, he focused on studies on the anthropology of Africa and the Afro-Brazilian population and on racial issues. The intellectual contributed significantly to the discussion about race and to debunking the myth of racial democracy.

Sought to comment on the repercussions of the ceremony in his honor, Munanga declined to comment.