Brazil Fights Racism with new Election rules for Black politicians

Brazilian Congresswoman Benedita da Silva

[Black Brazil]
Luis Roberto Barroso: “There are times in life when everyone needs to choose which side of history they want to be on. Today, we affirm that we are on the side of those who fight racism.”
Photo: Twitter

Black Brazilian Congresswoman Benedita da Silva welcomed a new electoral ruling aimed at fighting racism in Brazil’s electoral process.

Black political candidates in Brazil must get a fair share of air time and public funding, the top electoral court has ruled in a decision set to change the face of elections.

“There are times in life when everyone needs to choose which side of history they want to be on. Today, we affirm that we are on the side of those who fight racism,” Luis Roberto Barroso, president of Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court, said in a statement following Tuesday night’s ruling.

The new rules will take effect at the 2022 national elections and aim to ensure the nation’s powerful political elite looks more like the population at large.

“Excellent news for Black candidatures all over the country,” Benedita da Silva, a Black congresswoman from Brazil’s Worker’s Party and a key driver of the change, said on Twitter.

While Brazil is a diverse country, Congress does not reflect the population at large. Blacks and mixed race Brazilians make up almost 55% of the population, but less than a quarter of the lower house of Congress, government data shows.

Brazil’s population is 51% female, but only about 15% of members of the lower house are women.

Read rest of story here: https://www.thedispatch.in/brazil-fights-racism-with-new-campaign-rules-for-black-politicians/

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