{"id":464,"date":"2015-06-12T02:58:21","date_gmt":"2015-06-12T02:58:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/inequalityinbrazil\/?p=464"},"modified":"2015-06-16T04:02:06","modified_gmt":"2015-06-16T04:02:06","slug":"the-movement-of-ideas-education-and-immigration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/inequalityinbrazil\/2015\/06\/12\/the-movement-of-ideas-education-and-immigration\/","title":{"rendered":"The Movement of Ideas: Education and Immigration"},"content":{"rendered":"

June 11, 2015<\/p>\n

By: Aleksandra Syniec<\/p>\n

We awoke to the sounds of dogs barking, roosters crowing, and our alarm clocks going off in the city of S\u00e3o Paulo.\u00a0 With tired eyes we stumbled out of our hostel at 6:30 a.m. to make it on time for our first activity.\u00a0 After a Metro and bus ride, we arrived in front of the gated middle school, EMEF Professor Roberto Mange, where we went inside to meet some public school students aged thirteen to fourteen.\u00a0 We sat down in a room designated as an auditorium, and before we knew it, the room was filled to the brim with about 40 students.\u00a0 It\u2019s safe to say we were pretty intimidated by these energetic young adults.<\/p>\n

A girl shouted across the room at another student, \u201cFavelado!\u201d\u00a0 This is a term that is associated with someone that lives in a Favela.\u00a0 The word \u201cfavela\u201d itself is very discriminatory and associated with someone coming from the lower class.\u00a0 We\u2019ve learned from our visits to favelas, that the word \u201ccommunities\u201d is a word that is more synonymous with the citizens and their homes; whereas the word \u201cfavelas\u201d has a negative connotation.<\/p>\n

After the professors were able to quiet down the students, Professor Brito introduced himself as a native Brazilian, pointing out to them that he was once in their shoes, and his current status as a professor in the United States.\u00a0 The students roared and a couple of the school\u2019s professors clapped triumphantly.\u00a0 Our professor exemplified success in that moment for these students.\u00a0 Soon it was time for us to make introductions. Shortly thereafter we broke off into smaller groups to answer and ask questions.<\/p>\n

Every group shared different and interesting questions with their classrooms; but most of the questions the students asked focused on violence, drugs, and racial prejudice in the United States.\u00a0 The students were interested to see if we dealt with similar problems that they were exposed to.\u00a0 We too asked questions regarding to such topics, including race.\u00a0 When asked what race the students identified with, blank and puzzled expressions emerged. \u201cIn Brazil, it is race and racism that people are generally uncomfortable speaking about,\u201d (Goldstein 2013:103). \u00a0Many probably haven\u2019t considered what race they belong to.\u00a0 On the other hand some were hesitant to identify as black. \u201cBlackness was\u2014and still is\u2014associated with slavery, dirty work, and ugliness,\u201d (Goldstein 2013:107). Hence even fewer identified as black.\u00a0 The students also critiqued the quality of the education they were receiving.\u00a0 One group expressed that they felt like they were not learning anything.\u00a0 This is a common trend in the quality of public schools in Brazil, making the reality of going to a free university almost impossible for public school students because of the difficult entrance exams.\u00a0 Professor Brito revealed that out of the room of 40 students we met, possibly only 5 will continue to university, while half may get some form of employment.\u00a0 The reality of a pedagogy freeing the oppressed looks bleak in such circumstances.\u00a0 Especially since school here is held in three sessions.\u00a0 The students we saw this morning arrived at 7:00 a.m. and then headed home at 11:00 a.m., needing to return to a home life where they know the realities of violence, drugs, teen pregnancies, and prejudice.<\/p>\n

After a great game of volleyball and soccer with the students, and many \u201cDon\u2019t leave\u201d, we set out for our second activity of the day, the Immigration Museum.\u00a0 S\u00e3o Paulo amongst many things is known as a destination for immigrants.\u00a0 Our Ellis Island is comparable to S\u00e3o Paulo in terms of flows of immigrants.\u00a0 The large and beautiful building that is the museum is actually only part museum.\u00a0 70% of the building is used to provide shelter to immigrants today; many of which are from Africa.\u00a0 This support for immigrants in Brazil emphasizes the museum\u2019s message to show that immigration is still very prevalent in Brazil today, not just a history.\u00a0 The tour of the museum started with an artistic interpretation of migration.\u00a0 Our tour guide linked migration to a natural expression of man and freedom.\u00a0 The next part of the museum focused in on the indigenous population of Brazil.\u00a0 Many tribes were located on the coasts of Brazil, but with the incoming Portuguese, many migrated across the country to the Amazon area.\u00a0 The next group of \u201cmigrants\u201d who arrived were those from Africa, forced to come as slaves to Brazil.\u00a0 These groups comprise the three main ethnic groups of Brazil: the indigenous, the White European Settlers, and the Enslaved Africans.\u00a0 The last two exhibits we saw were very interactive and exposed immigrants from all over the world that came to Brazil to seek economic growth, political freedom, or a new way of life.\u00a0 As we left the museum, we saw some of the immigrants that also call this museum their home, enforcing the impending struggles of race and class, but this time in the context of immigrants.<\/p>\n