O estigma da raça: um estudo etnográfico em escola municipal de Cachoeira (Bahia)

Abstract

With the objective of investigating the everyday forms of the representation of Black Culture among students in public elementary schools, the study is based on ethnographic research conducted between September 2011 and December 2012, with all the children of 4th grade from a municipal public school in the city of Cachoeira, in the Reconcavo Baiano, Bahia. It discusses the process of recognition of the cultural identity of these subjects/actors, from nine to twelve years-old, at the school environment, how they see, evaluate and represent themselves, how they represent racial differences and how they represent black culture at school. To contribute to discussions on cultural and racial representation of black children in school, this ethnographic work consists in a critical analysis, considering the existence of racism and social inequalities, as well as inequalities of opportunities in Brazilian society. For this study, we adopted the qualitative research, based on ethnographic approach, which has become a work of participant observation with semi-structured interviews. Thus, the aim is to articulate notions of identity [cultural ones of the subjects], the concepts of race and racism, the black child in Cachoeira, Bahia, and also the school [our field] as a territory of the construction of representations and identities. Our context, "apparently innocent" (Brandão, 2001), is a scenario that interferes a lot in the complex process of the construction of identities and the relationships established between subjects. This school time produces experiences and leaves deep scars on those who can have access to school education. We believe that, in this way, we will have a real chance to build a political stance on the issue of race in Brazilian education, an explicit political stance that is linked, indissolubly, with the social, cultural, historical and political concerns of our country.