Racial quotas: open paths between the “machete” and the “scalpel”

• Autor(a) principal: Silva, Vera Regina Rodrigues da
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Vértices (Campos dos Goitacazes. Online)
• Texto Completo: https://editoraessentia.iff.edu.br/index.php/vertices/article/view/17159
• topic: cotas raciais; política pública; Brasil; cuotas raciales; política pública; Brasil; racial quotas; public policy; Brazil

In the early 2000s, the debates and clashes over the adoption of affirmative actions, especially through the reservation of vacancies for the black population, the so-called racial quotas, strained the academic scenario. In this article, I use the memory of my academic trajectory from student to university professor during the process of discussion and implementation of racial quotas in Brazil to highlight facts and debates on the topic in focus. In the period between 2000-2012, I will name it as the open path “to the machete” in favor of racial quotas, in which the intensification and polarization contrary to the discussion were felt, as well as the confrontation with the adverse context. From 2012 to the present, I will name it the “scalpel” moment in which the affirmative action policy has legal support and effectiveness in Brazilian society, but it is still fought by its detractors.