On August 31st, the rightwing forces in Brazil impeached President Dilma Rousseff on spurious grounds thus setting back the Workers’ Party’s social justice programs
and implementing an austerity program that will most gravely affect the working class and the largest Afro descent population outside of Nigeria. Afro-Brazilians suffer some of the most blatantly egregious poverty, racism and discrimination in the world, including being subjected to the highest official police murder rates of Black youth (6-7 daily as recently reported by the Washington Post).
The overwhelmingly white protests backing the ouster of the President, combined with attacks by the right wing all white male Temer government that had dismantled the Special Ministry against racial discrimination, reveal the racial divide within the current political crisis.
Hear from our panelists about the lead-up to the coup and what the social justice movements in Brazil need from us. The discussion will recount how race and class in Brazil are nearly indistinguishable and the various ways the weight of reactionary policies will fall heaviest on the country’s predominantly Black and low-income populations.
Panelists:
Moderated by IPS Associate Fellow, Manuel Pérez-Rocha.
Co-sponsors: Institute for Policy Studies, National Lawyers Guild DC-Chapter, and Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR).