Recognition, justice and inclusion: searching for alternatives to promote racial equality in the admission of blacks students in the public universities

• Grant number: 05/03047-1
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: July 01, 2006
• End date: February 29, 2008
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Education - Specific topics in Education
• Principal Investigator: Gislene Aparecida dos Santos
• Grantee: Gislene Aparecida dos Santos
• Host Institution: Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades (EACH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project intends to investigate how the arguments that involves the idea of race and black identity in Brazil affects the public policies based on racial preferences as a way to admit the black young people in public universities. Also its objectives are to understand the implications of these policies in the consolidation of democratic values. My hypotheses are: 1- the policies of affirmative action based on racial preference would be "compelling" to rethink the idea of "being black”, taking back one old discussion concerning the national identity and the mestiçagem; 2- the public universities requests to students to define their own racial identity to apply for admission to the public universities would transfer to them the responsibility to solve one of the greatest troubles in the national thought that is exactly to define the Brazilian identity. This would be source of stress and anguish for the young people. 3- the beneficiaries of the racial preferences programs are afraid of the prejudice against them in their universities and colleges; 4- learning about the black culture and history, participating in programs whose objective are improve their self-esteem and identities focused on multicultural education, protagonism, resilience and the group empowerment could be figured out as less controversial starting points to promote public policies. My inquiry will be supported by bibliographical and empirical research. The nature of the presented hypotheses requires interviews with black young people. The interviews will be analysed according to the methodology of content analysis proposed by Bardin and Minayo. (AU)