Paradoxo da palavra "negro" no Brasil: identidade social, injúria racial, violência simbólica

Abstract

The practice of racial slurs and symbolic violence, within the scope of the use of the “N-word” and its underlyings against the Afro-descendant population, is recurrent and growing in Brazilian society. Paradoxically, the same word is used, on the one hand, officially, as an identity denomination and, on the other, considered as a crime of racial slur and racism. The objective is to elaborate proposals for political, legislative and judicial measures as one of the means to end the paradox of the “N-word” in Brazil. Qualitative bibliographic research was carried out, with analytical-descriptive orientation and the collection of secondary empirical data referring to the theme. The interpretation of the collected material followed the teachings of thematic content analysis, with semantic and discursive criteria. Bibliographic, documentary and empirical data converge and point to the indignation of victims of racial slur regarding the use of the “N-word” and its underlyings. The suggested measures are related to the organization of social, political, academic and religious debates, aiming at the apprehension of the meanings of the “N-word”, in addition to the creation, implementation, reinforcement of punitive laws and the free and democratic choice of a non-derogatory identity denomination, by the African descendants themselves in Brazil.