The perception over ethnic-racial discrimination among children in Brazil, Colombia, and Peru

Abstract

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14244/198271991161

The paper is part of a larger research that involved public educational institutions in Brazil, Colombia and Peru and aimed to learn how discrimination was perceived by all school community segments. The objective is to discuss how children from five to eight years old perceive ethnic-racial discrimination in the school environment. There are studies (such as GODOY, 1996; CAVALLEIRO, 1998; SILVA, 2002; DIAS, 2007; SOUZA e CROSO, 2007, OLIVEIRA e ABRAMOWICZ, 2010; DUARTE, 2011) that investigate the existence of discriminatory processes in children’s education; however, in general, children’s perspectives are not shown. Here, this is considered as the children’s right and as a possibility to broaden the knowledge on the theme, still little visible in educational contexts. In order to listen to the children, the analysis applied four strategies that value their competences and consider the power asymmetric relation between children and researchers. Either directly or indirectly, all groups of children expressed ethnic-racial discrimination. While some of them expressed their own discrimination towards classmates, others reported discriminatory situations in which they were the victims. They seemed to appropriate some prejudicial visions present in our society by identifying that black people own negative characteristics and belong to a minority. Therefore, it is not a surprise that black children have difficulty identifying themselves as such.

Keywords: Ethnic-racial discrimination, Discrimination in educational environments, Children’s perspectives, Research with Children.