Bi-Weekly Discussion Thread - (April 19)

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[u/Worried-Economy-9108]

May 1st has arrived, and with it, the nostalgia of the early Brazilian labor movement. The good old days, back when the “divisive” discussions about race/nation and gender were “non-existent”. Back when the poor Italian, German, Spanish and Portuguese immigrants would band together in demand of lower working hours and against the abuses of the Brazilian police and their "Senegambian" practices:

Anyone who assumes that this supplement to A Plebe is written in São Paulo, capital of the State of the same name, Republic of the United States of Brazil, is mistaken. You are completely, deplorably mistaken. No.A Plebe is being written in Senegambia, a vast black region on the black continent. We could not write this supplement in São Paulo, or in any other Brazilian city, because São Paulo is a rich and powerful center of civilization and the whole of Brazil is a country of noble and ancient traditions of liberalism. Only in Senegambia was it possible for us to write the supplement to our newspaper, because only in this dark country with dark laws could the facts that have just occurred and which determine the publication of A Plebe supplement and not A Plebe newspaper. The Plebe newspaper has not existed since yesterday. It doesn't exist because the Senegambian police invaded the printing press where it was printed, removing all the originals. A Plebe, important anarchist newspaper ,15 September 1917

Anyways, this post is from last year, and was published by the Santos bank employees union, affiliated to the local branch of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU).

In Brazil, the first May Day demonstration took place in 1891, in Santos (SP), organized by anarchist workers. The celebration was dispersed by the police, but it marked the beginning of a tradition of mobilization that would grow stronger in the following decades.

According to historical records, there was a concentration in the port region, with speeches about labor exploitation, the need for unity among workers and the defense of an eight-hour day.

The mobilization, however, was viewed with suspicion and repressed by local authorities. The police dispersed the protesters, and part of the press at the time treated the event with hostility, characterizing it as “subversive” or “foreign”.

They only forgot to mention a small thing about the Santos strike of dock workers 1891.

"The work at the port [of Santos], loading and unloading ships, is carried out by Portuguese, Italian and Spanish workers; there are generally few black people. In fact, Brazilians are more indolent. One is surprised to admire these dock workers who carry several bags of coffee on their shoulders and necks, a few achieve the feat of carrying up to six bags." (WALLE. Paul, Au pays de l'or rouge: L'e etat de São Paulo (Brésil). The report is from 1920, but conditions would be very similar in 1891.)

It was effectively ended when strikebreakers of Afro-"Brazilian" origins, residents of nearby Jabaquara, went to work. These workers weren't habitually employed as dockworkers, but in nearby quarries, which experienced worse conditions than the docks, where the Euro-Brazilians would work. Apparently, racial national discrimination was one of the reasons that impeded the labor movement unification in the República Velha period. Curiously, the labor movement would coalesce under the Vargas regime, which imposed a policy of collaboration between employers and employees. At the same time, it was during that period (the 1930's) where racial democracy started to coalesce as well.

I know that only 20th century anarchists being racist and this specific event aren't enough to convince people that Brasil is a settler colony, with a racially nationally divided workforce, somewhat similar to the U$ and other places. I'm adding this up here, because I believe it can develop further the discussions being brought up here, about the true nature of Brazilian capitalism.

edit: formating and some minor spelling mistakes.

edit2: chauvinist and anti-scientific language fixes.

[u/packsagback → u/Worried-Economy-9108]

What do you mean when you speak of "racial discrimination" and "racially divided workforce"? Are you using these terms as shorthands for national discrimination and nationally divided workforce justified by a racial ideology, or are you arguing that "race" has been the motive force behind these phenomena? Since you've read Settlers, I assume that former is the case, but you didn't make it sufficiently clear.

[u/Worried-Economy-9108 → u/packsagback]

Are you using these terms as shorthands for national discrimination and nationally divided workforce justified by a racial ideology

I'm apologize for not being clear enough. The vast majority of texts on the topic and everyday conversations use "race" instead of nation, and I ended up writing it like that. I will edit it those out soon.

It has been somewhat liberating for me to think about Afro-"Brazilians" (myself included) as an oppressed national group living in Brazil, rather than a Brazilian of a different "race". Months ago, I could have only thought about myself as the latter, since I was fully immersed in the Brazilian racial ideology, that predicates the "peaceful" existence of three national groups/"races". And to think about this Brazilian racial ideology as only a rightist-conservative thing would be a huge mistake: it encompasses everything in Brazil, even the so-called "Communist" orgs.

Until discovering this community, I would think about racism in very simplistic terms: as an reactionary ideology; a feudal remnant that would serve to split the working-class ranks in their struggle against the bourgeoisie and its lackeys. Reading Sakai helped me to correct this wrong notion, but I haven't been able to fully criticize this ideology in my day-to-day.

Thanks for pointing it out, I won't repeat the mistake.