The inner city and the favela: Transnational black politics

Race and Class

Volumn 44, Issue 4, 2003, Pages 19-40

  Vargas, João Costa ^a,b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN   (United States)

^b Vera Institute of Justice   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0037262230     PISSN: 03063968     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/03063968030444002     Document Type: Review

References (50)

1. Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatísticas (IBGE); Marcelo Baumann Burgos, 'Dos parques proletários ao favela-bairro: as politicas públicas do Rio de Janeiro', in Alba Zaluar and Marcos Alvito (eds), Um Século de Favela (Rio de Janeiro, Editora Fundação Getúlio Vargas, 1999).
2. In the Brazilian context, I understand 'black' to mean race, not colour. Using ethnographic work in one of Rio's favelas, Robin Sheriff makes the argument that while, for many of the inhabitants of such poor communities, there are many terms to describe one's appearance (for example, moreno, pardo, mulato, jambo), there are only two true racial categories: black and white. See his Dreaming Equality: colour, race, and racism in urban Brazil (New Brunswick, NJ, Rutgers University Press, 2001), p. 45.
3. See Thomas H. Holloway, Polícia no Rio de Janeiro: repressão e resistência numa cidade do século XIX (Rio de Janeiro, Editora Fundação Getúlio Vargas, 1997) and Jorge da Silva, Violência e Racismo no Rio de Janeiro (Niterói, Editora da Universidade Federal Fluminense, 1998).
4. See Thomas H. Holloway, Polícia no Rio de Janeiro: repressão e resistência numa cidade do século XIX (Rio de Janeiro, Editora Fundação Getúlio Vargas, 1997) and Jorge da Silva, Violência e Racismo no Rio de Janeiro (Niterói, Editora da Universidade Federal Fluminense, 1998).
5. Information for this paragraph is derived from Burgos, op. cit., pp. 28-31. Another singular aspect of the Favela Workers' Coalition was that it included mostly people of African descent. The his/herstories of the importance of black consciousness in workers' organisations - or among favela workers - are yet to be recorded. I would like to suggest, however, that the contemporary favela organisations I analyse here are attempting to develop the sense of belonging to the favela in conjunction with an explicit, positive reaffirmation of blackness.
6. See Alba Zaluar, A Máquina e a Revolta (São Paulo, Brasiliense, 1985), p. 66; Maisa Mendonça and Medea Benjamin, Benedita (Rio de Janeiro, Mauad, 1997), p. 53; see also Janice Perlman, O Mito da Marginalidade (Rio de Janeiro, Paz e Terra, 1977).
7. See Alba Zaluar, A Máquina e a Revolta (São Paulo, Brasiliense, 1985), p. 66; Maisa Mendonça and Medea Benjamin, Benedita (Rio de Janeiro, Mauad, 1997), p. 53; see also Janice Perlman, O Mito da Marginalidade (Rio de Janeiro, Paz e Terra, 1977).
8. See Alba Zaluar, A Máquina e a Revolta (São Paulo, Brasiliense, 1985), p. 66; Maisa Mendonça and Medea Benjamin, Benedita (Rio de Janeiro, Mauad, 1997), p. 53; see also Janice Perlman, O Mito da Marginalidade (Rio de Janeiro, Paz e Terra, 1977).
9. For the classic study on the manipulation of clientelistic relationships among Rio's poor, see Zaluar, op. cit.; see also Mendonça and Benjamin, op. cit., p. 54.
10. For the classic study on the manipulation of clientelistic relationships among Rio's poor, see Zaluar, op. cit.; see also Mendonça and Benjamin, op. cit., p. 54.
11. The role the media played in consolidating the image of the people of the favelas as racialised, cruel and less than human cannot be overstated. Focusing on specific individuals, the press and the televised news programmes fed on and furthered the fears increasingly associated with the 'drug wars'. Buzunga, a young black man in his early twenties in the mid-1980s, was shown with his automatic assault rifle and a few bags of cocaine around his waist as he bragged about the assassinations, sexual adventures and overall control he had over the Rocinha favela. Rival dealers eventually assassinated him. Historical and structural considerations, of course, were absent from the media's rendering of what was taking place in the favelas. The unprecedented volume of cocaine available in Rio was connected to the reconfiguration of the global market as a result of the US's repression of the cocaine trade and its supporting networks. 'Drogas - o tráfico sem fronteiras', 10 January 2002, available from http://www.starnews2001.com.br/drogas.html〉; see also Garry Webb, Dark Alliance: the CIA, the Contras, and the crack cocaine explosion (New York, Seven Stories Press, 1999).
12. The role the media played in consolidating the image of the people of the favelas as racialised, cruel and less than human cannot be overstated. Focusing on specific individuals, the press and the televised news programmes fed on and furthered the fears increasingly associated with the 'drug wars'. Buzunga, a young black man in his early twenties in the mid-1980s, was shown with his automatic assault rifle and a few bags of cocaine around his waist as he bragged about the assassinations, sexual adventures and overall control he had over the Rocinha favela. Rival dealers eventually assassinated him. Historical and structural considerations, of course, were absent from the media's rendering of what was taking place in the favelas. The unprecedented volume of cocaine available in Rio was connected to the reconfiguration of the global market as a result of the US's repression of the cocaine trade and its supporting networks. 'Drogas - o tráfico sem fronteiras', 10 January 2002, available from http://www.starnews2001.com.br/drogas.html〉; see also Garry Webb, Dark Alliance: the CIA, the Contras, and the crack cocaine explosion (New York, Seven Stories Press, 1999).
13. William I. Robinson provides an insightful analysis of the impact of neo-liberal globalisation policies and their connection with the increase in inequality, polarisation, impoverishment and police brutality in Latin American countries, including Brazil, in 'Latin America and global capitalism', Race & Class (Vol. 40, nos 2/3, 1998/1999), pp. 111-131.
14. See Alba Zaluar, Condomínio do Diabo (Rio de Janeiro, Editora Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 1994).
15. In Jacarezinho, for example, it is estimated that those involved in the drug trade do not exceed 100 people. As Jacarezinho has a population of over 150,000, the proportion of those involved with drugs is 0,07 per cent.
16. For an analysis of the political motivations behind Operação Rio, see Luis Eduardo Soares, Violência e Política no Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro, ISER, 1996).
17. Human Rights Watch/Americas, Police Brutality in Urban Brazil (New York, HRW, 1997), p. 33.
18. For further description and analysis of CAPA and CSGT, see João H. Costa Vargas, Blacks in the City of Angels' Dust (Doctoral Dissertation, University of California, San Diego, 1999).
19. CAPA report, 1989-93, undated.
20. Stokely Carmichael and Charles Hamilton, Black Power: the politics of liberation in America (New York, Random House, 1967), p. xi.
21. In 1979, after discovering that CAPA had been infiltrated by police agents, its members, together with those of other progressive organisations that had also detected and documented the presence of spies in their headquarters, sued the Los Angeles Police Commission for violation of their constitutional rights to assembly, to privacy and to association. In 1983, the 131 plaintiffs, juridically assisted by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), accepted a $1.8 million settlement. The plaintiffs also imposed a list of nine resolutions upon the city bureaucracy and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). It was agreed that the California Supreme Court would have jurisdiction over the settlement agreement and thus regulate and be a guarantor against future spying. In 1986, after being beaten by Pasadena police officers and losing the sight of an eye, Zinzun won a $1.2 million lawsuit against the city. In July 1994, Zinzun was awarded $512,500 after a dispute with the LAPD's second-in-command, Assistant Chief Robert L. Vernon. While Zinzun was campaigning for the Pasadena Board of City Directors in 1989, Vernon had accused Zinzun of terrorist acts. For an analysis of various lawsuits waged by CAPA members against the LAPD, see Vargas, op cit., chapter 6.
22. It is important to note that the connection between gang members and progressive political organisations was common in Los Angeles during the years of the Black Panther Party. Two of the BPP's most well-known members, Bunchy Carter and Jon Huggins, had been members of local street gangs. US members killed Carter and Huggins. See Ward Churchill and Jim Vander Wall, Agents of Repression: the FBI's secret wars against the Black Panther Party and the American Indian Movement (Boston, MA, South End Press, 1990); Ward Churchill, '"To disrupt, discredit and destroy": the FBI's secret war against the Black Panther Party' in Kathleen Cleaver and George Katsiaficas (eds), Liberation, Imagination, and the Black Panther Party (New York, Routledge, 2001).
23. It is important to note that the connection between gang members and progressive political organisations was common in Los Angeles during the years of the Black Panther Party. Two of the BPP's most well-known members, Bunchy Carter and Jon Huggins, had been members of local street gangs. US members killed Carter and Huggins. See Ward Churchill and Jim Vander Wall, Agents of Repression: the FBI's secret wars against the Black Panther Party and the American Indian Movement (Boston, MA, South End Press, 1990); Ward Churchill, '"To disrupt, discredit and destroy": the FBI's secret war against the Black Panther Party' in Kathleen Cleaver and George Katsiaficas (eds), Liberation, Imagination, and the Black Panther Party (New York, Routledge, 2001).
24. Yusuf Jah and Sister Shah'Keyah, Uprising: Crips and Bloods tell the story of America's youth in the crossfire (New York, Scribner, 1995).
25. Los Angeles Times (17 June 1992), p. B1.
26. CSGT, 'Fund for a new L.A.', proposal, December 1994, p. 1.
27. CSGT, 'Statement of economic development', undated, p. 3.
28. Ibid. This proposal is an obvious alternative to Rebuild Los Angeles (RLA), a non-profit corporation that embodied the revitalisation programme launched in May 1992 by Mayor Tom Bradley following that year's rebellion in South Central LA. Even though RLA spoke the language of public-private partnership, the initiative was clearly corporate-minded, dominated by representatives of major companies and closed to public participation. In the end, the market-driven model that structured RLA failed to provide enough adequate jobs. See The Labour/Community Strategy Center, Reconstructing Los Angeles - and U.S. Cities - from the Bottom Up (Los Angeles, 1996).
29. Ibid. This proposal is an obvious alternative to Rebuild Los Angeles (RLA), a non-profit corporation that embodied the revitalisation programme launched in May 1992 by Mayor Tom Bradley following that year's rebellion in South Central LA. Even though RLA spoke the language of public-private partnership, the initiative was clearly corporate-minded, dominated by representatives of major companies and closed to public participation. In the end, the market-driven model that structured RLA failed to provide enough adequate jobs. See The Labour/Community Strategy Center, Reconstructing Los Angeles - and U.S. Cities - from the Bottom Up (Los Angeles, 1996).
30. See CSGT, 'Our demands: what our community needs', undated, which opposes an array of law enforcement measures specific to the 1980s, whose main results were to further criminalise, arrest and stigmatise brown and black youth. For an analysis of law enforcement policies and practices in Los Angeles, see Mike Davis, City of Quartz (New York, Vintage, 1992), chapter 5. The urgency of such demands became even clearer as the Rampart scandal erupted. The scandal began when LAPD officer Rafael A. Perez was arrested on 25 August 1998, on suspicion of stealing cocaine from the LAPD headquarters. In September 1999, Perez pleaded guilty to stealing eight pounds of cocaine. He agreed with a confidential plea agreement according to which he was expected to receive a reduced sentence on the drug charges in exchange for identifying other police officers involved in crimes and misconduct. Twenty officers were subsequently relieved of duty, suspended without pay, fired or resigned. See Lou Cannon, 'One bad cop', The New York Times Magazine (1 October 2000), p. 32.
31. See CSGT, 'Our demands: what our community needs', undated, which opposes an array of law enforcement measures specific to the 1980s, whose main results were to further criminalise, arrest and stigmatise brown and black youth. For an analysis of law enforcement policies and practices in Los Angeles, see Mike Davis, City of Quartz (New York, Vintage, 1992), chapter 5. The urgency of such demands became even clearer as the Rampart scandal erupted. The scandal began when LAPD officer Rafael A. Perez was arrested on 25 August 1998, on suspicion of stealing cocaine from the LAPD headquarters. In September 1999, Perez pleaded guilty to stealing eight pounds of cocaine. He agreed with a confidential plea agreement according to which he was expected to receive a reduced sentence on the drug charges in exchange for identifying other police officers involved in crimes and misconduct. Twenty officers were subsequently relieved of duty, suspended without pay, fired or resigned. See Lou Cannon, 'One bad cop', The New York Times Magazine (1 October 2000), p. 32.
32. See CSGT, 'Our demands: what our community needs', undated, which opposes an array of law enforcement measures specific to the 1980s, whose main results were to further criminalise, arrest and stigmatise brown and black youth. For an analysis of law enforcement policies and practices in Los Angeles, see Mike Davis, City of Quartz (New York, Vintage, 1992), chapter 5. The urgency of such demands became even clearer as the Rampart scandal erupted. The scandal began when LAPD officer Rafael A. Perez was arrested on 25 August 1998, on suspicion of stealing cocaine from the LAPD headquarters. In September 1999, Perez pleaded guilty to stealing eight pounds of cocaine. He agreed with a confidential plea agreement according to which he was expected to receive a reduced sentence on the drug charges in exchange for identifying other police officers involved in crimes and misconduct. Twenty officers were subsequently relieved of duty, suspended without pay, fired or resigned. See Lou Cannon, 'One bad cop', The New York Times Magazine (1 October 2000), p. 32.
33. Of great concern to inner-city black and brown youth is the 'three-strikes law', which sentences persons with three felony convictions to a mandatory sentence of twenty-five years to life in prison. Juveniles of 16 years and older can face adjudications that can be counted as 'strikes'. These strikes become a permanent part of one's police record. See Steven Donziger (ed.), The Real War on Crime (New York, HarperPerennial, 1996) and Jerome G. Miller, Search and Destroy: African-American males in the criminal justice system (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1996).
34. Of great concern to inner-city black and brown youth is the 'three-strikes law', which sentences persons with three felony convictions to a mandatory sentence of twenty-five years to life in prison. Juveniles of 16 years and older can face adjudications that can be counted as 'strikes'. These strikes become a permanent part of one's police record. See Steven Donziger (ed.), The Real War on Crime (New York, HarperPerennial, 1996) and Jerome G. Miller, Search and Destroy: African-American males in the criminal justice system (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1996).
35. These political stances, it should be noted, do not constitute outright negations of identity politics. Contrary to the critics of race-based identity politics placed on the Right and Left of the political spectrum, organisations such as CAPA and CSGT clearly operate under the concept that identity politics is necessary. These organisations, however, are constantly engaged in reinventing their identities and, for that matter, revisiting their notions of race as they are inflected by the international experience. Thus, there is a recognition that, while identity politics are necessary, they are not fixed and not sufficient. Various authors, according to my interpretation of their texts, have localised similar tensions in progressive grassroots organisations. See Robin Kelley, Yo' Mama's Disfunktional! fighting the culture wars in urban America (Boston, MA, Beacon Press, 1997); Patricia Hill Collins, Fighting Words: Black women and the search for justice (Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 1998); Julia Sudbury 'Other Kinds of Dreams': Black women's organizations and the politics of transformation (London, Routledge, 1998).
36. These political stances, it should be noted, do not constitute outright negations of identity politics. Contrary to the critics of race-based identity politics placed on the Right and Left of the political spectrum, organisations such as CAPA and CSGT clearly operate under the concept that identity politics is necessary. These organisations, however, are constantly engaged in reinventing their identities and, for that matter, revisiting their notions of race as they are inflected by the international experience. Thus, there is a recognition that, while identity politics are necessary, they are not fixed and not sufficient. Various authors, according to my interpretation of their texts, have localised similar tensions in progressive grassroots organisations. See Robin Kelley, Yo' Mama's Disfunktional! fighting the culture wars in urban America (Boston, MA, Beacon Press, 1997); Patricia Hill Collins, Fighting Words: Black women and the search for justice (Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 1998); Julia Sudbury 'Other Kinds of Dreams': Black women's organizations and the politics of transformation (London, Routledge, 1998).
37. These political stances, it should be noted, do not constitute outright negations of identity politics. Contrary to the critics of race-based identity politics placed on the Right and Left of the political spectrum, organisations such as CAPA and CSGT clearly operate under the concept that identity politics is necessary. These organisations, however, are constantly engaged in reinventing their identities and, for that matter, revisiting their notions of race as they are inflected by the international experience. Thus, there is a recognition that, while identity politics are necessary, they are not fixed and not sufficient. Various authors, according to my interpretation of their texts, have localised similar tensions in progressive grassroots organisations. See Robin Kelley, Yo' Mama's Disfunktional! fighting the culture wars in urban America (Boston, MA, Beacon Press, 1997); Patricia Hill Collins, Fighting Words: Black women and the search for justice (Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 1998); Julia Sudbury 'Other Kinds of Dreams': Black women's organizations and the politics of transformation (London, Routledge, 1998).
38. An important question is how the contact between Americans and Brazilians influences each group's racial classifications and, in the process, generates new ideas and practices related to community organising and social justice. Abdias do Nascimento provides useful explanations of Brazilian racial categories and their social consequences in his Brazil: mixture or massacre? (Dover, The Majority Press, 1989). For comparisons between Brazilian and US race relations, see Michael Hanchard (ed.), Racial Politics in Contemporary Brazil (Durham, NC, Duke University Press, 1999); see also Sheriff, op. cit.
39. An important question is how the contact between Americans and Brazilians influences each group's racial classifications and, in the process, generates new ideas and practices related to community organising and social justice. Abdias do Nascimento provides useful explanations of Brazilian racial categories and their social consequences in his Brazil: mixture or massacre? (Dover, The Majority Press, 1989). For comparisons between Brazilian and US race relations, see Michael Hanchard (ed.), Racial Politics in Contemporary Brazil (Durham, NC, Duke University Press, 1999); see also Sheriff, op. cit.
40. An important question is how the contact between Americans and Brazilians influences each group's racial classifications and, in the process, generates new ideas and practices related to community organising and social justice. Abdias do Nascimento provides useful explanations of Brazilian racial categories and their social consequences in his Brazil: mixture or massacre? (Dover, The Majority Press, 1989). For comparisons between Brazilian and US race relations, see Michael Hanchard (ed.), Racial Politics in Contemporary Brazil (Durham, NC, Duke University Press, 1999); see also Sheriff, op. cit.
41. Pressured by the middle and upper classes, who in the 1990s experienced unprecedented levels of street violence, robberies, shootings and kidnappings, Marcelo Alencar, Rio de Janeiro's state governor, not contented with Operação Rio, instituted the 'bravery bonus' (gratificação por bravura), providing promotions and extra salary for officers involved in 'bravery acts'. During the time the 'bravery bonus' was operative (1995-8), the number of deaths occurring in 'confrontations' with the police doubled. The majority of police officers, especially those of higher ranks, consider favelas places where crime, prostitution and drugs mushroom. As well as their ideological convictions regarding the people of the favelas, low salaries serve as further justification for the police's everyday extortions of drug dealers, real or suspected. See, for example, Jorge da Silva, Michael J. Mitchell and Charles H. Wood, 'Ironies of citizenship: skin color, police brutality, and the challenge to democracy in Brazil', Social Forces (Vol. 77, no. 3, 1998), pp. 1001-20; Centro de Articulação de Populações Marginalizadas, Direitos Humanos x Populações Marginalizadas (Rio de Janeiro, 1999); Luiz Eduardo Soares, Meu Casaco de General: quinhentos dias no front da segurança pública do Rio de Janeiro (São Paulo, Cia das Letras, 2000).
42. Pressured by the middle and upper classes, who in the 1990s experienced unprecedented levels of street violence, robberies, shootings and kidnappings, Marcelo Alencar, Rio de Janeiro's state governor, not contented with Operação Rio, instituted the 'bravery bonus' (gratificação por bravura), providing promotions and extra salary for officers involved in 'bravery acts'. During the time the 'bravery bonus' was operative (1995-8), the number of deaths occurring in 'confrontations' with the police doubled. The majority of police officers, especially those of higher ranks, consider favelas places where crime, prostitution and drugs mushroom. As well as their ideological convictions regarding the people of the favelas, low salaries serve as further justification for the police's everyday extortions of drug dealers, real or suspected. See, for example, Jorge da Silva, Michael J. Mitchell and Charles H. Wood, 'Ironies of citizenship: skin color, police brutality, and the challenge to democracy in Brazil', Social Forces (Vol. 77, no. 3, 1998), pp. 1001-20; Centro de Articulação de Populações Marginalizadas, Direitos Humanos x Populações Marginalizadas (Rio de Janeiro, 1999); Luiz Eduardo Soares, Meu Casaco de General: quinhentos dias no front da segurança pública do Rio de Janeiro (São Paulo, Cia das Letras, 2000).
43. Pressured by the middle and upper classes, who in the 1990s experienced unprecedented levels of street violence, robberies, shootings and kidnappings, Marcelo Alencar, Rio de Janeiro's state governor, not contented with Operação Rio, instituted the 'bravery bonus' (gratificação por bravura), providing promotions and extra salary for officers involved in 'bravery acts'. During the time the 'bravery bonus' was operative (1995-8), the number of deaths occurring in 'confrontations' with the police doubled. The majority of police officers, especially those of higher ranks, consider favelas places where crime, prostitution and drugs mushroom. As well as their ideological convictions regarding the people of the favelas, low salaries serve as further justification for the police's everyday extortions of drug dealers, real or suspected. See, for example, Jorge da Silva, Michael J. Mitchell and Charles H. Wood, 'Ironies of citizenship: skin color, police brutality, and the challenge to democracy in Brazil', Social Forces (Vol. 77, no. 3, 1998), pp. 1001-20; Centro de Articulação de Populações Marginalizadas, Direitos Humanos x Populações Marginalizadas (Rio de Janeiro, 1999); Luiz Eduardo Soares, Meu Casaco de General: quinhentos dias no front da segurança pública do Rio de Janeiro (São Paulo, Cia das Letras, 2000).
44. It is not only the local military police that is guilty of these practices. On 7 September 2002, Mr Abreu, 34, was arrested by the federal police. Newspaper photographers documented the event. He was taken into custody without any bruises and, twenty-four hours later, was found dead from head injuries in the city morgue. O Dia (11 September 2002).
45. It is intriguing that, although 76 per cent of people polled in Rio and São Paulo believe policemen are active in death squads (Human Rights Watch), there is little if any support for organisations and events that protest police brutality outside the favelas. Perhaps, while there is recognition of the brutality of the police, there is also awareness that this very brutality is a vital support for social and racial hierarchies.
46. See Élcio Braga, 'Favela trancada a cadeado', O Dia (8 July 2001), p. 4; Sabrina Petry, 'Morro carioca cria condomínio-favela', Folha de S. Paulo (25 July 2001), p. C1.
47. See Élcio Braga, 'Favela trancada a cadeado', O Dia (8 July 2001), p. 4; Sabrina Petry, 'Morro carioca cria condomínio-favela', Folha de S. Paulo (25 July 2001), p. C1.
48. I b i d.
49. Recent studies have shown that, in spite of myriad Brazilian racial classifications, greater social and economic differences exist between whites and non-whites than between non-whites. Racial solidarity among Afro-Brazilians, therefore, has sociological and historical justifications that run counter to the prevailing myth of the racial democracy. See, for example, Edward Telles, 'Ethnic boundaries and political mobilization among African Brazilians: comparisons with the US case', in Michael Hanchard (ed.), Racial Politics in Contemporary Brazil (Durham, NC, Duke University Press, 1999).
50. The work of Cedric Robinson, in this regard, is of vital importance for those of us involved with the theory and praxis of black diasporic politics of transformation. See his Black Marxism: the making of the black radical tradition (Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 2000 [1983])