Lula set to reinforce fight for racial equality

The Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, will sign a second package of laws for racial equality, which consists of a set of 13 initiatives presented by the minister of the sector, Anielle Franco.

The package includes national programs, decrees and inter-ministerial working groups, cooperation agreements and other initiatives that guarantee or expand the right to life, land, inclusion, memory and reparation.

Although November 20th is Black Consciousness Day nationwide, the date is not a holiday in all states and cities, so the operation of some services may vary depending on the location.

The date calls for actions to praise the fight of black people against the racial discrimination and social inequality that still prevails in Brazil.

Official statistics reveal that blacks in the country (54 percent of a population of nearly 213 million inhabitants) are minorities in professions, higher education, salaries, among other aspects of life. However, they are majority in prisons, in unemployment, poverty and in the percentage of homicide victims.

Furthermore, the killing of blacks by police in the favelas, and most clearly in Rio de Janeiro, is woven into the communities like samba or soccer.

According to the Network of Security Observatories of the Center for Security and Citizenship Studies, when considering only those with declared color/race, the proportion of black people killed rises to 87.4 percent.