Racismo na educação infantil: manifestações e formas de combate

Abstract

We live in a racist country (Nascimento, 2009), and there is a widespread belief that racism does not exist in Early Childhood Education, the first stage of Basic Education (Cavalleiro, 2012). This research seeks to demonstrate the opposite: that racism is present from early childhood in the lives of Black children in Brazil. The general objective of the study was to understand how racism manifests itself in early childhood education and to discuss ways to combat it. Specifically, the study aimed to: understand the concept of racism; identify how racism manifests in early childhood education; and present possible strategies to confront it. The methodology adopted was a theoretical and bibliographic study (Gil, 2008), based on articles, texts, book chapters, and other publications on the subject, with special emphasis on the works From the Silence of the Home to the Silence of the School: Racism, Prejudice and Discrimination in Early Childhood Education by Black researcher Eliane Cavalleiro (2012), and Democratization of Care: Anti-racist Education for and with Babies and Young Children by Black researcher Jussara Santos (2024). The theoretical framework was built upon authors in the field of ethnic-racial studies, including Eliane Cavalleiro (2001; 2012), Jussara Santos (2024), Abdias do Nascimento (2009), Nilma Lino Gomes (2011), and Grada Kilomba (2019), among others. The results indicate that: (a) children do perceive differences between Black and White people and are already affected by negative views of Blackness; (b) racism appears in interactions among children themselves, leading Black children to feel inferior and White children superior; (c) children are not treated equally, as care and physical affection are more frequently directed toward White children; (d) many teachers and institutions remain silent in the face of racist situations; (e) racist acts committed by educators sometimes occur due to a lack of ethnic-racial education, but in other cases are intentional, revealing contempt toward Black children; (f) there is a lack of preparedness to deal with ethnic-racial issues; some teachers, when addressing the subject, end up reinforcing racism; (g) One of the effects of not combating racism is that it is learned; over time, all children are also practicing it; and (h) Combating racism requires changes in materials, pedagogical practices, and teacher training, with an emphasis on Black culture and protagonism. It also involves public policies, family participation, and institutional preparedness, because racism cannot be confronted simply "with good intentions."