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Racism in Brazil’s football history

March 7th, 2006 | By: Euler Costa | 10 Comments »

Shawn asked me about a racist matter on Brazil’s football history and I promised to write a little post about it, but it got bigger than I expected. And there were a lot of interesting details I had to put aside, because otherwise I would be writing a book.

It was 1912 when the most important football clubs of Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo and Fuminense, decided to form a more professional league and allowed other teams to join, as long as there were no black people in their ranks. Vasco, the defending champions with 12 black players in their plantel, refused to join the new league and stayed with the smaller teams. That was such a strong statement that the new league gave up that racist rule on the next year. Vasco was the first of the big teams from Rio to hire black players.

Even after that rule was disregarded, other big teams still wanted to hire only white people, but at the same time they couldn’t help noticing some great talents among the black folks. It would be around 1920 when Fluminense hired some black people, but didn’t want the team supporters to know about it. The black players had to use makeup (rice powder) on their faces and arms to disguise it. At the end of the matches the powder was running down with the player’s sweat, and many people could see that they were using makeup. They started to call the players, the supporters and the team itself “Pó de Arroz” (rice powder). Years have passed and the nickname was disregarded as racist (don’t ask me why) and officially adopted by the team. This fact is the most famous about racism in our football history.

It would be only in 1936 that Flamengo would hire his first black player. The guy was so good that everyone else was hunting him. His name was Leonidas da Silva (aka Black Diamond). Flamengo was the final barrier for black players to break and he did it.

The origin of my beloved team’s nickname has also a racist origin, but backwards. Many years after the “rice powder” era, Flamengo was the team with most black players, and supporters from all other teams started to call it “Urubu” (American black Vulture). But instead of upsetting the team and its supporters, it became the icon and mascot of the team. Until today I’m proud to be Urubu.

The mascot
(photo credit) (urubu icon credit)

Nowadays Flamengo is the team of the people here in Brazil, with the biggest number of supporters, a lot of them in the poorer slice of society. Many people don’t know about the elitist background of our team witch was originally founded as a rowing club. The rowing division still exists.

Unfortunately we can’t say that racism is an issue of the past. Europe have big examples, the latest one I’ve heard about was Eto’s incident. Shame on them!

Here we had some problems too. The Argentinean Leandro Desabato, of Argentine club Quilmes was arrested on charges of using racial slurs against the Brazilian Grafite (Edinaldo Batista Líbano) from São Paulo, after a match for the Copa Libertadores last year.

Soon after that a banana was thrown (port.) at him by a Brazilian supporter before a Selection game in São Paulo. It was written at the fruit “Grafite Monkey”.

Last weekend Juventude defender Antonio Carlos rubbed his fingers over his arm in an obvious racist manner referring to Gremio’s midfielder Jeovaneo after being expelled from the game after a dangerous foul. Antonio will be facing trial and, hopefully, he will be arrested. Racism has to be punished in order to end. First Antonio denied, but after seeing the images on TV he apologized. Jeovaneo already said that he won’t forgive him. He was devastated saying that both involved have children and also that mature adults just can’t act like that anymore.

Well, it seems that I already wrote a lot about this issue. I would love to read people’s opinions about racism in Europe where entire groups of fans are carrying the anti-Semitism ideals to the stadiums without any punishments and also about racism in other countries.

Images of Real Madrid against racism:

Zizou against racisma All united against racism
Ebony and Ivory Roberto against racism
(images credits)

Other sources: #1, #2, #3, #4
(1, 2 and 3 in portuguese)

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Comments

By Bello | May 7th, 2006 at 1:40 pm

Wow. Thank you much for this beautiful information. I am a proponent of taking extreme measures against racism.

Imagine, someone calling Eto “monkey” for being excellent in what he does.

I want all black players to walk out when they do their racist chants. Just stop the game.

peace… until Brazil, the Amerikkka and the rest of Europe PAY for what they did to Africans, these idiot black of African origins need to be MILITANT.

They are insulting blacks and yet making a lot of money from them Shame.

Posted from United States

By argentina | June 28th, 2006 at 2:13 am

come on argentinians are all white they dont have any blood origins from africans ,they all have european blood and they are all white but that doesnt mean that all aregentinias are racism is just that in argentina there isnt black people that lives there thats all .
we argentinians love color people.

Posted from United States

By tiadelabahia | June 29th, 2006 at 10:06 pm

In response to Argentina. I’m not sure if you know your country’s history. BEFORE all the White ppl arrived the majority of the ppl lived in the capital Buenos Aires. And Buenos Aires was majority Black at that time. Blacks are now a minority in Argentina, they ARE still there. But the fact that your country for so long refused to count them is proof of racism. Not to mention the blacks didn’t disappear, they were assorbed by the European immigrants. So many Whites may be of African descent just like the rest of Latin America.

Posted from United States

By maya | June 29th, 2006 at 11:32 pm

oh, Leonidas da Silva was so great that his nickname, Black Diamond - Diamante Negro… became the name of a popular chocolate that is still sold today.

Posted from Brazil

By Correction | August 10th, 2006 at 4:33 am

Umm, I think the bit about Buenos Aires having majority black is not true and really exageration on your part. No doubt there where blacks there, but they made up the minority and were gradually absorbed and lost through wars.

so is it true that black where in argentina? of course yes. did they make up that much of the country? I really don’t think so.. more likely the indigenous guarani where in greater number than any blacks.

please try to be realistic

By tiadelabahia | August 28th, 2006 at 7:09 pm

re: Correction.

“Umm, I think the bit about Buenos Aires having majority black is not true and really exageration on your part. No doubt there where blacks there, but they made up the minority and were gradually absorbed and lost through wars.

please try to be realistic”

YOUR COMMENT IS EXTREMELY IGNORANT. YOU SUPPORT NOT ONE FACT. YOU USE AN OPINION, NOT A FACT TO TELL ME I’M WRONG. DO ME A FAVOR, PLEASE STUDY BEFORE YOU MAKE A COMMENT. I DID NOT SAY ARGENTINA WAS MAJORITY BLACK, BUT BUENOS AIRES. I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE POPULATION OF INDIANS WERE IN BUENOS AIRES, ‘CAUSE I DON’T BELIEVE THAT THEY LIVED IN THE CITY. SECONDLY, BUENOS AIRES WAS MAJORITY BLACK BEFORE THE WAVE OF EUROPEAN IMMIGRATION, WHY IS THIS SUCH A HARD CONCEPT FOR YOU TO GRASP, BLACKS MAKE UP @ LEAST 1/3 OF THE POPULATION OF LATIN AMERICA. POPULATIONS DO CHANGE OVER TIME.

p.s. Next time you try to debate someone make sure you do your homework. oh,& do re-read my post, ’cause all you did was reiterate some of the things that I said.

Posted from United States

By TARIQ | November 13th, 2006 at 7:21 am

black people in europe are soft..when will they ever figure out that whiteys are their natural born enemys..and are the discdents of neanderthals/barbarians..whiteys arent the “norm” eventhough because of european colonization you pathetic scum bags think you are

By henry | July 16th, 2007 at 1:46 pm

Are we talking about football here?
it doesn’t matter who made the majority in Argentina. we simply need to recognize that there is too much racism in football. It is not limited only to Argentina but it all over the world even in Africa. The black player can only defend himself by exposing his talents. Stupid racist fans can only get frustrated each time they fail to demoralize them.

Posted from Kenya

By K.C. | November 5th, 2007 at 4:16 pm

I wonder, is there any embassy of black nations in Argentina? I have an Argentinian girl in my class at Umass Boston, she seem very nice. So, “if” Argentinians are so racist, I think when they go overseas, especially in countries where there is a lot of black people (like the U.S.) they behave differently.

Posted from United States

By El racismo en el fútbol « Carlos Jumbo G. | April 3rd, 2008 at 1:50 am

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