The actress’s daughter Samara Felippo, 14-year-old black girl whose notebook was torn and erased with a racist phrase at Escola Vera Cruz, last week, had already suffered other episodes of racial discrimination at school, according to her mother. According to her, one of the episodes was the accusation of stealing a cell phone charger.
“He is a repeat offender, recurrent. Since last year, there was an episode in which a porter disappeared and the accused was my daughter. These are all small layers of racism that black children covertly go through every day”, said the actress this Tuesday, 30.
The private school in the west of São Paulo states that the students responsible for the attack on the notebook were suspended and the victim was sheltered. He also says he will evaluate whether other sanctions will be applied.
Actress Samara Felippo went to the police to provide clarification about a complaint of racism against her daughter at Colégio Vera Cruz, in São Paulo Photograph: Instagram/@sfelippo
Samara was called to give a statement at the Racial Crimes and Intolerance Offenses Station (Decradi), in the central region, to complement the Police Report at the Electronic Police Station that she had registered.
According to the actress, her eldest daughter had her notebook stolen, pages were ripped out and then it was returned to the school’s “lost and found” section with a racial slur. Photos of the notebook were handed over to the police as evidence. The incident occurred on Monday the 22nd.
The school states that it “recognized the seriousness of this violent act of racism, naming it as such, and actions were immediately taken to welcome the attacked student and his family.” According to the management, the students were suspended indefinitely and had their participation in a school trip banned. The two students are still enrolled, according to the school. “New sanctions may be adopted, depending on investigation and reflection on the facts”, says a note from the school.
Vera Cruz also states that reparation actions are yet to be defined. “The punitive actions were determined according to institutional rules and procedures, which take into account the meaning of punishments in the school environment. The sanctions were defined by the school teams, considering the seriousness of the offenses. Reparation actions are yet to be defined”, says another excerpt from the note.
Student wants to stay at school, says mother
According to Samara’s lawyer, Thaís Cremasco, the school has three days to present the measures taken in the case to the police. “The attitude we expect from the school is to prevent the presence of racist students in the school.”
The student wants to continue studying at school, according to her mother. One of the reasons is the welcoming of colleagues. “She is fine, she wants to stay at school and is feeling welcomed by her friends. They are on her side”, declared the actress.
Samara’s family has not yet decided whether to sue the school and the families in civil court, says the lawyer. “There is the possibility of a compensation action, if the family believes this is necessary. Samara is very dismayed and suffering a lot from the situation. She still can’t decide,” she says.
Parents of the two girls will take them out of school
The parents of the two girls accused of racism have announced that they will remove the girls from Vera Cruz. O Estadão found that the decision took into account the protection of the three students involved, the victim and the aggressors. In a letter to the families of the 9th grade class in which they studied, the parents of one of them said that Samara’s daughter was the victim of “unjustifiable violence”.
Regarding their daughter, they stated that “contrary to what some said in the WhastApp groups, she is not a repeat offender and has never had previous reports of bad behavior”.
“She is a teenager in the process of becoming a citizen – like all of your children. Who makes mistakes and successes, as we have all done in our lives”, continued the letter. The parents also said that they understand that “the act of violence committed by our daughter was an exception, and not the rule, in her ethical conduct in this complex transition that is adolescence.”
They stated that “the episode makes it clear that there is still a long and arduous road ahead for us to confront structural racism, inside and outside our homes.”
Lawyer is mother of victim of racism in Porto Seguro
Defender Thaís Cremasco has also experienced a similar situation of racial discrimination involving her son in 2022. She is mother of a student victim of racist attacks in a WhatsApp group at Colégio Visconde de Porto Seguro, in Valinhos, in the interior of São Paulo. The school dismissed the eight students accused of racism, xenophobia and support for Nazism.
Dissatisfied with the result of the presidential elections, a group of students created a group on WhatsApp called “Fundação Anti Petismo”. With around 30 teenagers, the group shared hateful messages against PT members, black people, northeasterners and women, as well as apologies for Nazism, mainly by sending “stickers” of Adolf Hitler.
When he was outraged by the content, one of the students added to the group, a 15-year-old black boy, spoke out, calling the members “neo-Nazis from Porto” and saying that he would denounce the group.
After the expulsion, Thais thanked the support received and stated that the crimes committed by the students did not only hurt their children, who are black, “but all of humanity”.
“The racist acts that my son suffered resulted in the expulsion of eight students. I don’t think this had ever happened. It is important that Brazil understands the seriousness of the crime of racism. Racism is not bullying, it is not child’s play.”
Tags: Samara Felippo tells police daughter suffered episodes racism school
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