‘It’s impossible not to feel angry’, says Samara Felippo about racism against her daughter at school; see increase in complaints | Fantastic

“I don’t want to see my daughter crying”: Samara Felippo comments on case of racism against her daughter

This Sunday’s Fantástico (5) spoke about a challenge for parents and educators: How to deal with episodes of racism when they happen within the school environment? Samara Felippo’s daughter was the victim of racist abuse and the actress demands action to ensure that the teenager can continue to attend school safely.

“We got home and I saw Alicia leaning over the table, having to redo each line. She was crying compulsively because they ruined her work. It’s impossible for a mother not to feel angry at that moment. I don’t want to see my daughter crying. No mother want”, says Samara.

Actress Samara Felippo’s report is about the racist attack suffered last month by Alicia, one of her daughters with former basketball player Leandrinho Barbosa.

“They tore out all the pages of a piece of work that she did with great care and inside the notebook there was a very serious racist phrase”, says the actress.

The episode took place at Escola Vera Cruz, in São Paulo, which has had an Anti-Racist Education project since 2019. “I’m not here to stone the school. Imagine, it was welcomed. I thought the first action they took was important for us to find those responsible, but it’s still a flawed anti-racist project”, highlights Samara.

To Fantástico, the coordinator of the Vera Cruz School, stated that the institution recognizes what happened to Alicia as a racist act.

“Alicia brought the issue to us, and we immediately went to all the ninth grade classrooms, where the talk about what happened involved recognizing it as a serious racist attitude. The attackers were suspended indefinitely so that the school could mature all the processes of other sanctions that may be applicable to that situation.”

“I would like my daughter to no longer live with the aggressors. When these girls return to the school environment, if they return, my daughter will revisit this pain. Do you understand? I don’t mean any harm, I’m not hating anyone”, says Samara .

This week, Fantástico gathered reports from other students who have already been victims of racism in the school environment.

Since 2019, the São Paulo State Department of Education has been monitoring cases of different types of discrimination. The number of complaints fell during the pandemic, soared in 2022 and, last year, exceeded three thousand between January and September alone.

According to a survey by the Escola Paulista de Medicina with students from 30 state schools in the capital of São Paulo, those who experience racism at school have a 36% greater risk of starting early alcohol consumption; and 81% more likely to start using tobacco.

Iracema Santos do Nascimento, PhD professor at the Faculty of Education at USP, highlighted the trauma of racism for victims.

“Racist acts will leave trauma and scars possibly for the rest of the lives of people who suffer racism.

Each teaching unit has the autonomy to develop an anti-racist project according to its own reality. At this state school in São Paulo, for example, it all started in 2022 with the perception that mainly black teenagers had problems with self-esteem.

Students and teachers then came together to combat this scenario with cultural music and photography projects.

“I didn’t feel safe with myself. So, I believe that this process also happened with the girls here at school. So, I believe that these projects were kind of a solution. The representation that we brought to the girls was very important for them”, says Dandara, a student involved in the project.

The school’s deputy director, Bruna Pereira highlights some reports from students:

“There were reports that they didn’t like it, they had to straighten their hair, that society standard. We take students from 2022, we see the difference and it’s striking”, he says.