Black voters were historically denied their vote until 1985, the year that marked redemocratization, despite the existing rules not explicitly excluding this segment of society from elections.
The main mechanism for suppressing this group was the ban on illiterates, which existed until the transition to the current era. There were other instruments, such as the exclusion of homeless people, in addition to the census vote, which defined who could go to the polls.
The marginalization of black voters also hindered them, as they found it difficult to be registered, and if elected, to obtain diplomas and take office.
The majority of Brazilian constitutional texts did not have any express restrictions on the right to vote and be voted based on ethnic-racial criteria. There are even exceptional cases of political rise of black people in different historical contexts in the country.
In the Empire, he was elected the first black deputy in Brazil. He declared himself mixed race and obtained the position for the first time in 1828. In 1909, Monteiro Lopes was the first black congressman of the Republic, but he was only sworn in after the society’s support for his diploma.
Petrônio Domingues, professor of history at Ufes (Federal University of ), dedicated himself to researching the trajectory of Monteiro Lopes. He cites the deputy as an example of the historical difficulties of black and brown people in entering the daily life of Brazilian institutional politics.
“The legislation did not prevent people from the popular classes from running for office, but, in practice, it was impossible for them to be recognized,” he stated.
Lopes ran for the position of intendant – corresponding to the position of councilor – and was elected in 1903. According to Domingues, he was the target of racism by colleagues in the Legislature.
He was a candidate for , and was elected on the second attempt. It was then that it became a topic in the newspapers. “He was successful at the polls, but the question remained as to whether he would be recognized by the verification commission, responsible for approving the result or not”, says the researcher.
According to the historian, Monteiro Lopes began a national campaign mobilizing his base: workers, the black population, charitable associations, and the population of the port area. “In the end, he was recognized and the press also gave wide coverage”, says Petrônio.
The politician took up his seat in the Chamber in 1909, but only spent a short time in office, as he died in 1910.
In the same context, he reached the highest position in the country, assuming the Presidency after the death of incumbent Afonso Pena. The politician suffered frequent offenses throughout his public life and avoided talking about the color of his skin.
“He is an important figure for showing this masking, that is, the attempt not to appear black, which was typical of the mulatto here in Brazil. The press ridiculed him”, says Muniz Sodré, professor emeritus at UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro ), in .
These examples have become reality despite existing political systems. The Constitution of 1824, the first in Brazil and the only one in the Empire, had as a formal method of restricting political rights income, which needed to be high by the standards at the time to be able to access the ballot box and to run as a candidate.
The text also prevented freed people from participating politically, but not naïve people — free children born to an enslaved mother after the Free Womb Law —, which generated a series of discussions about access to the right to represent and be represented by this group. .
Even before inaugurating the first Republic, the Chamber approved the Saraiva Law in 1881, requiring literacy for political representation. Ruy Barbosa, author of the bill, stated that enslaved people, beggars and illiterate people should not vote because they do not know how to identify the common good.
These blockades mainly affected the black population, who were not integrated into society after slavery due to the lack of State reforms that would insert them into the Brazilian productive logic, which left them homeless and without.
Domingues reiterated the importance of preventing illiterates as a factor that excluded the black population from national political life.
“The black population’s delay in voting and being voted has to do with electoral legislation that prevented illiterate people from voting. The elitist conception of Brazilian legislators who associated ‘conscious’ and ‘politically discerning’ people with literacy.”
It was only in 1985 that a proposed amendment to the 1967 Constitution, in force at the time, was approved, authorizing the vote of those who did not know how to read or write.
Luana Barbosa, master and doctoral student in political science at Unicamp (State University of Campinas), argues that these social impediments, which barred the political rights of the black population, were justified by the myth of racial democracy.
She sees democracy as an instrument capable of subverting existing political and social logics, and says that the current period has managed to maintain black and brown people with some degree of representation through civil society.
This logic is repeated with black candidacies, which challenge the current context, with a white majority in politics. “Black people are the majority in the country, and the collectivization of candidacies, neighborhood leaders and civil society guaranteed the representation of this group.”
