Armed police officers entered Emei Antônio Bento (SP) after receiving a call from a student’s father
The Ministry of Racial Equality repudiated, through a note released on Wednesday (19.Nov.2025), acts of religious racism and institutional violence that occurred at Emei (Municipal School of Early Childhood Education) Antônio Bento, in São Paulo, last week.
On November 12, military police went to the school, in the Butantã neighborhood, in the west zone of the capital of São Paulo, after a father called the police because his daughter had, during a school activity, drawn a drawing of an orixá – a deity of the Yoruba religion. Four military police officers entered the school armed after receiving the father’s call.
According to the ministry, the activity of presenting orixás is in line with the laws, which determine the teaching of African, Afro-Brazilian and indigenous history and culture in schools.
The organization states that the content expands the pedagogical possibilities for the recognition, appreciation and strengthening of black, quilombola, indigenous and Afro-Brazilian identities in the educational environment.
“This knowledge is essential for understanding our Brazilian identity, as a people that was built from black, Afro-Brazilian and indigenous culture”said the ministry in a note.
“We will continue working so that our policies can reach all Brazilians and that we no longer have regrettable episodes of blatant disrespect, racism and intolerance towards African-based religions and our own origins”, adds the text.
In a note, the São Paulo State Police Ombudsman’s Office stated that it opened a procedure requesting the PM Internal Affairs Department (Military Police) to investigate the conduct of the agents and the images from the body cameras and the school’s internal circuit.
“The indications of religious racism are visible and must be investigated rigorously and quickly, so that, once the crime is confirmed, its sanction is fair and pedagogical. This Ombudsman’s Office vehemently repudiates any act of this nature and, in this sense, announces that it is finalizing a proposal that deals with ethnic-racial relations for public security agents who work on school patrols”he said in a note.
The Ombudsman also stated that, because the student’s father was a public security employee for the State of São Paulo, a second procedure was opened to investigate his conduct.
According to the Ombudsman’s Office, based on the statements already recorded, including that of the director of the educational establishment, the activity that was carried out is in accordance with the law, which establishes the mandatory teaching of African, Afro-Brazilian and indigenous history and culture in the curriculum of all primary and secondary schools, both public and private.
“It is necessary to rigorously investigate, hold accountable and firmly correct acts of this nature, under penalty of having an even greater growth in intolerance, which is opposed to knowledge, and cannot coexist with the basic principle of any religion or civilized society, which is love and tolerance”says the text.
With information from .
