As crianças de candomblé e a escola : pensando sobre o racismo religioso

Abstract

This research called "The Children of Candomblé and the School: a Reflection on Religious Racism" aimed to understand the consequences of religious racism against the Candomblé children in the school environment. We also tried: to identify the Eurocentric Christian ideals that generate religious prejudice; to analyze the main elements of Candomblé that receive the most negative interpretations from other religious segments, and to detail how the ‘terreiro’ children live their religious identity, despite the religious discrimination at school. This study is based on previous research into religious prejudice, as well as on candomblé and religious identity. Methodologically, we have employed the qualitative approach from socio-historical and cultural perspectives, with exploratory and explanatory characteristics. The method used was participant observation. The techniques utilized in the field work were both participant observation and semi-structured interview. The instruments used were: a field diary, a camera and a recorder. Data collection was carried out at a ‘terreiro’, a “jeje-nagô” nation sacred place, and at two different schools: one public and the other private. The result analyses were based on Norman Fairclough’s and Teun Van Dijk's discourse analyses, which allow us to infer that religious discrimination in school has repercussions on the Candomblé children’s self-esteem and self-concept, and that this phenomenon needs to be studied from an intersectional perspective, since we perceive that the facts that worsen this problem are manifold. Not only are they related to religious condition, but also to some aspects such as class, race, gender, family context, educational and socioeconomic levels. Actually, the ‘terreiro’, a Candomblé sacred place, the family and the school need to dialogue more in order to mitigate the effects of religious racism on the Candomblé children’s self-esteem and self-concept.