Law Programs, Ethno–Racial Relations Education, and Confronting Racism in the Brazilian Judiciary

Abstract

This article focuses on the lack of full compliance with teaching ethno–racial relations education in Brazilian university undergraduate programs, particularly law programs. Teaching this topic was specified by the Conselho Nacional de Educação (CNE, National Education Council) in Resolution CNE/CP no. 01/2004. Although teaching ethno–racial relations education has not been a panacea for judicial sentencing based on racial criteria, we propose the working hypothesis that teaching it is a tool that can help catalyze a reduction in racist sentences by courts, for example, a defendant not fitting the stereotypical criminal pattern by being white or being assumed to belong to some criminal group for being black (preto) or brown (pardo). Through surveys at sixty-nine federal universities and documentary research into law program curricula, it was discovered that Resolution CNE/CP no. 01/2004 is not being fully or appropriately implemented at these institutions, a fact that may be enabling the continuance of race-based penal sentencing, which is illegal and extremely harmful to the black/brown Brazilian population. To prevent or minimize this problem, full compliance with Resolution CNE/CP no. 01/2004 is suggested.

Keywords

• judicial power
• combating racism
• ethno–racial relations education