Analysis: Macaé Evaristo is proof that there are black women ministers, but the government said it was difficult to find them | Blogs

After much talk about the difficulty in finding black women to occupy senior positions, the government discovered in two days that it could appoint state deputy Macaé Evaristo (PT-MG) to the Ministry of Human Rights, in place of , dismissed by accusation of sexual harassment against Anielle Franco, from Igualdade Racial.

On Friday (6), Almeida was fired. On Monday (9), Macaé, who is from Minas Gerais, came from her state to Brasília to be announced as minister.

Macaé Evaristo is proof that there was always an option for more women and black people to occupy ministerial positions in the government, what was perhaps lacking was Planalto’s determination to find one.

Changing the status of mourning, caused by Almeida’s departure, due to the struggle with Macaé’s arrival, the government focused on the symbolism of placing a black woman on the team with a history recognized for her growth through her studies.

During the assembly of the government, Minister Anielle Franco even delivered two lists with the names of black women who could join the government’s ranks. Literally lists of CVs.

However, once the justification that there were missing names had been overcome, the next statement was that: he needed to count on Lula’s trust. A precondition that is much more difficult to transpose in politics, where the environment and its relationships of trust are mostly male.

How many other black women are having their academic and political trajectories neglected by those who do not see them as an option?

Within two days, the PT recognized that the name was supposed to be Macaé Evaristo, even though not all PT organizers even knew the Minas Gerais native. When the appreciation of minorities is a priority for a government, things simply happen.

On Monday (9), Macaé took a photo with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, held her first working meeting with the ministry team, and has already begun to be publicly accused of having been accused of administrative improbity in previous administrations, in Mines.

The fine-tooth comb over newly arrived ministers is normal. But we are not living in normal times.

The door opened by the Silvo-Anielle scandal for a debate about black behavior and lynching on social media allows many negative reactions against the black movement to enter and take hold. What else can happen?

The moment is still a crisis of representation among those who fight so hard to be represented.