CITIZENSHIP AND EDUCATION
IN BRAZIL
THE CONTRIBUTION OF INDIAN PEOPLES
AND BLACKS IN THE STRUGGLE FOR
CITIZENSHIP AND RECOGNITION
Petronilha Beatriz Gonçalves e Silva
THE BRAZILIAN CONSTITUTION, as well as the laws and fundamental principles guiding national education, highlights the importance of citizenship formation and the role of educational institutions at various levels in this process. The Introduction to National Curricular Parameters (Ministério da Educação, 1997) for the first grades of primary education emphasize that the exercise of citizenship
presumes the political participation of all in the definition of courses to be taken by the country and that all Brazilians have a voice not only in the selection of political representatives and governing officials, but also in participation in social movements, in involvement with national topics and questions, and at every level of daily life. (Ministério da Educação, 1998, p. 21)
However, the distorted vision of social relations of a hegemonic society, particularly of ethnic and race relations, which is fueled by the myth that in Brazil there is a racial democracy, is not criticized nor even mentioned in these curricular guidelines. Without a doubt, this vision
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