Racisms and “r-existences” in Tocantins: a “new” State structured on colonial violence against indigenous people

Abstract

The idea that manifestations of racism only occur in more accentuated and explicit situations of prejudice and discrimination hides the occurrence of racist social orders that structure institutions, guidelines and public policies. Based on a review of theories and practices related to racism, especially in peripheral contexts, and based on verified and experienced realities in the State of Tocantins, this article presents a panorama formed by persistence and naturalization of racism against indigenous peoples by different angulations. Created in 1998 along with the Federal Constitution of 1988, the “new” State, even though it makes use of repeated and multiple cultural representations of identities associated with indigenous peoples since the initial movements of discourse formation and articulation for autonomy, continues to reproduce relations of hierarchy and subordination in ethnic-cultural terms. The contrast between “desired indigenous people” and “denied indigenous people” highlights precisely this double treatment given to indigenous peoples in Tocantins: on the one hand, the obligation and the need for public policies that can considers diversity are recognized; on the other hand, models are imposed “from the top down”, reinforcing unequal logics under the cloak of an alleged interculturality. However, movements of “r-existences” have been challenging such forms of racism, especially in the area of ​​education.