Institutional racism and invisibilities of afro-descendant history and cultural heritage in cities of predominantly German colonization

Abstract

The present work aims to analyze the institutional racism and processes of invisibilization of the history and cultural heritage of African descent in cities of predominantly Germanic colonization. The territorial outline used will be the former region designated as the Linho Cânhamo Trading Post, which largely encompassed the surface limits of the then original municipality of São Leopoldo and the cities that were emancipated from it (region designated as the Vale do Rio dos Sinos and Encosta da Serra Gaúcha / RS). The historical clipping used is based on three perspectives of analysis. The first cut covers the denial of black history along with the Feitoria do Linho Cânhamo, when public institutions in the municipalities of Vale do Rio dos Sinos and Encosta da Serra often make invisible the presence, permanence and legacies of the Afro-descendant cultural heritage in such cities. The second cut covers the interethnic relations, equally invisible, between slaves, freed slaves and mestizos - who remained or were brought to the former Factory of Linho Cânhamo, then “Colonia Germânica de São Leopoldo” - with the Germanic immigrants who colonized the same region. Finally, we list the institutional racisms, mainly in public municipal spheres, which make the historical and heritage presence of Afro-descendants invisible in their institutional portals.