Judge: quota for blacks ‘lowered the level’ in universities; OAB sees racism

The section of the Brazilian Bar Association in Bahia (OAB-BA) is considering suing the Internal Affairs Office of the State Court of Justice and the National Council of Justice (CNJ) against judge Rosita Falcão Maia for racism. The entity’s Gender and Race Prosecutor’s Office analyzes possible measures at the administrative level.

Estadão requested a statement from the judge through the court’s press office and the office. However, until the publication of this text, a response had not been received.

The reaction comes after the judge criticized the quota system in universities and public competitions. The judge stated in the trial session last Wednesday, 27th, that the reservation of places for black candidates “lowered the level” in public universities.

“All the teachers comment on the gap, the lack of quality of the students there, because the level has dropped”, criticized Rosita. “The public universities, which were top, had a fantastic level.”

The judge also defended “meritocracy” in universities and competitions, “regardless of the color of the candidate” and said that the quotas “came more to disunite than to unite the population”. “It is extremely important that we have competent people in the public service, in universities.”

Finally, Rosita said that quotas are not a “solution” to the debt that Brazil owes to the black population.

“In Brazil we have always looked for the easiest solution. This was the easiest, but it is not the solution. On the contrary, a big problem was created. But unfortunately we have to comply with the law and black people have the right to their quotas”, he highlighted.

The OAB of Bahia said, in a statement, that the judge’s statements are elitist and racist.

“Demonstrations that violate fundamental rights cannot be confused with freedom of expression, especially when emanated by a representative of the Judiciary”, states the entity.

Rosita Falcão Maia, from TJ-BA, regrets having to comply with the racial quota law and says that ‘they came more to divide than to unite the population’

Read the OAB note:

November 2024, Black Awareness Month. While public and private institutions across the country reaffirm their commitment to promoting equality and race and gender equity, the judge of the Court of Justice of the State of Bahia Rosita Falcão declares in a trial session that “the quotas came more towards disunite than to unite the population”, and goes on to state that “The Federal Law School was excellent, today it is not so much anymore, because all the teachers comment on the unevenness of the students, the level of the students has dropped”.

Discriminatory speeches against racial quotas, which are constitutionally guaranteed reparation measures to achieve material equality, are not recent facts. Retrograde positions on this matter reinforce the need to commemorate Black Consciousness, which this year was celebrated for the first time as a national holiday. Demonstrations that violate fundamental rights cannot be confused with freedom of expression, especially when emanated by a representative of the Judiciary.

Racism is a crime with special constitutional protection, imprescriptible and non-bailable. The repudiation of racism is a structuring principle of the Brazilian Federative Republic. And it is a commitment assumed internationally by Brazil that all public authorities, national and local, refrain from carrying out acts or practices of racial discrimination against people, groups of people or institutions.

The judge’s demonstrations against racial quotas, in addition to their elitist and racist content, materialize the discriminatory discourse, violating the Federal Constitution and the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, and must be vehemently repelled by democratic institutions.

Furthermore, statements against quotas ignore recent data and statistics, as, according to the Higher Education Census released this year by INEP, quota students who entered federal higher education ten years ago had a course completion rate 10% higher than non-quota holders between 2014 and 2023.

It is also important to highlight that the discriminatory statements were made during the trial to place a candidate approved in the TJ-BA competition on the list of black candidates, which reveals the judge’s evident unpreparedness to deal with such an issue, violating the Protocol for Judgment with a Racial Perspective , recently approved, on November 19th, by the National Council of Justice (CNJ), an initiative in line with the decisions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which has already recognized that the racial issue must be considered in trials. This fact reinforces the importance of the CNJ protocol, which aims precisely to confront and mitigate structural and institutional racism and all forms of discrimination resulting from them, promoting a fairer and more inclusive application of laws.

The Board of OAB Bahia, the Black Advocacy Commission, chaired by Jonata Wiliam Sousa da Silva, the Commission for the Promotion of Racial Equality, chaired by Camila Dias dos Santos Carneiro, the Special Commission to Combat Religious Intolerance, chaired by Máíra Santana Vida , and the OAB-BA Inclusion and Diversity Coordination, coordinated by Renata Cristina Barbosa Deiró, reaffirm their commitment to promoting racial equality and strengthening the legal profession in all its plurality, repudiating all discriminatory and racist manifestations, observing the Federal Constitution, which representatives of the Justice system and all Brazilian citizens must respect and protect.

The case has already been forwarded to the OAB-BA Gender and Race Prosecutor’s Office, which will take action at the TJ-BA.