Book, Black place[LS]

Powerful and emblematic, Lugar de Negro gives a succinct overview of one of the most pressing social problems in our country. Four decades after its original publication, its reading remains current and mandatory to understand the dynamics of race and class in Brazil. Lugar de Negro brings together three texts by two great references in the studies of the relationship between inequality and race — Lélia Gonzalez and Carlos Hasenbalg —, synthesizing central points of the Brazilian racial issue and contributing to strengthening a fundamental struggle of the black movement at that time: deconstructing the myth of racial democracy, incited during the dictatorship. From an intimate perspective, Lélia Gonzalez dedicates herself here to presenting the process of consolidation of the black movement in Brazil, culminating in the creation of the MNU, in 1978, in which she played a leading role. Carlos Hasenbalg, in turn, analyzes the main aspects regarding the configuration of racism and inequalities in Brazil. Following his pioneering investigative line, he demonstrates that relegating discrimination to the reflection of class relations underestimates the role of racial oppression in the very constitution of social hierarchies. Originally published in 1982, this book still presents crucial reflections on Brazil's intellectual and political agenda.