Patrícia Moreira against “ninety million in action”? Racism and anti-racism in Brazilian Football

Abstract

In recent years, racist attacks on football players have multiplied, which seems to indicate the trivialization of racism. This phenomenon has always been a taboo, making it difficult to perceive it as a social problem and, consequently, the definition of strategies to combat it. Based on an episode involving goalkeeper Aranha, this article aims to reflect to what extent these cases that take the idea of racial democracy out of the comfort zone have the potential to promote anti-racism. The discourse of two actors involved in the event in question - Grêmio Futebol Porto Alegrense and supporter Patrícia Moreira - was used as the object of analysis, whose goal was, respectively, to promote anti-racism in football and avoid the accusation of racism. It is possible to say that anti-racism comes up against the disqualification of racism and the reinforcement of the ideology of racial mixing and indistinction.