BLACK PEOPLE IN THE DISCOURSE OF VEJA MAGAZINE

Abstract

ABSTRACT: In this article we shall present some of the possible effects caused by the meaning of an article published in the Brazilian magazine Veja about racial relations. The discussions will be guided by French discourse analysis theory. By selecting some discursive sequences, we intend to show how the magazine constructs its discourse on racial prejudice. Despite citing difficulties faced by contemporary black people in Brazil, the magazine does not present specific causes for racial disparity. Historical questions such as slavery are not discussed in the article. Without that information, when questioned, “Why are black people in the poorer classes?”, one will probably arrive at an answer that blames the individuals or the group they belong to for their unfavorable situation - because, at first sight, there is no historical antecedent that differentiates blacks and whites. At every moment there is the denial of the existence of racial differences between black and white people based on criteria of color/race, but the article runs out of explanations because it cannot blame the mode of organization and the structure of the labor market, since the magazine’s editorial line is ideologically committed to a defense of the free market.