"A Carne mais barata do mercado é a carne negra”: espacialização do racismo em Maceió/AL e suas implicações na construção da identidade negra dos(as) discentes da Universidade Federal de Alagoas

Abstract

Racism is a systemic and structural phenomenon, historically and socially consolidated during the colonization of Brazilian territory by Europeans. Over time, it has manifested in a multifaceted way, structuring human relations at different levels and articulating with other forms of power. Cases of racism have intensified and gained greater visibility in Brazilian society; what was previously presented in a veiled manner is now explicitly evidenced in all spheres of society, such as in the economic, political, and cultural sectors.In this context, this research aimed to investigate the spatialization of racism in the city of Maceió/AL, based on the experiences lived by Black students of the Geography course at the A.C. Simões Campus of the Federal University of Alagoas, analyzing the implications of these experiences in the construction of their Black identities. This study is based on the assumption that racism plays a structuring role in socio-spatial formation, and, as it materializes in geographic space, results in the segregation of the Black population, directly impacting quality of life and intensifying socio-spatial and racial inequalities. The city of Maceió/AL is understood as a racialized territory that reflects and reproduces racist structures through the violation of the rights of the Black population, expressed in lethal violence against Black and peripheral youth, in educational inequalities, income disparities, and the absence of essential services for this population. This study was grounded in a qualitative methodological approach, whose adopted procedures included bibliographic review, fieldwork, systematic observation, conversation circles, questionnaire application, and data triangulation. The main theoretical references include Moore (2011), Munanga (2003), Santos (2011), Gonzalez (2020), Nascimento (1978), Gomes (2005), and Saquet (2009), among other authors who discuss the concepts of space, racism, territory, and Black identity. The results showed that participants experienced racist situations in different neighborhoods and in public and private institutions in Maceió/AL, manifested in racialized police violence, religious, aesthetic, and epistemic racism, directly affecting the process of constructing their Black identities. Therefore, this study contributes to the understanding of racial inequalities and the structuring role of racism in the production of geographic space, as well as to the valorization of practices such as quilombamento, self-care, the affirmation of Black identities, and the claim for rights by historically marginalized groups. Fostering critical discussions aimed at the construction of an anti-racist Geography constitutes a fundamental step toward social transformation and the deconstruction of stereotypes and stigmas in society.