Brazil was colonized by Portugal in 1500. Portugueses come looking for our gold and other valuable things. In that time, natives who livid by the fishing and hunt were almost there. When I look about the colonization, I can see mainly these points. That’s why I (and most part of Brazilians, I think) have a little recentment with Portugueses, because they “stole” our precious and enslaved and used the people who already lived here to get this. They also brought african slaves from their other colonies in Africa.
When I came to Portugal, i felt a little of prejudice coming from the portugueses about the fact I was brazilian. We know brazilians are every where here in Portugal, it almost seems that here have more brazilians than portugueses but even there I was so mad with thinking they don’t like us because were they that “invade” our land first, and as I said “stolen” our gold.
So then was created the State of Brazil wich was a Colony of Portugal.
The mix of Indians, Europeans (portugueses and other that came running away from other wars) and the Africans resulted at the blend of brazilian populantion and the socioeconomic disparity. Brazil is the most mixed country in the world and I personally thinks like Tarsila do Amaral, i can see so much beautiful in it.
Then, around 1800, the Portuguese Court needed to run away from France to Brazil because they were subjuded by the Peninsular War.
Here they elevated the condition of Brazil to a Kingdom, but still united to the Kingdom of Portugal and Algarves.
Only in 20 years later was declared the Independece of Brazil about Portugal and Algarves and then founded the Imperium of Brazil. So for this date we have a national holiday wich is the Independence Day on Semptember 7.
Finally in 1889 was declared a Republic but in 1930 we retoced to a Dictatorship when Brazilian people couldn’t be free to say or do what they want because the military censured them. We have a national holiday por Declaration of Republic too, on 15th of November. This date is also my mom birthday, so it has a more special meaning for me.
15 years later we could recovered our freedom and became a Republic again, with a new Constitution.
But as you can see our people was almost always dominated so that’s why until today some people around the world, mainly Portugueses, think they are superior and that our country is a mess. But in fact, I think that this is the history gave birth to our “jeitinho brasileiro” (brazilian way) to turn possible to scape and do things at our way.
We are not a very nationalist people but we are that kind that ” I can speak ill of my family, but no one else can speak” with our country. And every time we see someone with our flag in another country, we will do some party.
Nacional simbols
Our flag how we know it today was created after the Independence, when the blue ball replaced the royal family crest in the center but the green and yellow are still the same from the Imperium flag. Green originally symbolized the house of Braganza, of which D. Pedro I was part, in reference to the personal standard of D. Pedro II of Portugal, while the yellow symbolized the house of Habsburg, of which D. Maria Leopoldina was part. In the comum sense people use to think the green represents our forests and the yellow our gold.
The stars, whose position on the flag reflect the sky seen in the capital Rio de Janeiro on November 15, 1889, represent the federative units – each star represents a specific state in addition to the Federal District.
In the last year, with the elections for President, people were extending the flag in their cars or houses for support Bolsonaro believing he could be a solution for the country to leave the crisis that many thought was the fault of the corruption scandals of the left-wing party. His motto was “Brazil above everything and God above everyone”.
But I don’t really think he is the solution. Actually I think he can turn Brazil even worst being a very racist, sexist and also corrupt man. He is the opposite of everything we’ve been studying in Cultural Diversity! He desrespects all kinds of minorities and differents cultures.
ALINE RODRIGUES 