Racializing the gaze on a disaster in Espírito Santo in 1985

Abstract

Socio-environmental disasters are a result of the disorderly occupation of Brazilian territory, which in turn is a condition and product of the vulnerability of a population that clusters in regions recognized as risk areas, contaminated or subject to flooding and landslides. In this sense, addressing climate change and racial inequalities is something that should be considered in an integrated manner to encompass the dimensions of threats (socio-environmental phenomena) and vulnerabilities (socio-historical phenomena). Starting from the analysis of the trajectory of the black population in Brazil since the colonial period, this work aims to recount the history of a disaster that occurred in 1985 in Morro do Macaco, in the Tabuazeiro neighborhood of the city of Vitória, Espírito Santo. A bibliographic survey and news articles from print newspapers that reported on the disaster of the 1980s were used as a method to produce a historiographical account of the memory production of this neighborhood. In this context of irregular occupations that culminated in the environmental disaster due to heavy rains during that period, the results indicate that the occupation process of Morro do Macaco was neglected throughout its formation and was evident after the disastrous event, as well as the support for the displaced population. They also indicate that, when analyzing the news reports about the disaster, there are intentions to promote imaginaries about the population through the titles of the articles. The main objective of this article is to racialize the sociological gaze on this landslide and enable reflection on other memories that humanize this population segment contained in the Tabuazeiro neighborhood.