Racism Allegations Surface in Brazilian Shopping Centers and Supermarkets

The Minas Gerais teachers’ union (Sinpro Minas) condemned a racial discrimination incident involving its director, Ângela Maria da Silva Gomes, at Big Shopping Contagem on 8 July 2026. Gomes, a regular at a nearby gym, was stopped by a security guard, asked for identification and subjected to questioning that was not applied to white shoppers who entered moments earlier. The incident was reported to the mall management, the police and highlighted a broader pattern of discriminatory security practices, with a survey cited showing 84 % of Black respondents experiencing racism in daily life.

Separately, Carrefour Brazil addressed a 2024 case in a Porto Alegre supermarket that a teenage Black customer and his family said involved racist harassment by a security guard and subsequent police intimidation. The episode is linked to a 2020 death of Black customer João Alberto Freitas at another Carrefour location. Carrefour’s statement emphasized that the Military Brigade, not store staff, handled the confrontation and that the company is cooperating with authorities.