Structural racism in Brazil examined through Márcia Timburi’s book

The book ‘Ninfa Morta’ by Márcia Timburi explores the pedagogy of structural racism in Brazil through the lens of the ‘white gaze.’ In the chapter ‘Design de Gênero e Forma-Valor: Homem Branco e Olhar Branco,’ the text utilizes the theories of Frantz Fanon, Sueli Carneiro, Angela Davis, and Silvio Almeida to analyze how Black individuals are forced to exist and perform in relation to white perception.

Through anecdotal evidence—such as a well-dressed Black teenager being interrogated by police regarding his possessions and a Black judge being addressed disrespectfully by an attorney—the work illustrates how Black identity is often stripped of its autonomy. The text argues that under the ‘white gaze,’ a Black person is not permitted a free ontological existence, but is instead compelled to constantly explain themselves to satisfy white expectations.