If there is one thing that has allowed Brazilians to soar at least briefly above the country’s economic and political turmoil over the years it has been a love of sports, particularly football or soccer. Recall the year 2002 when Brazil beat Germany in the World Cup.
The mood that year in Brazilian communities around Boston was euphoric, with green and yellow Brazilian flags hanging from car windows and buses.
By comparison there seems to be little excitement about the upcoming Para-Olympics starting September 7 in Rio. And there was a muted reaction to the Olympics from many of the 300,000 Brazilians living here in Massachusetts.
When Brazil captured gold in its grudge soccer match against Germany Sunday Brazilians everywhere—from Fortaleza, Brazil to Framingham, Massachusetts cheered. Yet the streets of the Brazilian neighborhoods in Somerville, Alston, Framingham and Cambridge were strangely silent last weekend, a far cry from the horn-honking Brazil-mania of 2002, and perhaps an indication of the ambivalence many Brazilians expressed about the expense of staging the Olympics.
A local Brazilian cleaning woman, who preferred not to give her name, said even though she was among those in the streets in 2002, she saw few reasons to celebrate this time.
“Brazil is not doing well for us. The Olympics are fine, but for us no. We still not have hospitals, good schools, the economy’s not well, and corruption is big and big. That makes Brazilians sad.”
The shadow of sadness that has fallen over Brazil has accelerated in recent years. After the 2008 housing crisis, thousands of local Brazilians boarded flights home flush with cash earned in the US. An economically ascendant Brazil beckoned.
Then it all came apart.
Brazil is riven by recession, costly public transportation, soaring unemployment, and political corruption scandals that have embroiled the country’s President, former President and interim President.
A fellow named Nanny— working on a construction site in Cambridge (“on the day of rest”)— was listening on a radio to Brazil’s victorious Olympic soccer match against archrival Germany: But in between euphoric cheering he paused to reflect on the scandals that have dampened enthusiasm for many like him.
“For us it wasn’t easy this year because of corruption and all the problems we’re having over there. But I’m not a politician. It is what it is.” Still, Brazilians like Nanny are celebrating their country’s role as host of the 2016 Olympics, and for reasons that are symbolic says Natalicia Tracy, Executive Director of the Brazilian Workers Center in Alston-Brighton.
“Especially because there are so many Brazilians here who are working class Brazilians and they identify with the struggles of many of the Brazilians who are winning, like Rafaela Silva, from Cidade de Deus, which is a favela; the City of God.”
But Tracy said Brazilians in this area are celebrating in ways far different than the massive public outpourings that followed Brazil’s World Cup victory in 2002.
“So people are proud and people excited and feeling it but it’s something that’s happening in more private spaces.”
And Tracy says Brazilians in Massachusetts are retreating to private spaces for good reasons“People are trying to maintain a low profile. People are afraid. Being an immigrant now, people are nervous.”
So over the weekend the streets of Brazilian communities in Massachusetts---from Framingham to Somerville—were as empty of celebrants as the seats in Maracana Stadium in Rio, which many Brazilians believe could have been easily filled by the country’s poor who were shut out by high ticket prices. The result was internationally televised pictures of nearly all white fans in the stands; pictures that belie Brazil’s rich ethnic diversity.
“That’s part of my love and hate for Brazil,” said Tracy.
“As you can see I’m Afro-Brazilian and Brazil hides huge inequalities for people of color. And Brazil has a lot of work to do to bring about equality and they need to start by talking about race and class.”
Natalicia Tracy –who came to the US as a domestic worker and recently completed her Ph.D. at Boston University—says her accomplishments would have been impossible in Brazil’s racially hierarchical society. But she says through contradictions and all, she is still proud to be Brazilian. She was in Olympia Greece—the site of the original Olympics—during the opening ceremonies this year.
“Being in Olympia and seeing all the Brazilian flags, with all its problems its still Brazil. And I am Brazilian. Even if I’m not in Brazil I’m still Brazilian. I’m still part of it somehow.”
