Black Front, Integralist Action and conservatism as a strategy to confront racism – 1930-1937

Abstract

This article seeks to analyze the reasons that led part of the black leaders of the 1930s to join the Brazilian Integralist Action, an extreme right-wing organization, defender of political and social projects similar to those of European Nazi-fascism. It also seeks to understand the reasons for its distance from the most important organization in the opposite political spectrum at the time, the Communist Party of Brazil. From the study of founding documents of the FNB, PCB and AIB, confronted with the literature on the subject, it was possible to perceive that the AIB had certain singularities and principles that coincided with the demands of Afro-descendants. On the other hand, there are indications that the denial of the existence of racism and racial discrimination in Brazil, by the PCB leaders at the time, would have contributed to that distance.

The founding documents of the BBF, the CPB and the BIA were analyzed and compared with the literature on the subject. It was possible to identify indications that the BIA had certain singularities that differentiated it from its European counterparts by defending that blacks and indigenous peoples should be valued and integrated into society, from the perspective of building nationality. On the other hand, the generalist discourse of the CPB and the silencing of the racial issue would justify the perceived distance in the formulations and actions of those black leaders.