Heranças africanas e ensino de geografia: uma proposta de recurso educacional para o enfrentamento ao racismo religioso nas escolas de educação básica

Abstract

Religious racism against African-based religions is a manifestation of structural racism in Brazil, whose roots date back to the colonial period and the imposition of a racial and cultural hierarchy. This phenomenon is reproduced in the school environment, where children and adolescents who practice Candomblé, Umbanda, and other traditions face symbolic and physical violence, resulting in identity conflicts and the erasure of their cultural heritage. This research argues that geography teaching is a powerful tool for combating this scourge, given its ability to analyze society-space relationships and uncover the power dynamics embedded in the territory. The study argues that terreiros are more than sacred spaces; they are territories of cultural re-existence, where ancestral knowledge is preserved and identities are constructed. Violence directed against them is, therefore, an attack on a specific territoriality, characterized not as mere intolerance, but as religious racism, a concept that highlights the racial basis of this prejudice. To address this, the study proposes the development of an educational resource for teachers, grounded in Cultural and Critical Geography, aiming for anti-racist education. The conclusion emphasizes that the effectiveness of this approach depends intrinsically on qualified teacher training, capable of deconstructing stereotypes and promoting critical geographical reasoning about the formation of Brazilian space. The transversal inclusion of Afro-Brazilian history and culture in the curriculum, combined with pedagogical practices that value religious diversity, is crucial to transforming schools into truly democratic and respectful environments, contributing to the decolonization of knowledge and the construction of full citizenship.