Self-Declaration Form For Regulated Work With Children: Fill & Download for Free

Sure it does. There is a popular quote by Joaquim Nabuco, a Brazilian writer of the XIX century that sums it up very elegantly:A escravidão permanecerá por muito tempo como a característica nacional do Brasil. Ela espalhou por nossas vastas solidões uma grande suavidade; seu contato foi a primeira forma que recebeu a natureza virgem do país, e foi a que ele guardou; ela povoou-o como se fosse uma religião natural e viva, com os seus mitos, suas legendas, seus encantamentos.Slavery will long remain the national characteristic of Brazil. It has spread over our vast loneliness a grand softness; its contact was the first kind that the untouched nature of the country received, and was what it remembered; [slavery] peopled it as a natural and living religion, with its myths, legends and spells.Nabuco claimed that slavery defined Brazilian society and national identity and that it would be very difficult to overcome its influence. Later authors repeated Nabuco's view in other words, even whey they tried to excuse it (a thing Nabuco never tried to do). Gilberto Freyre's Casa Grande & Senzala (Main House & Slave Quarters) tried to expand Nabuco's ominous concept into a national theory of Brazilian-ness. Freyre's work advanced many important aspects, like the notion that the relations between Brazil and Angola were about as important as relations with Portugal, but he is now considered a racist theorist because he proposed the false idea of a "racial democracy" in Brazil—an idea that was swallowed whole by Brazilian conservatives, who had every reason to whitewash slavery and its effects. Historians Caio Prado Jr. and Sérgio Buarque de Hollanda provided more accurate assesments on the subject (but much less pleasant to read, because they didn't have Freyre's talent). The latter is famous for writing that the Brazilians are a "cordial" people, which is much quoted, but never in context...Now let's break this down ..."Brazilian Family from Rio de Janeiro", by Jean-Baptiste Debret (ca. 1824). Debret was a French painter, sympathetic to Napoleon, who fled France after Restoration and was hired by the Brazilian Empire in an "Artistic Mission" to establish the National Fine Arts Academy and to produce the official iconography of the new state. He painted hundreds of portraits and draw thousands of sketches of everyday life in or around Rio de Janeiro before returning to France, after the fall of the Restored Bourbon monarchy. He also designed the Imperial Coat of Arms, the Imperial Seal and the Imperial Flag (it was his idea that the Emperor chose [dark] green and gold as the national colours, instead of white and blue, to distance the Empire both from Portugal [dark blue and white] and Argentina [light blue and white] national flags, he also proposed the novel design of the lozenge, instead of stripes).Nabuco proposed the idea that slavery as an institution created a cultural custom of subjugation of the servant. The softness he alludes to is the temper of the typical Brazilian elite person, who does not like to work with the hands, keeping them soft, and the character as well. As a result, the Brazilian elites see physical work as demeaning; it is something you pay other people to do. A member of the elite should not soil his hands. On the other hand, those who actually produce goods and create riches are seen as lesser people. Brazilian obsession with cleanliness is a by-product of these social relations: only the rich could afford to remain permanently clean, shaved, perfumed and combed. Poor people would be unshowered, unshaved, smelly and dishevelled. This stereotype is clearly seen in film.The idea that wealth and status are not something connected with actual work gives rise to the appropriation of the state by the elites. It is very natural that they seek to appoint themselves to high positions in public services, with high salaries and low workload. In the past they were few and could keep themselves in politics. Now the country has changed, they can't feed from politics alone and they have been sidelined by a new elite that has risen from commerce and industry. Public service remains one of the ways they can keep rich, exercise their social role and perpetuate their existence as a class. That's why the Brazilian middle class is more reactionary and conservative than the "captains of industry". Much of the Brazilian middle class is actually parasitic and sees social changes as threat.Another consequence of slavery is violence. It is quite obvious that you can't subdue millions of people into slavery without sheer violence. The Africans brought to Brazil were never docile, they were just beaten into stupor and hopelesness. Those born in Brazil, having never seen a place and time when the blacks were not slaves, would be more docile, but still rebellions were common. To deal with rebellions and inconformity (termed "laziness"), Brazilian slave owners made a spectacle of violence. Physical punishment was extreme and there was no law against it. Losing the investment on the slave was considered punishment enough for killing a slave. The lives of slaves were effectively under the thumb of their owners. As you may expect, when a slave rebellion succeeded, even briefly, no prisoners were taken. The rebels would kill anything white before them: they'd bludgeon the plantation owner and his sons to death and rape any white women around. Collaborators were castrated or had their throats slit."Negroes in a Slave Ship", by Johan-Moritz Rugendas (ca. 1826). Rugendas was a German painter who travelled Brazil in the early XIX century documenting what he saw with a honest trace, often sympathetic to to oppressed, though paid by the oppressors. In this picture the horrible conditions of the slave ship are clearly shown. Black people were dehumanised (no clothes, mixed sexes, children and adults together) and treated like cattle, or worse (cattle was actually transported in age and sex-segregated vaults to protect the calves and to prevent unrest from cow's estrus).This is a pattern that still resonates today: higher classes earning money too easily from overpaid jobs and amassing privileges while the lower classes have to fight tooth and nail for miserable pay. The state employs violence to control the population (if you think American police are too violent, watch Brazilian TV for a couple of weeks) and the population often reacts violently (and blindly). Just now our politicians have voted for increasing salaries for a series of high paid jobs in the public service, even in this time of crisis. The elite just thinks that they have the divine right to be well-paid, even if they do very little.Ov ercrowded Brazilian prison cell. Dehumanisation still occurs, and the victims are always the poor and the downtrodden. In Brazil there is a law that people with higher education can only be kept in jail in individual cells, preferrably in a different prison than the rest. This type of segregation means we have "five-star" prisons for the higher classes and places like this for the rest, which aren't much different from a slave ship, though. Recent research shows that, while self-declared blacks are only about 10% of the general Brazilian population (about 35% others are self-declared of mixed-race), about 57% of Brazilians prisoners are black. Brazilian census is based on self-declaration.Freyre tried to see something positive in slavery. He advanced the idea that the Portuguese were gentler masters than the Dutch, the French or the English. He argues this from the prevalence of miscegenation in all Portuguese colonies, while it was very low in Dutch, French or even English colonies. Freyre believed that, despite slavery, the Portuguese still saw their subjects (Amerindians and Africans) as their equals, so intermingled with them. This is blatantly false, of course. Under the conditions of slavery, every mixed-race child was the product of a rape. Most slave owners were rapists. They encouraged their children to have sex with the young black girls, who were, of course, in no position to resist. The children of such relations were not regarded as "equals", but as loyal servants. They didn't inherit from their white parents, though they were paid salaries and had other privileges (among them being allowed to form a family). Freyre's "racial democracy" was just a thinly veiled state of permanent abuse of female slaves by their masters and their sons.But there's more. To counter the "danger" of the young men falling in love with the black slave girls, there was a culture of disdain for the blacks, and their culture. Brazilian culture is full of such artifacts, like the differentiation between "cabelo bom" (straight hair) and "cabelo ruim" (afro hair), and the image of black women as sexually available disposable subjects. That's not something from the past. This song, called O Teu Cabelo Não Nega was recorded in 1937 for the first time and is still played in Carnaval balls:O teu cabelo não nega, mulataQue és mulata na corMas como a cor não pega, mulataMulata, quero o teu amor.Which means, brace yourselves, if you have a weak stomach:Your hair does not deny it, brown girlThat you are of colourBut since the colour won't stick, brown girlBrown girl, I want your love.Black women, in this case, mixed-race (mulatto) women, could give their love to white men, but only if they wouldn't stick. There can be no commitment.Still today, the fate of Brazil's black women is dire: they are the group of the population with the lowest wages and highest rates of preventable diseases. The vast majority of single mothers are either black or mulatto, despite being just about half of the population. And they are still made fun of. Not long ago there was a parodic music group called "Os Mulheres Negras" (The Black Women, but using the masculine article) that was formed by four white boys. It was seen as funny.Freyre introduced the idea that Brazilians are a "cordial" people, and Hollanda polished it into a quote. What Hollanda actually tried to say was that Brazilians in general are not "cerebral" ("cordial" comes from Latin "cordis", which means "heart"). Cordiality means relations are more influenced by affinities than by standards. Brazil is a place where you must "know people" to "get to places". Law is bent to accommodate influences. A politician from the Old Republic days, called Pinheiro Machado (a senator for the State of Rio Grande do Sul) once said: "To our friends, everything. To our adversaries, only the law". The general idea is that laws were made to punish adversaries, not to regulate the general behaviour of people in society.This also stems from slavery, since a slave society is based on different standards depending on who you are. In colonial days, slaves had their separate churches and cemeteries, though they didn't live in different towns or ghettoes. They intersected society, but had separate places within it. Nowadays most buildings still have a "service lift" that is used by domestic workers and all working people who come in, like repairmen, couriers, janitors etc. In the past all of these menial workers were black. Nowadays many of them still are. Just as in slavery days a slave could not eat at the table with the family (he would pick a tin pot full of food from the kitchen and eat standing or squatting against a wall outside), workers are not allowed to use the normal lifts of a building."Modern Brazil" as seen by Le Monde Diplomatique, Brazilian edition, issue no. 97. The same scene depicted by Debret is updated by a trendy artist. Pet slave boys are replaced by pet dogs, slaves are replaced by domestic workers (like the white-clad babysitter and the chef) or security guards (tall black men are preferred for this job because they "look intimidating"). The caption reads "Threatened Privileges".There have been some initiatives to change this, of course, but in Brazil sudden changes are unheard of. Even when it is necessary to change, the change must be effected in a way that does not let people see clearly that the change was forced. To quote Pinheiro Machado again: "Leave, but not so fast that they'd think we are afraid to stay, and not so slow that they might think we regret we are leaving."

My mother’s father was a Cathcart. We’re descendants of rape between my great-great African slave grandmother and William J. Cathcart, Scottish plantation owner in Alabama, and my grandfather’s namesake.Mom’s maternal family were part of the cohort of black slaves who escaped the South between 1850–1860 and landed in Ontario, Canada, likely North Buxton, a rural community in the southwestern province.Grandma’s African family shed their slave owner’s name altogether and renamed themselves Canada, in gratitude, after the country who sheltered them.The Canadas relocated to Michigan and settled in Detroit where my great-great uncle, William Canada, joined the 102nd Regiment United States Colored Troops, and put his life on the line to help the Union Army kick his former Confederate owners’ asses.U.S. African slavery was an utter abomination except for one delicious little unintended consequence, it made descendants of former African slaves bona fide Americans directly below Native Americans.After the Civil War, regardless of the Emancipation Proclamation, there was no U.S. law to define the rights of Africans who were former slaves.White Americans organized societies to pressure former slaves to move on to Africa, Canada or the Caribbean. They enacted “black laws” or restrictions on daily life, regulating work, family and social interaction of freed slaves.Former African slaves were under threat of being forcibly and coerced to removal like the Native Americans. Some White American lawmakers went further and proposed removal by force, threatening former slaves with re-enslavement and compulsory exile if they refused to relocate.At the 1855 National Colored Convention, delegates, who were the children of freed African slaves, gathered as ‘American citizens asserting their rights on their own native soil.’ They insisted upon birthright:By birth, we are American citizens; by the meaning of the United States Constitution, we are American citizens; by the principles of the Declaration of Independence, we are American citizens; by the meaning of the United States Constitution, we are citizens.Former U.S. African slaves bequeathed to their descendants, the current 13% of the American population, the right to be free from removal, exile or banishment and guaranteed to Black Americans- as well as all people born or naturalized in the United States- constitutional protections against removal.The Trump family can thank Black Americans later. How the 14th Amendment's Promise of Birthright Citizenship Redefined AmericaHowever, instead of giving their adopted children the same upbringing as America’s status quo with equal access to public education, safe affordable housing, and government participation, White Americans chose to infantilize their adopted siblings and restrained former African slaves and their future generations from fully participating as American citizens.White Americans rebuked Black Americans for becoming self-sustaining. They punished Black Americans for building Tulsa's 'Black Wall Street' in Oklahoma and Rosewood, Florida, and burned them down to teach a lesson.White Americans used their powers of legal, military, and brute force to keep a six-year-old Black American Ruby Bridges from going to grade school.White Americans intentionally rigged the U.S. GI Bill to deny Black American servicemen after WWII from getting public loans for family housing and higher education. White Americans effectively, blocked the only entrance to the American Dream to future Black Americans. How the GI Bill's Promise Was Denied to a Million Black WWII Veterans.You see, when generations of an adopted population are economically and politically stunted at growth and not allowed to mature as a culture on par with it’s sibling culture, we end up with a culture that’s always playing catch-up.This is my legacy from African slavery. This is what shapes my Black American experience. And how do I deal with the fact?I deal just fine in the security that my African slave heritage and birthright gives me privilege, standing, and the inalienable right under the U.S Constitution to tell my country to go fuck itself if I feel like it.But other than responding to Quora questions, the only time I really think about U.S. slavery is when I’m drinking with my best mate, a Mayflower descendant.A couple of times a year, he and I get together at his place with his most excellent selection of Scotch whisky and American punk rock music collection. I bring weed and home-baked flan de queso.And as we kick back in his living room with his cats while listening to Fugazi or The Dead Kennedys, we eat, smoke and drink to our mutual American purity, strong blood-lines, and exceptionalism.

This answer may contain sensitive images. Click on an image to unblur it.Life in an Islamic State ruled areas is as normal as in any other city in the Middle East - except that everything is forbidden - especially fun things. Like Jehovah Witnesses - they have even abolished many Muslim Holidays on the grounds that they are not Muslim but Heathen Holidays. The only public fun activities which they encourage to attend are public executions and mosque sermons.Billboard in Mosul (Jürgen Todenhöfer)People live in constant fear of getting jailed by the vice squad (Hisba) or that they get struck by an American Airstrike because at all times there is a drone circling above them.There are no Quorans (anymore) from the Islamic StateThe only person who could have reliably answered this question was Mikail Ihsan who was banned for stating: "I'm an Islamic State fighter". To do that, Quora amended their BNBR-policy to ban confirmed or self-declared members of organizations which are on the U.S terrorist list - so we will never get any first hand knowledge again.Jürgen Todenhöfer - the only Western journalist which was allowed in 2014 extensive access to IS-controlled territories in Syria and Iraq - has reported that people - not only IS fighters - live in constant fear of airstrikes and drones. Normal people fear the U.S. airstrikes much more than the ones of the Assad airforces - because the Syrian fighter pilots attack only during business hours while the Americans 24/7 . He also reports in his book that the apartment he stayed in Raqqa, Syria was hit by a Syrian airstrike - fortunately while he wasn't there.I highly recommend watching the other two CNN-interview referenced in Ralph Lengler's answer to How was German journalist Jürgen Todenhöfer able to go into ISIS territory and interview them and return safely?What I report below is what I've heard and read from people who fled IS controlled territoriesA system of spies and informants to keep people in lineWhen IS came, many thought order would return. Unfortunately all life got strangled by a flood of prohibitions. The regime celebrates its power with draconian punishments and staged public executions by the sword as an everyday banality.Today, after one year of life under the Islamic State these hopes appear to many profoundly grotesque. The chaos ruling the city's streets, was replaced by a new fear. This fear is ubiquitous, present even during short, vain encounters on the street, at a cafe, while shopping. A fear how he has to behave in order not to end up in jail, or before a Sharia court."I constantly ask myself: What can I say to whom? Who can I trust and most importantly how much?"The Islamic State has put in place a system of spies and informants first devised by Hitler, Stalin and the Stasi and later perfected by Saddam Hussein. In this respect I highly recommend reading Secret Files Reveal the Structure of the Islamic State and the discussion on Quora: What are the most striking insights of the recently published ISIS Files?Excessive RegulationThe new "caliphate", this godly state also wants to be social in its very own way. One of the core values of this government is to be incorruptible - which in turn means: transparent rules which everybody can comprehend. This desire for legitimacy leads to a flood of new documents, regulations, and decrees - crowned with the black banner of IS - leaving its government offices and ministries.A regulation dated 14 December 2014 prohibits IS-fighters from using iPhones and iPads. Android devices are allowed, but the GPS functionality needs to be deactivated.A similar regulation decrees that IS fighters need to get prior approval by PR before posting any (graphic) image to social networks - perpetrators will get up to one month in prison (explaining why our banned Quoran IS fighter Mikail Ihsan never posted any pictures).This concern for security also led to the deactivation of mobile phone networks inside the city of Mosul. Whoever wants to have reception has to drive to the Suburbs near the frontlines and hope for the best. Connections to the Internet are possible, yet.In another regulation school education was reorganized: "Questions are forbidden in regards to polytheism, democracy, principles of nationalism and racism, usury and interest, boundaries between countries and to pseudo-historical events which are contrary to the Sharia. This regulation is binding. Whoever act to the contrary, will be held accountable. "At Mosul university all faculties not confirming with Sharia have been closed, namely philosophy, art, music, law and political science.What's worse, what recently was a part of life, can nowadays be found today on a long list of absurd prohibitions, namely:Alcohol - 80 whiplashesTheft - Amputation of the handArmed Burglary - CrucificationBlasphemy - BeheadingSodomy - Throwing both men off a houseand for the following things (but I don't know the punishment)- It is forbidden to smoke- It is forbidden to wear hair gel.- It is forbidden to listen to music (featuring instruments)- Forbidden are depiction of faces (e.g. on billboards or t-shirts), regardless of whether it is the Prophet Muhammad, Kurt Cobain or Donald Duck.Jürgen Todenhöfer in front of a Mosque during prayer timesThe vice squad Hisba makes sure that people follow those regulations - they patrol the neighborhoods in their cars, check that shops are closed during prayer times, that men don't shave, women are wearing the Niqāb, or that women are traveling accompanied by a male relative or her husband. As you can see by the picture above, prayer attendance is so high, that people have to pray outside of the mosque on the street.Closing ThoughtsLife is not that great in the IS controlled territories and IS knows that. For example in Raqqa, the Islamic State clamped down on private internet, in order to control any news coming out of their territory. Or if you want to leave Mosul - even for visiting relatives - you need to hand over the title of your house to IS or one of your cars.Many people were smart enough to send their wife and children to Erbil in the Kurdish territories before those travel restrictions were put into place. In the absence of work in Erbil nor in Mosul the male head of family remains in Mosul to guard the house and the car. He does not have work, his savings have been used up, so he turned into cash, almost all the furniture that were in house.So they wait for what is to come, eventually. The Battle for Raqqa and Mosul.