Educação das relações raciais e cultura visual: uma proposta de ensino de história do pós-abolição no Ceará

Abstract

This study investigates the representation of Black populations in the process of the abolition of slavery in Ceará, problematizing their historical invisibilization and the protagonism attributed to white elites. Based on the contradiction between the myth of the “non-existence of Black people” and the celebration of Ceará’s pioneering role in abolition, the research seeks to highlight the resistance and organization of Black communities that marked this process. The theoretical framework is grounded in Law 10.639/2003 and the National Curriculum Guidelines for the Education of Ethnic-Racial Relations, understanding education as a privileged space for combating structural racism and for valuing Afro-Brazilian history and culture. The methodology consists of analyzing images (paintings, photographs, and monuments) that portray abolition in Ceará, with emphasis on the works Abolição dos Escravos (Raimundo Cela, 1938), Fortaleza Liberta (José Irineu de Souza, 1883), records of the Sociedade Cearense Libertadora (1880), and monuments in Redenção, the first city in Brazil to abolish slavery. As a counterpoint, the study compares these representations with paintings produced by Black artists who offer a new perspective on Black Brazilian populations, emphasizing joy, protagonism, beauty, and a positive historical construction of Black identity, based on the work of the Ceará-born artist Blecaute and the São Paulo artist Mariana Sguilla. These visual sources are explored as pedagogical tools in workshops conducted with high school students, promoting reflection on concepts such as whiteness, structural racism, historical erasure, and Black resistance. The research aims to contribute to the development of an anti-racist teaching practice that strengthens the identity of Black students and fosters, among all students, a critical understanding of abolition, overcoming Eurocentric and stigmatizing perspectives.