REMNANTS OF QUILOMBOLAS: EVIDENCE OF THE QUILOMBO CALUETE IN GARANHUNS - PERNAMBUCO

Abstract

Based on the observation of the social dynamics of the quilombola communities in the municipality of Garanhuns-PE, this research focuses on the black community of Caluete, where social and political problems are identified, culminating in discrimination due to territorial, social, political and religious issues. The people descended from enslaved African blacks still suffer segregation and discrimination similar to the suffering imposed during the slavery period, which is most evident in the aforementioned community, which is located 22 km from the headquarters of Garanhuns, considered distant from the city, as well as from other quilombola communities in the municipality, and bordering the municipality of Brejão-PE. In this context, the research has the general objective of investigating the causes that lead the Quilombo do Caluete to be overlooked by the public authorities of the municipality and, consequently, by the state and federal spheres. In this sense, the secondary objectives are: To characterize the community of Caluete in terms of population, territorial area, economic base, infrastructure, culture, religion, education and health; To identify the factors that motivate the isolation of the Caluete quilombola community from the society of Garanhuns and other quilombola communities in the municipality; To analyze and relate the neglect of the government with the factors that determine the neglect of the Caluete Community. The research was qualitative and exploratory in nature, of the bibliographic, documentary and field type, so that it could investigate the social, cultural and religious aspects of the Caluete community that corroborated the understanding of the reasons for this neglect. The ethnographic method was used, whose studies are engaged in cultural criticism, when examining broader political, social and economic issues, focusing on aspects related to forms of oppression, conflict, disputes and power. Thus, the data collection instruments for the field investigation came from documentary research, from which we used data from the Community Association and the statements of residents, obtained through interviews and informal conversations, recordings and photographs. We found that the access to housing is precarious, with roads that are not maintained, and an economy that is totally dependent on the limited policies of the federal government, such as the Bolsa Família program, where subsistence farming itself does not receive the slightest support from public authorities, and whose lives are limited to a precarious survival. Thus, the quilombola community of Caluete lives in total contempt on the part of the City Hall of Garanhuns, which should be the channel for the supply of public policies and projects of the State of Pernambuco and the Federal Government. We conclude that the neglect of this community, when compared to the other quilombola communities in the municipality, is mainly due to the location of the community, which, although very far from the headquarters of the municipality of Garanhuns, has a closer relationship with the municipality of Brejão, to meet its daily needs, such as commerce, education and health.