This story coming out from Brazil is unbelievable.
Controversy as former slave plantation opens with blacks as slaves
A farm in Brazil is restored as a slave plantation where black people serve tourists.
A farm in the Paraíba valley of Rio de Janeiro state in southern Brazil has been restored as a slave plantation and is now open to the public.
While this isn't any big news, the fact that black people have been hired to play the roles of slaves who will attend to tourists.
If you are interested in staying at the plantation for a few days or week, a bunch of people dressed as slaves will be at your every beck and call. These slaves will bring you tea, serve you food and act as your guide on the plantation.
Elizabeth Dolson who owns the restored plantation is doing this purely for profit and tourism reasons while neglecting the brutality of the slave trade and the suffering of slaves in plantations.
Throughout your trip, on the plantation, there is not a single reference to Brazil's dark history. During the slave trade era, Brazil imported more African slaves than any nation in the world. After the abolishment of the slave trade, Black Brazilians were treated as second class citizens at best.
The hesitation to integrate African-Brazilians into mainstream society led many of them to create settlements in cities popularly known as favelas. Till today, Brazilians with African ancestry are still discriminated against in the South American country.
The opening of the plantation has led to serious reactions online but it is still business as usual in the former slave plantation.
"Racism? But why? Because I’m dressed as a slave driver and I’ve got a house servant dressed as a house servant? What are you talking about? Of course, it’s not racist!" shockingly said, Elizabeth Dolson when asked about the racist implications of the plantation.
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