Ahe immigration and foreign control policies carried out by the government of President Getúlio Vargas, especially in the period between 1930 and 1945, did not have exclusively racist motivations. Although strategies such as the one aimed at the progressive whitening of the Brazilian population had been put into practice, other factors contributed to justify the measures adopted by the authorities at the time, including the international geopolitical situation. The analysis, which contradicts the position of several scholars on the subject, appears in the doctoral thesis by historian Endrica Geraldo, defended at the Institute of Philosophy and Human Sciences (IFCH) at Unicamp. “Discrimination against black people was one and against other immigrant groups, another”, maintains the author.

Law authorized dismissal
summary of foreigners

According to the researcher, the Vargas government carried out the immigration policies of the period with an iron fist, notably marked by nationalist sentiment. A few months after taking power, in 1930, the president issued a decree limiting the entry of foreigners into Brazil. The same decree also established that at least two thirds of the jobs in companies located in the country would be filled by Brazilians. “The measure was aimed mainly at urban workers”, says Endrica, who was guided by professor Michael McDonald Hall and received a grant from the São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (Fapesp).

With the convening of the Constituent Assembly in 1933, the persecution of immigrants intensified. Several debates held by deputies, according to the historian, were clearly based on nationalist and eugenic theories. At the time, the concern of the Brazilian authorities fell more heavily on the Japanese. It was feared that the colony installed in the country could act as a kind of advanced arm of Japan, a country that had imperialist aspirations and had just invaded Manchuria. As a reflection of this fear, in 1934 the quota law was approved, which once again imposed limits on the entry of foreigners into Brazilian lands. Under the new legislation, only the equivalent of 2% of the inflow of each nationality in the previous 50 years would be authorized to take up residence here. “Although the law appeared to have a comprehensive character, it was formulated to reach the Japanese more directly, as the first representatives of this group only arrived in Brazil in 1908”, explains Endrica.

This aspect, considers the historian, constitutes evidence that the racial issue was not the only motivator for the immigration and foreign control policies carried out during the period, despite having also exerted an influence on them. Another fact that corroborates the hypothesis defended by the author of the thesis is the fact that Brazilian immigration legislation was inspired by the North American experience and not by the German one, as many studies claim. The latter, as we know, was strongly marked by an anti-Semitic character. “In Brazil there was also anti-Semitism, but it was not as intense”, she considers. In the Estado Novo, which began in 1937 and lasted until the end of the first Vargas administration, the government returned to action with the implementation of a nationalization policy that significantly affected foreign colonies belonging to the Axis countries, namely: Italy, Germany and Japan.

The type of relationship between these immigrants and their countries of origin was feared, mainly due to issues related to the Second World War, which began in 1939. Thus, as determined by the government, measures were implemented that restricted the press and teaching in foreign language, as well as various associations maintained by immigrants. “As several foreign centers had great cultural independence, the authorities wanted to reduce this autonomy by imposing the national language”, explains Endrica, who investigated official correspondence, decrees, laws, eugenic medical publications and the debates contained in the minutes of the Constituent Assembly, among other documents . Still in the Estado Novo, according to the historian, the Immigration and Colonization Council was created, which had among its responsibilities the visit to foreign centers to verify whether the determinations were being complied with.

Council members, according to Endrica, observed that immigrants reopened their schools in other locations to try to circumvent the bans. Japanese and Germans, in the eyes of these Vargas government inspectors, considered themselves superior and avoided mixing with the national mestizo population. “Thus, racism seemed to belong to immigrants only.” Among the measures adopted in this context of nationalization, it even included the exchange of foreign names that designated streets and public places with Brazilian names. Furthermore, a law was created that authorized the summary dismissal of foreigners who were considered a threat to national security. In their place, Brazilians should necessarily be placed.

Resistance – This set of actions, highlights Endrica, was the subject of controversy. Although the government's discourse influenced several social groups, some segments were against the forms of discrimination in force. This position has been publicly defended on some occasions. As expected, resistance to the persecution of foreigners generated conflicts. During that period, there were persecutions and arrests of immigrants. In some places, such as Santa Catarina, the repression was particularly violent. The author of the thesis, who had the support of the Center for International Migration Studies (Cemi), reaffirms that the restrictive policies adopted by the Vargas government had an anti-Semitic character, but understands that this was not linked exclusively to the racial issue.

In reality, argues Endrica, Brazilian concern was mainly based on the possibility of the arrival in Brazil of a large flow of Jewish refugees, generated by the Second World War. “I think that a more detailed analysis of these events makes it clear that racist issues were at the heart of these policies, but they were not the only motivators. Among the undesirables, some groups, such as black people, were more discriminated against than others, given that immigration was seen for a long time as a strategy of miscegenation with a view to whitening the local population”, he analyzes.

Criticism of black people, adds Endrica, clearly emphasized the idea of ​​racial inferiority. In relation to foreigners, race was often synonymous with strength. Thus, the “Japanese race”, for example, was a threat not because it was biologically inferior, but because it was militarily dangerous and domineering. In other words, racial intolerance against the Japanese pointed to characteristics (dissimulation, strategy and discipline) capable of contributing to the domination of the Brazilian nation. “There is no doubt that the characteristics of discrimination against black people and foreigners were essentially different”, reinforces the researcher.