They Say That to Kill A Black Person Is to Fertilize The Earth, Says Former Football Referee

Márcio Chagas da Silva reports on the racist offenses he has heard in the camps and as a TV commentator

MÁRCIO CHAGAS DA SILVA

Gaúcho Márcio Chagas da Silva, 42, is tired of hearing racist offenses. The ex-official remembers the taunts he received on and off the field, and they continue today in his work as a Globo football commentator.

Márcio Chagas (Foto: Tiago Coelho/UOL).

"For a long time, I just ignored all the racist taunts I heard. The truth is that I’m pissed off at the racists. Every weekend, I hear people calling me a black son of a bitch, monkey, favela dweller".

“To kill a black person is not a crime, it’s fertilizing the earth,” they say. The galley is out of the closet. They have no shame. I had to hear that I am a black thief, that would die of hunger if the local GLOBO station hadn’t hired me, and that they would bring me bananas".

"With everything wrong the referee did on the field, they turned against me in the booth and taunted me".

"When these things happened, my white mates told me to let it go, that I'm bigger than that, that we're together. Together on what? Never mind how? The one who feels the anger and the embarrassment is me. How are we together? I refuse to die or get sick. I'd rather fight. My quarrel is for me, but also for them. Racists will not kill us".
 

Translated by Kiratiana Freelon

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