The concept of social justice is based on certain moral and political precepts that address issues such as equal rights, guarantee of basic rights and, also, collective solidarity. In many ways, the notion of social justice stems from the struggle to improve the social conditions of those who live in precarious situations. The ways in which this objective can be achieved vary according to the means proposed, which, in turn, is related to the ideological context of those who adopt the vision.
In general, the idea of social justice goes against the idea of civil justice . While the image of civil justice is conceived as “blind” to the differences of individuals, as it seeks impartiality in its judgment, social justice is willing to observe the context and the situation of those involved so that it is possible to assign the most appropriate resolution. appropriate for each case. This means that social justice actions are corrective in assigning protective measures to certain social strata that have economic difficulties or who suffer from social stigmas related to color or ethnicity, for example.
The racial quotas are the most explicit and most controversial example we have of actions that seek social justice in our country. The measure stems from the finding that the vast majority of the economically disadvantaged population is made up of blacks and browns, while the higher scales of the social and economic hierarchy are made up mostly of white people. The most visible example is the black population’s access to public higher education. According to IBGE, in 2001, of the population inserted in the Brazilian education system, only 10.2% of students with higher education were black, while 39.6% were white. After the implementation of mediation actions, such as the establishment of racial quotas for entrance exams, in 2011, there was an increase in black students in higher education to 35.8%.
Don’t stop now … There’s more after the publicity;)
What we see with this measure is the beginning of the democratization of access to public education, in which the dispute for vacancies becomes unfair at a time when those with better economic conditions also have more opportunities to prepare for the vacancy dispute. . This disparity is also seen when we observe the distribution of income in relation to skin color. It appears that, according to the 2010 National Census, the average salary of people who identify themselves as white (R $ 1,538) or yellow (R $ 1,574) is almost double the value verified for groups of blacks (R $ 834 ), brown (R $ 845) or indigenous (R $ 735).
The difficulties, which are added to the inequalities that the poorest part of the population suffers, are also added to the social stigmas associated with color or economic condition. This victimizes the poor population in more ways than one: exclusion ceases to be only economic and becomes social when access by the poorest individuals is hampered by the differences in opportunities that exist in the social context.