By Jack Arnhold, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A video of a man helping an old lady across a flooded street in Rio’s Copacabana neighborhood is generating enormous controversy on social media. Some commentators have been drawing comparisons with slavery, while others have been warning people not to rush to judgment.
The video shows an elderly white lady being helped onto an upturned crate by a younger black man. The man is then seen wading through the water and simultaneously placing another crate in front of the woman as she traverses the flooded street on this makeshift walkway.
The two hold hands almost constantly as the man reaches down to pick up each spare crate and place it once again in front of the lady so that she can continue to cross the road. The lady continues to cross using his walkway until she reaches the other side. She then walks off and the video ends.
Copacabana pic.twitter.com/hr8tfdcUHk
— Lúcia Guimarães (@luciaguimaraes) April 9, 2019
Commentators have been quick to draw comparisons to images from Brazil’s history of slavery, such as black slaves helping white people, holding umbrellas over their heads, or carrying their white masters in hammocks.
Others, like Twitter user Rodrigo Capdeville, are wary of quick judgments. “The images do not tell the whole story and, at the same time, allow one to create several stories,” he wrote.
Some pointed out that the lady may not have been lucid enough to offer thanks for the man’s help.
A Twitter user called “cidadão de mal” gave his opinion of the scene: “I know that the video is not very conclusive – it’s possible that they could know each other – but the symbology of this, the place, the color of the participants, her attitude and his helpfulness… Unfortunately, it is not a very beautiful picture for a country with our history.”
The Legacy of Slavery
The last Western nation to abolish slavery (in 1888), Brazil received around forty percent of all slaves shipped to the Americas, or an estimated four million people. The legacy of slavery continues to affect the country today, with income inequality, as well as education and employment opportunities, still being sharply divided across racial lines.
Copacabana and other Zona Sul (South Zone) neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro are often seen as the epitome of racial divide, because they are populated by a large number of wealthy, white citizens who employ poorer, often black, Brazilians as domestic servants and helpers.
“This is the most Copacabana thing I’ve ever seen,” tweeted American journalist Shannon Sims. “I should add that, of course, I don’t know the full story here. But my anger towards the class of older women who live in Copa and treat anyone with more pigment in their skin like trash is very real and based on many personal experiences. To my eyes, that’s what this looks like.”
Sims’ perception is echoed by that of a witness to the scene. In the video, you can hear exclaim,”Only in Copacabana!”