RELATIVES, NEIGHBORS AND COMPADRES
STRATEGIES OF RESISTANCE AND INTERRACIAL RELATIONS IN THE GOOD VIEW OF BLACKS
interracial relations; Seridó; Boa Vista dos Negros.
The inexistence of systematic studies about the ethnic issues prevented viewing the racial plurality of the Seridó backlands. With the public politics favoring the debate about ethnic emergencies at the start of sec.XXI, the interracial relations started to be object of anthropological and historical research, compremising the discourse of the regional elites. In line of these investigations, the present work proposes to resume the problem from the local dynamics: It will be observed the relations that the Quilombola community of Boa Vista dos Negros keeps with its neighbors, the representatives of local elites, such as farmers, the ecclesial and political authorities. In a perspective that associates Anthropology to History, it is intended here to explore the quilombolas memories in dialogue with those that are produced in neighboring communities. For this, besides collection of oral tradition and the results of the participation observation, it needs to explore the notary, parish and public administration sources to understand better the studied reality. So, the interracial relations observed locally will be analyzed from fragments of the trajectories of key characters, especially Theodózio Fernandes da Cruz (1864-1951), historical leadership recognized as the main mediator between quilombolas and the comprehensive society. Strategies of resistance are evident aiming keep the integrity of the territory and access to benefits. The progress of research has revealed that the community in question keeps, internally, memories that reveal another local history that is gradually being told. It is still detached the quilombolas ability concerning the approaches and distances from the surrounding villages, so that the discrimination and any other forms of oppression are avoided.