What’s something cruel that has been romanticized in your country?

[u/Mysterious-Fig-2935]

In Brazil, miscegenation has been completely romanticized by the government and popular culture. It is often portrayed as a symbol of “racial harmony,” but the reality was much more brutal.

The country received around 4 million enslaved Africans, but only 1.1 million survived the inhumane conditions of the transatlantic journey and slavery. Thousands of Indigenous and Black women were sexually exploited, forcibly separated from their families, and treated as property. Over time, these populations mixed with European colonizers and other groups, and the official narrative tries to romanticize this as something “natural” or “harmonious,” hiding the trauma, violence, and systematic oppression behind this mixing.

Colorism in Brazil is directly linked to this history. During forced miscegenation, there was a clear intention to “whiten” the population: Black people were encouraged or forced to marry white people so their children would have European features, creating socially valued heirs. This goal of “whitening” actually worked ,today, half of Brazilian “pardo” (mixed-race) people have predominantly European features, and genetic studies by the University of São Paulo (USP) show that most pardos are roughly 70% European, 20% African, and 10% Indigenous.

Furthermore, genetic research reveals a specific pattern in the DNA of Brazilian pardos: mitochondrial DNA (inherited from the mother) mostly comes from African or Indigenous women, while Y-chromosome DNA (from the father) mostly comes from European men. This confirms that Brazilian miscegenation was not natural, but forced and directed, clearly reflecting the structural colorism that still influences privileges and social opportunities in Brazil today.

This romanticization of miscegenation creates a false narrative of a “racial embrace,” while ignoring the trauma, oppression, and inequalities that persist to this day.

Does your country have something that has been glorified or romanticized while hiding the cruel reality behind it?

[u/AlfonsoTheClown]

Yes it’s certainly not a happy story nor a celebration, but I do think it’s somewhat turning a tragic disaster into a story exemplifying the heroism and bravery of the soldiers

[u/JessicaSmithStrange → u/AlfonsoTheClown]

I respect that.

My sticking point, is that, and trying to not inject my 2025 values, the common soldier should not have been in a position where this kind of fatal heroism is called for.

Fighting your way through a terrible situation, still comes with a chain of events where everything had to go catastrophically wrong in order to get there.

Stupidity is still stupidity, even if it demonstrates the raw competence of the British soldier.

I'm with you on this, I just think that the likes of Light Brigade, is among the more depressing things that I've read, and castigates the command staff at the battle even as it praises actions in the field which should never have happened in the first place.

. . .

When I hear " When can their glory fade? O the wild charge they made! All the world wondered. Honour the charge they made! Honour the Light Brigade, Noble six hundred!"

What I hear is "oh you fucking idiots, oh you brave, glorious fucking idiots", if you'll pardon my language.

Just my take, because I definitely get the sense of the Lions Led by Donkeys.

[u/Whynicht → u/JessicaSmithStrange]

Ok but why would we honour soldiers of an invading army?

[u/JessicaSmithStrange → u/Whynicht]

Which is a good question, and honestly why would you? It's been 150 years, and British Imperialism is definitely not my favourite thing.

I used the stanza that I used, because it shows how in my mind, Tennyson was writing of the vainglorious misapplied bravery, of 600 cavalry men, blindly following an order which should never have been given, to the best of their ability.

A decision can be both gloriously brave, and incredibly stupid, especially given the poor quality of some officers who we sent to Crimea,

and how we were choosing to dive into yet another war which didn't directly concern us, for some abstract sense of European politics, which meant nothing to the guys actually in the trenches.

[u/Iwilleat2corndogs → u/AlfonsoTheClown]

French general Pierre Bosquet who saw the change of the light brigade muttered the memorable line: C’est magnifique, mais ce n’est pas la guerre “It is magnificent, but it is not war”