The Colonialist View of the African‐origin ‘Other’ in Portuguese Society and its Education System

Abstract

This article examines the processes responsible for the increasing ethnic heterogeneity of Portuguese schools and society, and sketches the general historical, demographic, political, social and educational background to the issue of the schooling of African minorities in Portugal. It describes the place of African people in a context of the historical relations of Portugal with its African colonies, and the influence of those colonial links on the current situation of African‐origin people in Portuguese society. It thus examines the effects of the historic colonialist view on interracial relationships in present‐day Portuguese society, on the education of people of African ethnic origin and, particularly, on the present status of multicultural/anti‐racist education.