descendant population . These situations are transferred to the disputed participation spaces . " There was a time , not very distant , in which poverty and inequality were believed to be a kind of unavoidable sacrifice as a price to be paid for progress " ( Nogueira , 2004 , 83 ). But that sacrifice has no end and economic growth does not translate into social development , because the profits made by the companies in the market are far from contributing to the well-being of the population , particularly of the poorest sectors . Moreover , if the poverty and inequality hitting the Afro-descendant population were consequences of progress , we would must ask ourselves what progress we are talking about and for whom .
" In a society structurally marked by inequality , by the growing conflict , by the poverty that generates discriminations at the base of social apartheid , by the risks of a dual society , by the incompetence of the State to guarantee legal equality , we must ask ourselves : Is it possible a civic practice leading to citizen coexistence ? Is it possible to build a notion of public welfare and responsibility with the guarantee of basic rights for an entire population as a parameter ? [ Yes , but provided that it starts ] from a new contract that builds a measure of equity and the rules of civic behavior in social relations " ( Wanderley , 1996 : 99 ).
Are the Afro-descendant communities currently living in social apartheid ? Not in the sense of the last centuryapartheid , as in South Africa , but indeed in another type that goes beyond the body and interferes with the mind . The bourgeois State has neither an exit nor guarantees for equal justice , for strengthening full democracy , for inserting the Afro-descendant communities in the decision-making process , and for enhancing the respect of their human rights . The state apparatus has some means and channels open for allowing the Afro-descendant population to participate in local decisions , but their effectiveness is discussed : " The means offered by democracy appear to be insufficient and thusly society begins to exercise direct influence on policy formulation through outright interpenetration of large organizations aimed at defending sectoral interests within the state decision-making centers " ( Keinet , 2000 , 76 ). We have the impression that the current democratic channels do not allow the Afro-descendant population to make use of democratic citizenship . The latter is available in full only for groups and centers of both state and business powers . Democracy should be thought as coming from the people and seated in the people . It must assert their interests and needs with due respect for minorities . And when we talk about minorities , we do not talk about the owners of big companies , but about the historically vulnerable groups such as the Afro-descendant communities . The author also reminds us of recent changes in representation , such as the ways of participatory democracy that blend with representative democracy , and the changes in public management that relativize and fragment the state power by going beyond the passive functional delegation , especially for providing certain public services . The Afro-descendant movement in Latin America seeks a space to raise its voice and to exercise participatory democracy through practical insertion , as first step , in the decision-making process by the state institutions . Then they will try to reach the level of the representative democracy , by electing their representatives to discuss , debate and propose state policies and actions for the benefit of the people . This struggle for the democracy by the Afro-descendant communities is a daily
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