Abstract
This article aims to analyze the attempts to implement the Slavery and Freedom Museum (MEL), overwhelmed by multiple difficulties and whose purpose is to bring the “truth” about slavery. We believe that the MEL is at the heart of intense political disputes, hence the adversities it encounters. On the one hand, it expresses the difficulties of the black movement in bringing the public memories of slavery. On the other, it reveals the tensions between projects based on affirmative action, reparation and recognition in the new conservative political context that occurs in both the federal and municipal public administrations. We are inspired by Trouillot’s notion of abortive rituals, for whom memorialistic evocations and contemporary public apologies for crimes committed in the past loose their political potential and lack a truly transformative character.
Keywords:
museum; slavery; truth; politics