What if D.Pedro IV was a woman?

The question may seem strange. A little unusual. By the end of the article the reader will know that this sentence was not an error of the autocorrect, or an attempt to perform a gender reassignment operation on the late Her Majesty.

This whole story began with statements made by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva during a visit to Salvador da Bahia, from which I could gather that the Brazilian head of state does not like the idea that the “Cry of Ipiranga” of September 7, 1822 is the official date of Brazilian independence. As he himself stated in public statements: “the independence that was the cry of the emperor, which we don’t even know if he actually gave the cry […] But we had the true independence of Brazil, which was the final result of the expulsion of the last Portuguese on July 2 in Salvador, Bahia.”

To give the reader some context, it was on July 2, 1823, after 17 months of battles and confrontations, that the Portuguese were finally expelled from Brazilian lands. There was drama, battle, “heroic women”, a struggle between the colonized and the colonizers, all the ingredients necessary for a beautiful propaganda narrative of victory over European imperialism. The fact that the Cry of Ipiranga was celebrated by a Portuguese from the House of Braganza seems to be a stain on Lula da Silva’s idea of ​​independence. What does Ipiranga represent? An independence generated by political tensions and by a Portuguese, white, male, from the royal family, without an epic battle of slaves against colonizers.

Would it be preferable for the Brazilian president – ​​who so enjoys appealing to the minority vote – if D. Pedro IV were poor, black, native, a slave or perhaps a woman? Since that is not possible, let's hold another celebration to calm the president's heart. It was certainly no coincidence that these statements to add another day of celebration of Brazilian independence were made in the state of Bahia (where July 2 is already celebrated), a state with many minorities, with a base that votes for the Workers' Party, a state with considerable poverty that only survives on subsidies. The fact that Lula da Silva is losing popularity throughout the Northeast, or that Bahia is the last bastion that still enthusiastically shouts PT in the streets, (definitely) must not have had anything to do with these statements.

If D. Pedro IV were a woman, black, poor and from the Northeast, he might even have a new statue in Salvador, or in the Planalto Palace. Since he didn't, all that remains is to do what President Lula da Silva wants.