João Gilberto Lima was in his fifth year studying at a prestigious private university in São Paulo when he was shown a screenshot of a WhatsApp message calling him a “slave.” There was an accompanying photo of him, taken without his knowledge. Mr. Lima, who is Black, reported the incident to the police. The classmate who sent the message is white, and was later convicted of racism and racial insult – two distinct offenses under Brazilian law – and given a two-year prison sentence, which was replaced with community service and financial reparations. Brazil’s constitution recognizes racism as a crime without bail or statute of limitations, making it one of the toughest racism laws in the world. And Brazil gained global attention earlier this year when these laws were used to indict an Argentine tourist who made monkey gestures and used racial slurs toward waiters in Rio de Janeiro. Why We Wrote This Brazil has some of the toughest racism laws in the world.…