The sociological analysis of mobility reveals that black and brown Brazilians, whose fathers were employed in particular occupational or class groups, are far less likely to experience upward mobility than whites of the same occupational or class origins.
Also econometric analyses based on human capital models reveal that brown, and especially black Brazilians, earn about 20 to 25 per cent less than whites with the same background, when age, work experience, educational level, sex, region, class origin and labour market characteristics are considered.
Yet another study shows that siblings of different skin colours, not an uncommon phenomenon in a country of miscegenation like Brazil, have different levels of education, where darker siblings are more likely to drop out of school at earlier ages than their white brothers or sisters. In that study, all factors besides discriminatory treatment on the basis of race by teachers, parents, etc.
The consistent findings on social mobility, the econometric analysis of income and the comparison of education levels in siblings of different skin colour demonstrate persistent racial discrimination.
These quantitative results should not be surprising, considering how race is talked about and portrayed in Brazilian society and given Brazil's earlier whitening ideology, which was based on the scientific racism of the time. Despite the historical and contemporary absence of race-based laws in Brazil and the population's historical denial of racism, Brazilians are not surprised when others make racist jokes or comments. Television and advertising portray Brazilian society as one that is almost entirely white; in reality, the middle class is almost entirely Caucasian, which reveals a glass ceiling that has disproportionately excluded non-whites.
Middle-class status in Brazil is increasingly based on a university education, thus university admissions are the most appropriate place for race-conscious affirmative action. Miscegenation occurs almost entirely among the poor and working class, while the middle class, which touts miscegenation and opposes affirmative action, rarely experiences it.
Marriages are mostly among persons of the same class -- for the middle class that generally means they occur among whites. Largely as a result of insufficient anti-racist laws to redress persistent societal racism, and in response to black social movement in a recently democratized society, several universities and other public institutions in Brazil have begun to implement racial quotas.
The distribution of individuals who self-classified as black along the color scale seems to indicate that, among this group, the value attributed to their skin color is less clear, or that "black" represents more a political feature adopted by some, indicating African ancestry and not necessarily the color of their skin. An important result to be highlighted is the fact that women tended to self-classify their skin color as a little lighter than men when the color scale was used; this gender effect was not observed when IBGE categories were used.
The gender effect captured by the scale may be influenced by sociocultural factors, such as the fact that the media and the sexual-affective market assign distinct values for men and women as regards the standard of beauty, so that women with lighter skin have increased chances of undergoing a sexual-affective relationship [ 15 ]. One aspect stand out in the multivariate analysis of discrimination in health services - only the models for men showed statistically significant associations.
In such cases, younger age and a lower number of consumer goods in the household were associated with discrimination when IBGE categories were used, while younger age, lower number of goods and skin color were associated with discrimination when the color scale was used.
The fact that men reported more experiences of discrimination in health services may be explained by the hypothesis that such services are much more receptive to women despite their social status, probably because they are the main users of those services [ 17 ]. The fact that younger and poorer men felt more discriminated against in the health services may be related both to the stereotype of marginalization commonly reported in the media, where police news often depict young men with signs that associate them with the poorer strata, and to a higher awareness by these young men with regard to their rights, since they are frequent targets of discriminatory attitudes in public spaces [ 18 ].
In addition, health services may be perceived by these young men as unfamiliar environments. The results of this study suggest that in Brazil the discussion about discrimination in the health services must not be restricted to racial discrimination and should also consider class-based discrimination. In order to improve the quality of health care, one must take into account that health professionals, particularly doctors, are not immune to prejudice and stereotyping when making decisions about their patients.
In Brazil, socioeconomic status seems to stand out as the main feature for discrimination in health, despite the fact that this is not a pattern observed elsewhere [ 19 ]. With regard to the limitations of this study, some aspects are worth mentioning. The first is the sample size for respondents who self-classified as blacks, given that the sample design aimed to make the sample representative for the Brazilian population over 18 years of age, regardless of skin color classification.
Although the number of respondents who self-classified as blacks As the measures of skin color vary: one is ordinal and the other numerical statistical analyses of the latter have more power to detect statistically significant association than the former, given that it contains more information. Despite the interaction effects of schooling and possession of consumer goods mentioned in the literature, the inclusion of these criteria in the models did not result in a significant improvement of estimates; for that reason, we chose to work with simpler models.
The two measures used in this study - a color scale and categorical variables - stress the marked distinction between the semantic field of a word white , which underlies the entire sociohistorical usage of the word, and a number in a continuum. As the concept of race is a social construct, the categories in its classification bring with them the dominant ideological values established in society.
The ambiguity attributed to racial classification in Brazil is associated with miscegenation, because people do not fit clearly into one category or another, as such categories are based on popular stereotypes rather than precise legal definitions [ 20 ].
That ambiguity can be seen as an evidence that Brazilians are using more than one way of classifying race, including those classifications that comprise intermediary possibilities.
The fact that Brazilians may fit into more than one group according to the context and the situation being experienced would favor the use of a classification that takes this ambiguity into account. Linguistic categorization itself, taken as a cognitive phenomenon, postulates the vagueness of categorical boundaries [ 21 ] - in contrast with the classical view of categories as well-defined entities - and the different levels of representation of the elements that constitute each category [ 22 ], i.
According to Schwartzman [ 23 ], the fluidity, imprecision, and variation among generations observed in the issue of racial classification in Brazil point to the adoption, by administrative agencies, of criteria that take into account the cultural and social permeability observed in the country. If this, on one hand, puts in jeopardy the objectivity of color attribution, on the other hand, it serves to show significant differences in Brazilian culture [ 24 ].
Travassos C, Williams DR: The concept and measurement of race and their relationship to public health: a review focused on Brazil and the United States.
Article PubMed Google Scholar. Article Google Scholar. The Milbank Quarterly. American Sociological Review. Sansone L: Nem somente preto ou negro. Google Scholar. Silva NV: Morenidade: modos de usar. International Journal of Intercultural Relations. Barsh GS: What controls variation in human skin color?. PloS Biology. Manly JJ: Desconstructing race and ethnicity. Implications for measurement of health outcomes. Medical Care. Edited by: Aguiar N. J Health Care Poor Underserved.
Revista de Estudos Feministas. This interdisciplinary approach is valuable, because the subject in both countries needs a deeply historical as well as a cultural focus, a task in which the author achieves substantial success. His previous publications include More Than Black? Multiracial Identity and the New Racial Order There are also several comparative historical analyses of state-defined racial categories as these relate to the multiracial movement in the United States and black movement in Brazil that emerged in the late s.
In this book I build on this research as well as examine broader racial dynamics as they relate to the multiracial phenomenon.
Chapter 1 traces the origin of Eurocentrism, as well as its companions white racism and white supremacy, which are the foundation of the Brazilian and U. These phenomena led to the notion that class and cultural rather than racial signifiers determine social stratification in Brazil. More important, they earned Brazil the reputation as a racial democracy, an image popularized by anthropologist Gilberto Freyre in his monumental studies of Brazilian race relations: The Masters and the Slaves , The Mansions and the Shanties , and Order and Progress Chapter 3 highlights racial projects during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that challenged the ternary racial project, the mulatto escape hatch, and whitening ideology.
In order to accomplish this aim these organizations and others like them deployed binary racial projects similar to those in the United States. Yet racial pluralism was generally viewed as a temporary tactic in the struggle for racial equality. Chapter 4 maps out the historical development of the U. It also analyzes the informal and formal practices sanctioning the unequal treatment of African-descent Americans in most aspects of social life.
Chapter 5 focuses on racial projects that historically contested the binary racial project and the one-drop rule. Yet these tactics were inegalitarian and maintained the racial hierarchy. I argue that by the late s race relations in these two countries began to converge, particularly in terms of the multiracial phenomenon. Chapter 6 examines the U. Each chapter exemplifies actions to be taken in each area of social life. Significantly the first chapter « On the right to health » , establishes essential and supposedly natural differences between black and white bodies, in spite of all evidence on the non-correlation between phenotype and genotype that has been recently demonstrated by Brazilian geneticists Parra et al.
Having established a « natural » difference between Afro-Brazilians and presumably Euro-Brazilians, the Statute proceeds to advocate quotas in universities, in the media, and the workplace. If brought into law, the Statute will oblige all citizens of Brazil to declare their « race or colour » at just about every step in their lives.
When I was discussing the ideas of Oracy Nogueira Nogueira on the Brazilian classification system, talking about the multiple terms used to describe all the various forms of appearance, I noticed that a blonde student wearing her hair in a braids and looking more like Queen Nzinga than Brunnehilde was becoming redder and redder and ever more agitated.
Finally, she exploded: « This is ridiculous! This is not possible! How can this be? My attempt to win her over to what could be called a more « anthropological » perspective failed. She refused to be convinced that what I was trying to describe could be taken seriously.
However, Bourdieu and Wacquant could also have highlighted the growing influence of multi-lateral associations, especially the United Nations. It had the catalysing effect of propelling the demand for affirmative action in Brazil.
The message of this Report, despite recognising the dangers of the « essentialisation » of culture, is that without cultural diversity there is no development. There is no doubt, therefore, that Brazil has found itself in a network of international relations that is positioned against the old Brazilian ideology of ignoring « race » in the distribution of justice and the largesse of the State.
The international conventions are invoked frequently by those in favour of quotas with the clear intention of corroborating the ubiquity and therefore naturalness of affirmative action.
But it would be fallacious to suggest that it introduces a bipolar taxonomy, which we have shown to be consistently present in Brazilian discourse at least since the end of the 19th century.
What it is possible to argue, however, is that the massive presence of the wider world which utilizes predominantly Anglo-Saxon terminologies, plays a significant role in adding to the natural truth of the division of Brasil into negros and brancos ; a truth « masked » by « miscegenation » and the « myth of racial democracy ». It brings a legal seal to the gradual growth in salience of a binary racial taxonomy which we have documented in this paper.
If the two laws are approved, citizens who visit health centres or compete with one another for university places or positions in the civil service or jobs in the private sector will be obliged by law to classify themselves in one of two categories.
The taxonomy of the black activists will have become law. Will it signify the final victory of the bipolar taxonomy and, as some fear, a growing racialization? After all, the recent history of State intervention in racial classification hardly leads to optimism on this score.
Or will the new laws have little effect on daily life which will continue to invoke one or other taxonomy in the endless and complex process classification of self and others? Will the new laws impinge upon the subjectivities of Brazilian citizens, strengthening and legitimizing a negro identity, and, by logical extension, a branco one also? Or, as some claim, will the law be « assimilated » by the tradition of hybridism and terminological confusion?
Even so, one might return to Durkheim and Mauss for inspiration. Almost at the end of their essay they point to the speculative character of primitive classification:. Durkheim and Mauss , p. The dispute over taxonomies has certainly produced an unprecedented debate on the nature of Brazilian society. Even so, it is quite evident that the adoption of one or other of these taxonomies is less a case of speculation than of political expedience.
Furthermore, the debate is emotionally charged. Defendants of quotas accuse their critics of racism, cynicism and the use of guile to preserve their privilege as a « white elite ». Those who oppose them argue that they merely legalise categories which would be better left to find their own direction in the course of everyday social life.
To address inequality between darker and lighter skinned Brazilians, they argue, policies could be directed, as in France, to territories that are predominantly darker and poorer without incurring the legalization of racial categories. What may not be clear to all concerned is that the adoption of the quota law and the Statute of Racial Equality lend the force of law to a bipolar taxonomy which will certainly involve distinct even if not clearly defined practical consequences.
I am more than grateful to Yvonne Maggie for her constant support and lively participation in the debate. I also thank my fellow members of the Observa project www.
My graduate and undergraduate students working on related issues, Robson Cruz, Bruno Chiappetto, Orlando Calheiros and Rafael Wagner have been a source of comfort and ideas. Hanchard Michael G. Whitten, Norman E. Whitten Jr. Szwed eds , Afro-American anthropology. Contemporary perspectives , Free Press , New York. Burglin, Graal, Rio de Janeiro.
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