Is There Apartheid in Brazil? Racial Identity and Racism From a Brazilian Point of View

Filed in archive Latin Culture , Latin Issues on August 14, 2007

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A few weeks ago, friend and fellow blogger Malena (of Racewire) and I had a heavy-duty e-mail conversation about the politics of race in Brazil. She had written a short response to an article musing about how identity works within a nation of such vast diversity. While many view Brazil as a racial and ethnic utopia, Malena points out, this myth often clouds what she proposed was de facto apartheid.

The conversation pushed my buttons - I'm Brazilian. I'm always interested in how foreigners see us and our culture; and many, many times the ridiculous and stupid things that are said about Brazil (or Uruguay, or Latin America, for that matter) really pisses me off. This is not one of those cases, although the "apartheid in Brazil" idea sounds absurd to me. I want to share with you a Brazilian point of view about this matter.

Is there racism in Brazil? Of course - sadly, I think there's not one single country free of racism in this world. But apartheid? Hell no. In Brazil, people of color face the same problems and obstacles they face everywhere; Brazil is a racially diverse country, racial mixes are very common and vary, but it isn't a racial utopia either.

I guess it's hard for a foreigner (specially for people raised in the US) to really comprehend our racial classification. As it was pointed out in Racialicious and Racewire (and in the article linked in Racewire), we don't have a strict rule. Race is more a personal thing, an individual choice. It's ok to be more than one thing; you don't have to be black OR white OR brown. Few people are in fact just one of those things.

In Brazil, you define your race based on the color of your skin (and you have almost a rainbow to choose from) AND in you heritage. My skin is white, I'm Caucasian; but I also have Indigenous and Black ancestors. I have many brown-skinned relatives. It seems so idiotic to me, as a white/Caucasian human being, that in the US I wouldn't be allowed to identify myself as Caucasian, simply because I'm from a Latin American country!

In Brazil your race is not based on your place of origin. We don't classify a white South African as Black just because he is African. We don't think a Black French is White just because he's European. We don't think all Latin Americans belong to the same race, because they don't. That makes no sense.

And that's why I hate the "Latino/Hispanic race" concept; because it's ABSURD. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I'm Latina. I'm CAUCASIAN, that means, WHITE. I'm not Hispanic. I don't fit in the American racial system, and most Latinos don't fit in there either.

A question raised on the comments on Racialicious was if the variety of racial labels in Brazil (and other countries) is some form of validation of different shades of white supremacy, in detriment of the Black race. I think not. I've never met somebody who would deny his or her "Blackness", just because it's possible to use other labels. The big difference between Brazil and the US, regarding racial concepts, is that in Brazil you can say things the way they really are; you can choose what you feel is more accurate and appropriate, instead of trying to squeeze yourself inside four or five pre-established categories.

There's no apartheid in Brazil. There are horrible social problems, most of them caused by poverty. Is there white supremacy? Unfortunately, yes - and you can trace the root of that to the European colonization. There's white supremacy because White/European people has always been a step ahead, regarding wealth, education and opportunities in life, since Brazil was born.

People are "segregated" because of their financial status, there are BIG inequalities. But you see people of all shades and colors everywhere; there are rich Black people (in a lower percentage, I must say), and there are poor White people - lots and lots of them. We don't have "Black neighborhoods"; we have "poor neighborhoods", where all races share the same misery. Obviously, that sucks, even if it's a clear proof that there's no apartheid.

To be perfectly clear: there's no apartheid. Sadly, there's racism, social inequality, poverty, violence; there's "white supremacy" in the sense that White folks have an easier life; people of color - specially Black people - must face a harder life, and are the most affected by poverty and violence.

In Brazil, poverty is a much bigger and serious problem than racism. Overall, Brazilians handle race issues pretty well - much better than Americans (at least in a personal level).

UPDATE:

Please read this:
Update and More Questions About Racial Identity and Racism (From a Brazilian Point of View)