Over the past several decades there has been an increase, in Brazil, of people whom self-identify as being black or Afro-Brazilian. What sparked the rise in these identities in Brazil? Was it possible material and intellectual gains or, sparked from activism, or from other possible factors. The black movement and affirmation of “black” identity came about much later in Brazil than in other countries such as the United States. In my opinion the most important factors for the rise in these identities are the material gains from the Quilombo Clause, the effects of affirmative action and quotas, as well as social activism.
One important reason for the increase in people identifying as black in Brazil is the Quilombo Clause in the 1988 constitution. With the 1988 constitution Brazil aimed to become a more multi-cultural society. The Quilombo Clause in the constitution gave the decedents of Quilombos, or runaway slave communities, rights to land. As quoted in Jan Hoffman French’s book Legalizing Identities: Becoming Black or Indian in Brazil’s Northeast, “survivors of Quilombo communities occupying their lands are recognized as definitive owners, and the state shall issue them titles to the land” (77). While historically a quilombo was a community of runaway slaves the definition has now changed to be a rural black community. These communities are the ones using the Quilombo Clause to try and obtain land. The prospect of land is a strong incentive to identify a certain especially if the person or group of people come from a poor background and do not have much. The community of Mocambo is an example of a community who used the Quilombo Clause in order to gain land. The people of Mocambo began to struggle when the land they had worked f...
... middle of paper ...
...ulation, prevented the black movement from progressing at an earlier time.
Works Cited
DeWitt, Mike. "Wide Angle." Brazil in Black and White. Dir. Adam Stepan. PBS. 4 Sept. 2007.
Television.
Edmonds, Alexander. "Beautiful People." Pretty Modern: Beauty, Sex, and Plastic Surgery in
Brazil. Durham, NC: Duke UP, 2010. N. pag. Print.
French, Jan Hoffman. Legalizing Iidentities: Becoming Black or Indian in Brazil's Northeast.
Chapel Hill, NC: U of North Carolina, 2009. Print.
Htun, Mala. "From "Racial Democracy" to Affirmative Action: Changing State Policy on Race in Brazil." Latin American Research Review 39.1 (2004): 60-89. Project MUSE. Web.
Skidmore, Thomas E. "Racial Realities and Racial Thought after Abolition." Black into White:
Race and Nationality in Brazilian Thought: With a Preface to the 1993 Edition and
Bibliography. Durham: Duke UP, 1993. N. pag. Print.
In Samba, Alma Guillermoprieto describes the Carnival celebrated every year in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and explores the black cultural roots from which it takes its traditions as well as its social, economic, and political context in the 1980s. From her firsthand experience and investigation into favela life and the role of samba schools, specifically of Manguiera, Guillermoprieto illustrates a complex image of race relations in Brazil. The hegemonic character of samba culture in Brazil stands as a prevalent theme in numerous facets of favela life, samba schools, and racial interactions like the increasing involvement of white Brazilians in Carnival preparation and the popularity of mulatas with white Brazilians and tourists. Rio de Janeiro’s early development as a city was largely segregated after the practice of slavery ended. The centralization of Afro-Brazilians in favelas in the hills of the city strengthened their ties to black
Tompkins, C., 2009. The paradoxical effect of the documentary in Walter Salles’s “Central do Brasil”. Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature 33 no1 p9-27
It has been said that the physical variations in the human species have no meaning except the social one that humans put on them. Society has placed stigmas on race dating all the way back to the 1600s. Still in the 21st century the American society is still trying to work through racial boundaries. With such stigmas being placed on them, biracial individuals often self-identify or be identified by others differently, depending on the social context. A biracial individual’s racial identity development is contingent upon many factors, both internal and external. With the dramatic increase in the number of individuals with a bi or multiracial background it is important for us to recognize the complexity of the racial identity development of this culture. It is critical to understand the hardships as well as the advantages of being biracial, to help them avoid any negative behaviors which could yield lifelong consequences. The healthy development of one’s racial identity is imperative for a biracial child to be able to achieve and maintain a positive psychological and social adjustment throughout the lifespan.
We must begin with Brazil’s history in order to understand the problem and how it came to exist. During the year 1500, Brazil was “discovered” by the Portuguese. The Portuguese saw the indigenous people as “savages” because they did not look or dress like Europeans. Hence, the idea that indigenous people are “savages” help influence the Portuguese that indigenous people need to be controlled and become more civilized. During the 16th century the Portuguese used “black” slaves to work in plantations to increase trading in Europe. After the year 1850 slave trade was abolished, but the Portuguese continued to bring slaves from Africa, illegally. Edward Eric Telles states, “Roughly three hundred years later, when the slave trade ended in 1850, 3.6 million African Americans had been brought to Brazil as slaves, ...
Sprouted from slavery, the African American culture struggled to ground itself steadily into the American soils over the course of centuries. Imprisoned and transported to the New World, the African slaves suffered various physical afflictions, mental distress and social discrimination from their owners; their descendants confronted comparable predicaments from the society. The disparity in the treatment towards the African slaves forged their role as outliers of society, thus shaping a dual identity within the African American culture. As W. E. B. DuBois eloquently defines in The Souls of Black Folk, “[the African American] simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and
Paul Haggis’ film Crash (2004), demonstrates how people can adopt a dominant and subordinate role concurrently, this is illustrated through the character Jean Cabot. When people look at Jean they see an affluent White female. As a result of the way a person looks their actions are scrutinized due to social construction. Jean is White, so people assume that she leads a charmed life. Although, Jean’s racial identity and class allows her to be a member of the dominant group, her gender she does not have as much power as White males; Jean builds her life around the racial identity that is assigned to her and participates in the social construction that plagues American communities.
During the 15th century to the 19th century according to Wilson Aravjo Silva, “9 Million sub-Sahoron Africans were brought to the Americas as slaves; about 40% of them were probably brought to Brazil (Klein 2002). This forced migration to have a tragic impact on some African societies and determined that part of the history of Africans began to be written outside Africa.”
After the slavery abolition in 1888 and throughout the 20th century, Africa figured relatively low in Brazil’s foreign policy agenda, which have mostly focused in the relations with the global powers such as the United States and European countries. This configuration started to change significantly in the early 2000s, when the improved macroeconomic situation of Brazil coincided with Africa’s economic revival. The turning point was, with no doubt, under former President Lula’s mandate (2003-2010).
I classify my race, ethnicity, and culture as a white, Irish-Italian- American, woman. My mother was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and my paternal grandparents are from Sicily, Italy. I imagine being first generation Irish and second generation Italian helps me relate with my ethnicity.
My cultural identity, is Haitian American. My parents come from a country of beautiful landscape and valleys of the hidden treasures of knowledge, diverse people, and rustic towns. My parents walked up steep plateaus for water, laid in grassy plains for peace, and dive into the sea for cooling in Haiti’s humid heat. Although, I come from a culture of deep history, the first country to gain independence in the result of a successful slave rebellion, my parents knew the plague of suffering Haiti’s battle with will not recover through the poverty, unemployment, and illiteracy. As Haiti fought through its demons, my parents fought to provide plentiful opportunity for their family and immigrated to the United States of America.
When examining the concept of race and ethnicity in Latin America, it can be said that it has quite a different meaning. Latin Americans perceive race as being open ended and explicit, yet racism is quite implicit in their society. They also attempt to adhere to the idea that they are living within a “racial democracy”. Racial democracies are a concept created to convince people that racism does not impact the structure of society and the opportunities that are available to people.
It has been centuries since slavery ended across Latin America yet racial issues continue to plague these countries. Since manumission, the concept of race has evolved through the meaning societies have given it. Countries have used and continue to use the idea of race as a way to stratify their societies through racial hierarchies. Each country has taken on its own definition of race in terms of blackness, whiteness, and everything in between. These types of labels perpetuate racism and subject People of Color to discrimination, marginalization, and inequalities across society. It is crucial to identify the origins of race and racism, how the term has evolved, and the role race plays in societies across the Latin American countries, especially
To understand what is occurring in Brazil currently, one must dig into history. Around 1693 slave hunters from Sao Paulo, Brazil found “lead colored flakes of heavy metal near the headwaters of Sao Francisco River” . When they melted the metal down the men noticed it was gold and within a few years there was a gold rush in Brazil in the state of Minas Gerais. The gold rush and coffee plantations later fueled the slave trade, revenue and created big cities we know today in Brazil . Since then, Brazilians have been undergoing urbanization and leaving the countryside towards the Northeast in search of a better life. Mostly during the 1940’s urbanization began to occur, with people pouring into the city in search of jobs and creating “favelas” on the edge of the city (wh...
Art has always been used to symbolize one’s culture, history, society and national identity. Countries identify each other through their culture, their art. Art has many forms, one of them being music. One of the most famous music genres in the world is samba. Due to the fact that Samba is the musical life force of Brazil; it ultimately represents their national identity.
“A formal public commitment to legal racial equality, for example, had been the price of mass support for Latin American’s independence movements. In the generation following independence, the various mixed-race classifications typical of the caste system were optimistically banished from census forms and parish record keeping.” This was meant to make all slaves citizens, equal to all other citizens. Slavery receded in Latin America, except in non-republican Brazil, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. However, Brazil’s pursuit of independence was the least violent and provoked the least amount of change. The case of Brazil suggests that retention of colonial institutions such as monarchies lent to stability. “Brazil had retained a European dynasty; a nobility of dukes, counts, and barons sporting coats of arms; a tight relationship between church and state; and a full commitment to the institution of chattel slavery, in which some people worked others to death.”