ABSTRACT
Racial equity in Brazil, home to one of the world’s largest multi-racial populations, is complicated; some seeing the country as a “racial democracy” and others seeing it as a country wrought with racial inequities. This chapter looks at race as a nervous area of government in Brazil where the government abetted racial inequities or did nothing to redress them from slavery in the 16th century, until late in the 20th century, when the nation’s president publicly acknowledged Brazil as a racist state. Since then, governments at all levels have taken steps to mitigate racial disparities, particularly in higher education where quotas have been established to increase the number of brown and black students in highly competitive, tuition-free public state and federal universities. While it appears that the quotas are “working” in increasing the number of students with darker skin tones, longer-term impacts are not yet known. Ultimately what will determine if the quotas have been successful is greater accessibility to the job market and a better quality of life for black and brown Brazilians. This will require support from Brazilians across the color spectrum and for the government to promote equal treatment of people regardless of color.
