The existence of race mixture in Brazil does not prove that the nation of racism free. Research indicates that the racial democracy in the nation is mythical. For instance, a study that was carried out by the Warren and Christina revealed that mixed race as well as race mixing identities have not proven to be effective anti-racist strategies (Warren " Christina 34). As such, the Brazilian nation should fathom that mixed race has not promoted racial democracy but, in many ways, it has undermined it. Warren and Christina also point out that minimizing or undercutting Indian and Black prejudices have not reduced racism in Brazil (Warren " Christina 35). According to Da Costa, the contemporary situation in Brazil shows that shifting to race mixture as well as the implementation of policies has not eradicated practices and ideas that reproduce racial hierarchy and exclusion as well as lessen the significance of racism (Da Costa 497). This research presents a comprehensive discussion regarding racial democracy in Brazil. The research is grounded on three research questions: firstly, does race mixture proves that racial democracy exists in Brazil? Are the methodologies designed to eradicate racism in Brazil effective? Do political leaders play part in promoting or ending racism and how?
Race Mixture and Racial Democracy
The findings from the researches of Da Costa as well as Warren and Christina proves beyond doubt that there is no racial democracy in Brazil – race mixture has not promoted racial democracy. Warren and Christina explain that the race mixers had proposed that biological and cultural mixing amalgamated with current biotechnological methodologies to change the skin color and hair texture (Warren " Christina 35). They argued that this will allow African Americans to improve their individuality through a selection of the varying level of hybridity and in turn reduce racism in future. The race mixers emphasize their commonalities -instead of differences – with their fellow citizens and using biotechnology to generate significant numbers of mixed race as a way of curbing racism (Warren " Christina 36). However, in spite of the race-mixers forecasts – in the past and the present – the popular embrace of the mixed-race identities and practices have not promoted racial democracy whatsoever. The Indianness and blackness as inhabitable identities have been considerably weakened – the race is a major problem in Brazil and has only created a means for whitening kids and creating other categories (Warren " Christina 36). The worst of it is that Brazilians are conscious that it is worst to be black and best to be white. Therefore, even though the country believes that racial democracy exists, it does not.
Warren and Christina elucidate that race mixtures have concealed race-grounded inequalities and prejudices and allow biases to go unchecked (Warren " Christina 36). As such, the scenario has relived the white who feel exempted from the responsibility of confronting racial inequalities. Moreover, it has activated the denial of rights of black people and their access to resources. The encouragement of the identification, race mixture, and producing white people from indigenous and African descent did not deliver the blow to racism as many politicians and race-mixers predicted (Warren " Christina 36). Hence, in Brazil, the race has continued to be socially significant despite the fact that racial identifications and location have been projected to be smooth gradations. Additionally, racial inequalities have continued to flourish even though interracial marriages and race mixtures have been officially encouraged and very common for many years (Warren " Christina 36). Thus, mixed race identities and race mixing have not proven to be effective in curbing racism in Brazil – instead, it has only promoted it.
Da Costa made the same observation that race mixture has not screened out racism and that the latter remains to be a monster that Brazil will struggle to wake up from. In his study, Da Costa noted that that nation re-imagined that the cultural and racial mixture will abridge the racial boundaries, help in forging national cohesion and increase inter-racial harmony during the emergence of post-racial ideology (Da Costa 498). Nothing could be further from the truth – the dark races were perceived as an obstruction to the modernization as well as development. The notions of conviviality and harmony invigorated false interpretations of Brazil as a progressive racial democracy (Da Costa 498). Additionally, an anti-racialist stereotype which rejected the existence of races was engrossed into the Brazilian culture. The race was turned into a foreign invention, a conception that was later interpreted as racism – and something that did not exist among Brazilians (Da Costa 498). Therefore, anti-racialist ideal only covered the truth that racism is a social practice in Brazil and that only prejudice exists and will be mitigated in the near future.
Further, the findings of the Da Costa research showed that in spite of the insistent anti-racialism in Brazil, the mixture has not eradicated white supremacy Brazilians (Da Costa 499). Instead, it promoted a justifying system of widespread color and racial stratification where antiblackness and whitening remained robust within the country – as is the case in Latin America. Simultaneously, the subject of mixed-race was essentialized as the perfect subject in the nation which established a commonsense discussion amid the Brazilian citizens that – “we are all mixed” – but only made racism to remain hidden (Da Costa 499). Constant emphasis about mixture converted a nation marred with racism in gender, status, education and family origins into a racial democratic country.
Brazil Approach to End Racism by Minimizing Indian and Black Subjectivities Didn’t Work
There have been fantasies that claim there have been efforts to erase the blacks and Indians in the United States culture. Presently, these claims have been manifested in the calls for race mixing and also the idea of seeing the blacks and Indians as holding back self – actualization (Warren " Christina 35). The two groups – Indians and blacks - have been regarded as corrupt, oppressive and one of the major causes of current racial inequalities. It is worth noting that the even the popular press is infected with this disease of erasing black individuals. Additionally, the same arguments have been found in more highbrow scholarships. Research has shown that the main reason why caste-like minorities in Brazil get poor results in their educational studies is that of their racial identities (Warren " Christina 35). Academic achievement is defined as white and the latter presumes that caste-like minorities tend to harm themselves together with their counterparts when defending their racial identities. Warren and Christina in their research point out that the underachievement among black individuals - specifically young black men who study hard and get good grades – result from the latter belittled by the whites for acting like them (white) (Warren " Christina 35). This scenario has triggered a significant number of black people to desire becoming white either socially, biologically, or culturally. Therefore, efforts of ending blackness have only escalated racism in Brazil specification in the education sector.
Further, Warren and Christina found that Indians are usually humiliated because of their identities and also have a sense of Indian inferiority complex (Warren " Christina 36). They openly prefer blue eyes, light skins as well as blond hair. Regrettably, even when they acquire these features, the contemporaneous fear of being labelled ‘white’ does not in any way translate into higher levels of academic achievement. Actually, the academic gap amid whites and black is far greater in Brazil as compared to that in the United States. Additionally, there is no proof to show that the absence of Indian and black collective identities has lessened racism or improved the non-whites individuality (Warren " Christina 37). Racist stereotypes are widespread throughout Brazil – being an Indian or Black as well as the other mixed-race subjects is related to laziness, criminality, ugliness, primitiveness, inferior intelligence, immorality and hyper-sexuality.
The institutional racism is corresponding, if not more, embedded in Brazil in the same way it is in the United States. A certified Brazilian census data indicated that race has a substantial independent implication on the education, infant mortality, housing and income as well as the life expectancy (Warren " Christina 38). Additionally, the report showed that the non-whites suspiciously suffer from excessive violence and crimes, lack of basic infrastructural services, abuse by the police and government officials and their rights are violated (Warren " Christina 38). The data also showed that the whites are over-represented in the media, economically well-to-do and in politics. These are the outcomes in regions where mixed-race identities and race mixing have made the Indian and black identities nearly non-existent (Warren " Christina 38). Thus, any attempt to minimize the Indian and black subjectivities have one promoted racism instead of reducing it.
Colorblindness or Race Avoidance Have Not Resolved Racial Equality
The idea of colorblindness or race avoidance has not yielded the fruits it was intended – racism remains engraved in the Brazilians way of life. According to Warren and Christina, colorblind social policies and anti-race consciousness have not resulted in significant racial equality (Warren " Christina 41). Additionally, de-emphasizing racism, past or present, have not borne the end of the race. The findings of Warren and Christina ’s research about a comparison of the racial inequalities’ trends between the United States and Brazil from 1990 to 1996 revealed that racial inequalities in the occupation have significantly increased in Brazil and decreased in the U.S (Warren " Christina 42). Moreover, the same study showed that the application of purely class-grounded systems does not eradicate racial inequalities.
The race negation or avoidance has resulted in the practical absence of political space of withdrawal as well as the formation of group whereby subordinated social groups develop and disseminate counter – discourses (Warren " Christina 42). It is important to note that when that space is not there, it is hard to create an intellectual or a political movement that could establish contemporary political imagination which has been completely ravaged by the existing racial beliefs (Warren " Christina 42). Eliminating racial is, therefore, no panacea in Brazil - because it left the minorities without an identity that can push them forward and hold them together. It left them isolated, weaker and helpless.
Liberal, Power-Evasive Expressions of Multiculturalism Have Not Reduced Racism
Research shows that experiments with multiculturalism which have been carried out previously to mitigate racism have instead promoted racial hierarchy (Warren " Christina 46). The whites are still regarded for the political economies, legal systems as well as languages and religion. The non-whites have only been involved in culinary arts, giving dances, music as well as selecting a word. Multiculturalism has been notoriously power evasive and every time racism was brought to light – it was relegated to the past. Additionally, “the liberal, power evasive articulations of multiculturalism have further bolstered white supremacy by suggesting that diversity practices have effectively dealt with racism” (Warren " Christina 46). The multicultural projects in Brazil have failed to unequivocally confront racial hierarchy and have easily been manipulated into the rationalities of white supremacy (Warren " Christina 47). Thus, it can be said that Brazilians experience with this multiculturalism brand only demonstrate how it has animated and obscured racial inequality instead of unsettling it.
Post-racial Have Been Used as a Strategy of Power in Brazil
Racial progress and transcendence have taken part in the nation of Brazil whereby, they tend to think that the racism which has haunted the nation for many generations have been curtailed. According to Da Costa, racism in Brazil encompasses the beliefs of racial exceptionalism, convivial race relations and racial innocence which all result from the race mixture which has been discussed above (Da Costa 499). Additionally, he clarifies that the pre-existing racism, as well as racial inequality, have been characterized as a temporary state and a paradox. The major question remains why the race mixture has not led to equality as projected. Further, many people ponder on the reason why racial democracy has not been achieved despite claims that the nation is racism-free – the fact that the methods used to curtail racism have failed can only mean it is still rampant in Brazil (Da Costa 499). Da Costa argues transcendence have just converted the preexisting racial inequality and racism into temporary expressions and anomalies which are due to the fact that the race mixture has failed to accomplish its liberation impacts (Da Costa 499). This has activated the mischaracterization of the racial inequality and racism as a paradox instead of addressing the manner in which racial difference have continuously structured the race-mixture.
The research conducted by Da Costa revealed that the term ‘we’ is often used to represent the voice of the Brazilians by those in power (Da Costa 503). The use of “we” to argue that Brazilians are free of the agony that has resulted from racial and ethnic categorization, discrimination and identity by political leaders is not acceptable. The claim that there is racial democracy undermined the many years that the black movements mobilizations have happened to confront the negative meanings and implications of their color and heal the wounds of racism in their lives (Da Costa 503). In simple terms, the use of “we” does not in any way allow us to fathom how racial differences is operating in the Brazilian context or pinpoint the manner in which racial inequality has been addressed (Da Costa 504). Additionally, the individuals who keep on defending race-neutral universalism, as well as the mixture, tend to link the looming racialization to the creation of “racial hatred.” They point out that the nation of Brazil might in the near future experience ethnic cleaning and forms of violence like the ones that occurred in Rwanda, Yugoslavia and South Africa.
In many discussions that revolve around the racial-makeup of Brazil, a statement – “we are all mixed” is usually repeated severally and in most cases linked with the idea that, thus, “we are not racist” (Da Costa 503). Nonetheless, Da Costa asserts that such statements do not reflect or portray an image of a post-racial state or society. Other scholars have referred to them as “non-performing speech acts” (Da Costa 503). The statements above are considered as non-performative speech act irrespective of how often they are utilized because they do not bring out what they name – the mixture as universal or producing equality. Additionally, they do not do what they say – inspire active anti-racism. Thus, these kinds of statements reinforce the notion that mixture is anti-racist in the outcome as well as logic (Da Costa 504). Nevertheless, based in the material reality about whitening, antiblackness as well as the social and economic inequalities grounded on race, the statement, “we are all mixed,” (Da Costa 504) comprises of a non-performative speech act for the reason that it portrays and instigates racial transcendence. The fact that people are “all mixed” does not prove that they are not racist – mixture can re-articulate the racialized meanings, hierarchies as well as attachments. Additionally, being ‘all mixed’ does not mean that it causes a common experience and eradicates differential treatments grounded in the color of the skin (Da Costa 505). The Brazil nation is therefore not free of racism, but rather full of the negation of race and an example of how that race mixture has completely failed to produce a post-racial state.
Racism in Politics
The top presidential candidate for Brazil unveiled the truth of how racism is deep-rooted in the country. According to Darlington, even though Mr Duke repeatedly maintained that Brazil is a mixed-race nation, he endorsed Donald Trump arguing that he looks like any other white person in America or Portugal, Germany, U.K. France or Spain (Darlington n.p.). He also claimed that there is a demographic disaster in Brazil and that the rate of crime is very high in areas with a large number of black populace. He also declared that the pro-European nationalist movement will eventually sweep the globe (Darlington n.p.). This shows how racism has spread like cancer in Brazil and have dominated in politics. Therefore, the whole idea that Brazil is racially democratic is ironic and laughable.
Conclusion
To sum it up, Brazilians tend to believe that there is no racism because how mixed they have become in the past decades. However, this research has proven otherwise. In the same way, they have forgotten that they were the last nation to abolish slavery, they have neglected the fact that they might be the last nation to eradicate racism – because they have ignored it is in them. This research has presented several pieces of evidence to prove that the mixture has not eliminated racism but has only promoted it. What is even alarming is the political candidates are very busy heightening racism in both visual and print media. Nothing can be further from the truth – racism is rampant in Brazil and its high time they admit and then the whole world can help them do something about it.
Work Cited
Da Costa, Alexandre Emboaba. "Confounding anti-racism: Mixture, racial democracy, and post-racial politics in Brazil." Critical sociology 42.4-5 (2016): 495-513.
Darlington Shasta. A K.K.K. Endorsement? No Thanks, Says Brazil’s Top Presidential Candidate. The New York Times, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/16/
Warren, Jonathan, and Christina A. Sue. "Comparative racisms: What anti-racists can learn from Latin America." Ethnicities 11.1 (2011): 32-58.
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