[Puffer Fish]

Interesting read: http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/04/05/bra ... ve-action/

Despite the fact that the vast majority of the Brazilian population are of mixed descent, to some extent or another, an informal caste system still exists. But instead of Black or White, it's more how Black or White a person is.

This is causing dicey issues with affirmative action policies, with many student applicants to public universities taking advantage of the quota allocation system by claiming to be Black because they had a Black great-grandmother somewhere way back in their family tree.

In 1872, whites made up only 38 percent of the population in Brazil. And by the time slavery was abolished in 1888 an estimated 4 million slaves had already been imported from Africa. Brazil’s government then launched a full-on propaganda and policy effort to “whiten” Brazil. It closed the country’s borders to African immigrants, and subsidized the voyage of millions of German and Italian workers, providing them with citizenship, land grants, and stipends when they arrived.

Instead of trying to get rid of Africans, the Brazilian government hoped to "mix them away", and actively encouraged men to marry Black women so that the next generation would be less Black.

It's interesting to contrast the experience of race in Brazil with that in the United States. This isn't all just history, it could have implications for the future in the U.S.
There are a lot of people who think mixing, and whites constituting a minority, is going to make racism go away, but as the experience in Brazil shows, that's not the case at all.


Picture that clearly illustrates the divide in the country, a favela (slum) sitting right besides a luxury condo development:

[Puffer Fish]

Kids stealing stuff from unsuspecting people in crowds, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

kids stealing on the streets of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Brasil, Olympic Games city, Aug 12, 2016, TVMUN

Notice anything? This could easily be a scene out of one of the cities in the US.

[Local Localist]

There are a lot of people who think mixing, and whites constituting a minority, is going to make racism go away, but as the experience in Brazil shows, that's not the case at all.

Yeah, I don't really see how somebody could think that racial assimilation could make racial discrimination disappear. It positions the racial majority as the ideal, incentivising everyone to aspire to being part of the race that constitutes the majority, which inevitably leads to increased discrimination and vilification of racial minorities. As you have pointed out, Brazil shows that it is not possible to breed entire ethnicities out of existence, and you simply end up with more dysfunctional and confused cultures.

[Robert Urbanek]

I recall an episode of a sitcom in which an African American character was invited to join an exclusive club of successful black men. But he had to pass the “brown paper bag” test: he would only be admitted if his skin was no darker than the bag. Evidence, I suppose, that even diluting a race does not end racism.

[Tainari88]

Yeah, I don't really see how somebody could think that racial assimilation could make racial discrimination disappear. It positions the racial majority as the ideal, incentivising everyone to aspire to being part of the race that constitutes the majority, which inevitably leads to increased discrimination and vilification of racial minorities. As you have pointed out, Brazil shows that it is not possible to breed entire ethnicities out of existence, and you simply end up with more dysfunctional and confused cultures.

THe Irish Catholic Chursh's version of racism and mixed race problems:

[ThirdTerm]

Brazilians are around 75% European on average. It is estimated that 75% of all Brazilians have varying degrees of European ancestry. European-Brazilians, who are solely or mostly descended from European immigrants, comprise 47.73% of Brazil's population (2010). An African genetic signature peaks in the east Brazilian state of Bahia, where slaves and ex-slaves represented 40% of the population. Brazilians who have particularly high levels of African genetic heritage make up slightly above 10% of the total population of Brazil and their blackness is overrated. A Brazilian girl I met in Los Angeles looked like a person of pure Scandinavian descent.

South America
23andMe customers from Ecuador or Peru typically have over 45 percent Native American ancestry. Customers from Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay tend to have less than 10 percent of this genetic heritage. Indigenous ancestry remains highest where there were once large agricultural civilizations. However, many factors likely contributed to the variable rates of Native American ancestry across the continent.

What about African ancestry? For 23andMe customers from Colombia or Venezuela, the most common African ancestry is Senegambian & Guinean. Customers from Brazil typically have more Angolan & Congolese ancestry. Between the 17th and 19th centuries, Portugal transported as many as five million enslaved Africans to Brazil, primarily from Angola and the Congo river basin. Today, an African genetic signature peaks among 23andMe customers with roots in the east Brazilian state of Bahia.

Did you know?
23andMe customers from Guyana and Suriname—former British and Dutch colonies, respectively—have particularly high levels of African genetic heritage. The region is often considered to be more culturally and politically aligned with the Caribbean than it is with the rest of South America.

https://blog.23andme.com/ancestry-repor ... customers/

[Local Localist]

I think the only sensible way to judge a person's ethnic background, as with other aspects of their identity, is by self-identification. Physical appearance does not matter so much as one's cultural connections and sense of self. One cannot live as though they were nothing more than a series of percentages.

[Donna]

In 1872, whites made up only 38 percent of the population in Brazil. And by the time slavery was abolished in 1888 an estimated 4 million slaves had already been imported from Africa. Brazil’s government then launched a full-on propaganda and policy effort to “whiten” Brazil. It closed the country’s borders to African immigrants, and subsidized the voyage of millions of German and Italian workers, providing them with citizenship, land grants, and stipends when they arrived.

Instead of trying to get rid of Africans, the Brazilian government hoped to "mix them away", and actively encouraged men to marry Black women so that the next generation would be less Black.

It's interesting to contrast the experience of race in Brazil with that in the United States. This isn't all just history, it could have implications for the future in the U.S.,
There are a lot of people who think mixing, and whites constituting a minority, is going to make racism go away, but as the experience in Brazil shows, that's not the case at all.

Historically the melting pot model of assimilation and intermarriage is grounded in white supremacist and colonialist forms, as a necessary component in dissolving national and sectarian differences among European settlers and establishing the intersubjectivity of whiteness. In the case of Brazilian white supremacism and due to its demographic circumstances, its goal is to colonize and intermarry with the black population. The melting pot, besides its racist objectives, is also contradictory for this reason as it completely ignores the dynamics of racialization (i.e. intermarriage just creates more POCs rather than eroding racist structures).

[Sivad]

Historically the melting pot model of assimilation and intermarriage is grounded in white supremacist and colonialist forms

lol

[Donna]

lol

Sorry Sivad, whether or not you're a racist will never hinge on who you're fucking, no matter how bad you want this to be the case.

[what kid marley]

did Mayans move 2 Brazil, Joaquin