Racial Equality in Brazil: A Goal to Shoot For

As fans around the world marvel at the skills of Brazilian soccer
players, they are also witness to the cohesion and harmony with
which the players, from different racial backgrounds, perform. While
this perception of racial equality fits neatly into Brazil's 'racial
democracy', it fails to reflect the broader Brazilian society.

Stephen de Tarczynski

The Brazilian national soccer team is one of the great symbols of the country. It has become synonymous with success, having won five World Cups, more than any other nation. Consisting of black, white, and mixed-race players, Brazil's national team presents to the world a picture of racial harmony. But does the racial harmony that seems to exist on the soccer pitch reflect the reality of contemporary Brazilian society?

Dr. Ralf Newmark, of La Trobe University's Institute of Latin American Studies in Melbourne, Australia, argues that it doesn't. He points out that Brazil, since abolishing slavery in 1888 (the last country in the world to formally do so), has perpetuated this myth of 'racial democracy', whereby opportunity is open to all regardless of race. "In other words, color is not an issue," says Dr. Newmark.

A snapshot of Brazilian society by the Center of United Marginalized Populations in 2000 suggests that 'racial democracy' is indeed a myth. The mortality rate for black babies under the age of one was 62.3 per 1,000 live births, while for whites it was 37.3. 36 percent of blacks received no formal education, compared with 19 percent of whites. The illiteracy rate amongst black adults was 50 percent, while for whites it was 20 percent.

Race relations in Brazil were established during the slavery period, where blacks were cast in their role at the lowest level of society, restricted to mundane and labor-intensive work.

Following the abolition of slavery, Brazilian blacks had no formal barriers to impede their upward social movement, unlike blacks in the USA or Australian Aborigines.

Despite this, the relationship that had developed between whites and blacks during the slavery period continued after abolition, thereby leading to a reinforcement of the status quo.

In The Negro in Brazilian Society, Florestan Fernandes writes that formal barriers to block the upward mobility of blacks were never erected. According to Fernandes, this stemmed from "the perpetuation of the total set of patterns of race relations that developed under slavery and were so damaging to the black man [and which] occurred without the whites having had any fear of the probable economic, social, and political consequences of racial equality and open competition with the Negro."

Combined with this, Fernandes argues that "the white did not feel that he had to compete, contend and struggle against the Negro, [while] the latter tended to passively accept the continuation of old patterns of racial adjustment."

Sociologist Gilberto Freyre, author of The Masters and The Slaves, published in 1933, epitomized the dominant view of race relations in Brazil. Freyre "developed this idea of a Brazilian-ness, or a brasilidade, which reflected a noble, tropical society," says Dr. Newmark.

Here is "this wonderful mixing of races to produce an extraordinary tropical civilization, which was what his thesis was. This is in fact anti-black, because was it does in a sense, is it talks about a 'whitening' of the population. It talks about an opposite of what you'd say would be black pride."

These race relations were reflected in Brazilian soccer. In The World's Game, Dr. Bill Murray, Associate Professor in History, also at La Trobe University, points out the racism that existed within the game in Brazil, such as Fluminense's (one of the 'big four' clubs in Rio de Janeiro) refusal to sign black players, a policy which lasted until the 1950s.

Dr. Murray also writes of a Fluminense player named Carlos Alberto, who was signed by the club despite being a mulatto (of mixed African and European descent)—a fact that had escaped the club's attention. In order to conceal his true racial make-up, Alberto rubbed rice powder into his face, a superficial process of "whitening".

Another example of the overt racism that existed in Brazilian football, as noted by Dr. Murray, was after Vasco da Gama (another of Rio's 'big four') had won the city's metropolitan league in 1923 and 1924 with several non-white players. Several clubs refused to play against Vasco and went on to form their own league in protest.

Despite the racism that existed in Brazilian soccer, the high quality of the black players eventually forced a change in the attitude of the game's administrators. "They had to accept that by the late 1920s and certainly into the 1930s, they couldn't ignore the black players. They were just too good," says Dr. Murray.

In The World's Game, he writes that by the 1950s, Brazilian soccer was losing its racism. This eventually led to today's situation, where black players and those of mixed descent are recognized as some of the best in the world, and treated accordingly.

Although racism in soccer has been curtailed to a large extent, Dr. Newmark points out that sport is one of the two areas where black people in Brazil are able to succeed, with entertainment being the other.

Even Pelé, regarded by many as the greatest soccer player ever, and who went on to serve his country as Minister of Sport, "only reinforces the argument that sport and entertainment are the two areas where you [a black person] can be upwardly socially mobile," says Dr. Newmark.

According to Dr. Murray, Pelé, who married a white woman, was used to show how Brazil "was the great integrated society". Another example of the limited acceptance of Afro-Brazilians is musician Gilberto Gil, currently Brazil's Minister of Culture.

Black Movement

The ambiguous nature of this relationship between blacks and whites in Brazil can also be seen in the historical weakness of a black consciousness movement. "I think this myth [of racial democracy] has made that much more difficult. There have been slight ones, but it's never been a movement like in the US", says Dr. Newmark.

A Frente Negra Brasileira (The Black Brazilian Front), formed in São Paulo in the 1930s, planned to unite blacks and mulattos. Despite having thousands of followers, the Front received an insignificant number of votes, due in part to literacy being a prerequisite to vote. Fernandes writes that "since the beginning of the rights movements, all attempts to corner the Negro vote have always failed irremediably".

According to Anani Dziozienyo, author of The Position of Blacks in Brazilian Society, "the growth of black consciousness is discouraged by the society's refusal to grant the black citizen the opportunity to realize his whole identity, including his black self, by denying the significance which black development (political, social and cultural) holds for him in particular, and for Brazil in general."

Dr. Newmark agrees, arguing that whites in Brazil appropriated and sanitized black traditions, such as samba, as a part of brasilidade. "What you have here in a sense, is a sort of impotence on behalf of the blacks."

In a society where the gap between rich and poor is so large, and where the majority of the wealth is concentrated in the hands of such a small percentage of the population, Dr. Newmark argues that class also plays a part in the blacks' position. "The racism is reinforced all the time by the class structure," he says. This situation also results in the reinforcement of racial stereotypes.

However, the plight of blacks in South America's most populous nation does seem to be improving. A number of organizations have been created since the 1990s, indicating a new level of black consciousness. Perhaps one day, the racial harmony that exists between blacks, whites, and mixed-race players on the soccer pitch will indeed reflect race relations in Brazil as a whole.

References

1. Buckley, S, Brazil's Racial Awakening, The Washington Post, Monday June 12, 2000.

2. Dziozienyo, A, The Position of Blacks in Brazilian Society, Minority Rights Group, London, 1971.

3. Fernandes, F, The Negro in Brazilian Society, Columbia University Press, New York, 1969.

4. Freyre, G, The Masters and the Slaves, Alfred A. Knopf Publishing, 1956.

5. Murray, W, The World's Game, University of Illinois Press, 1996.

It's possible that Stephen de Tarczynski is currently living in a hole in the ground in Western Australia's outback—although he possibly isn't as well. Lucky enough to spend a few months in Brazil in 2002, he hopes to return there soon. He can be contacted at detar76@hotmail.com.