Henry Louis Gates 'Brazil: A Racial Paradise'

The modernize approach of religion and traditions of the old African culture now converted into an Afro-Brazilian culture that still has an impact and exists today which is also still celebrated in Brazil. I believe that without slavery, many of the importance of both sides of society selling slaves and buying slaves would not have shaped humanity in the modern world. “Two centuries had seen African and European cultural religious and linguistic habits merging into unique Afro-Brazilian social and religious customs, music, and storytelling (Nellis 62).” The cultural influence of Afro-Brazilians has persistently grew from celebrations like carnaval into a mainstream popular culture. Brazil holds a variety of different ideas, culture and people. These ideas and traditions include musical interests, dancing, different food dishes, literature and art, festivities, and religious practices.

Perhaps many people may argue that both the US and Brazil have similar collections of ethnic and racial groups, that is a big minority of indigenous individuals, such as blacks and immigrants from Germany, Italy, and Asia. The presence of the minority groups in both nations was led by activities such as slavery and colonization during the19th-century (Wade, 2017). Chinese predominate the United States while Japanese predominate Brazil. Globalization and the rapid advancement in technology have demonstrated that technological revolution hasn't done much in altering the way of life and the belief of many people (Moran, 2014). With this in mind, I propose research on the differences in culture between Brazilians and Americans. This is because culture is social hence it is not an individual occurrence, it is a product of society, and it grows from social interaction. Culture is differentiable to us by comparison. Thus we should compare different cultures.

As I read Marilyn Halter’s book, Between Race and Ethnicity: Cape Verdean American Immigrants 1860-1965, I was able to develop a clear perspective of the Cape Verdean’s American voyage as well as their social and economic triumph. Prior to reading this book, I had no knowledge of the Cape Verdean people, unless they are very similar to the “Brazilians”. Marilyn intentions for her book was to address the social construction of Cape Verdean racial and ethnic identity and how the trials they experience while margining into American society. Cape Verdeans, a mix raced people group of Portuguese and African decent, struggled to attain and maintain their social identity in America, all while enduring isolation and ridicule from both Whites and Black in the new world. After reading this Halters book and her narrative depiction of the Cape Verdeans experience migrating to America. Just as many American immigrants during early 19th and 20th century, they were in search of an opportunity toward social mobility and sustainability while departing from the racial boundaries in their country. Though as soon as they arrived, the American society stressed the Cape Verdeans to choose to identified as white or Black? Little to their knowledge, their journey in search of prosperity immediately immersed them into the vulgar, racial divide between black and white Americans.

Former slaves discovered a deep feeling of insecurity after the downfall of the monarchy. Since Brazil had always been a paternalistic culture (an Emperor and an autocrat of a patriarchal house to protect them), it even led to some men and women becoming nostalgic of their former ‘big houses’, as they were known, and were desperate for the patriarchal assistance they once had in abundance. Yet, the popular president Getulio Vargas finally understood the sociological and psychological situation of the former slaves and gave a large part of the Brazilian labour population protection against exploitation from commercial

Others beg to differ. They claim that race interaction in Brazil is completely different, and by taking such a stance to that said thought would be risky and potentially create more race

The purpose of this paper is to recognize, study and analyze the race relations in Brazil. Race relations are relations between two groups of different races; it is how these two different races connect to each other in their environment. Since Brazil is racially diverse, this study is focused on how Brazilians relate to each other. Throughout the essay, it will become clear that there exists a conflict between two race groups. Afro-Brazilians and White-Brazilians are not connected and though these two groups converse with each other, discrimination still lies within the society. This discrimination has created inequality within the society for Afro-Brazilians. Thus, this paper will not only focus on racism and discrimination that

Afro-Paradise: Blackness, Violence, and Performance in Brazil by Christen A. Smith juxtaposes the images of Brazil’s black populations shown in the media with the ugly reality that they actually face in their everyday lives. From an outside perspective Brazil, especially Rio de Janeiro, is known as this tropical paradise with their beautiful beaches, beautiful people, and of course Carnaval do Brasil. When you Google images of the Carnaval you will see images of colorful floats, and beautiful women with “perfect bodies” wearing outfits that look like solely mardi gras beads to cover their its and bits. “Brazil, a republic that once declared itself free of racism, is now faced with the reality that racism does exist” (5). Brazil is known as a country with such a diverse and rich culture that everyone from other races live together in harmony. The representation of black bodies within Brazil can be seen with by the performers dancing on floats and with bodies being shot on the cement. Afro-paradise is a paradox. The oppressive economy uses its identity as an exotic, black “jovial playland” for tourists to come and experience the black culture and black people. Glorifying the black culture of Bahia reinforces Brazil’s racially

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.

There are currently 150 million Afro-descendants in Latin America who make up nearly 30 percent of the region’s population (Congressional Research Service, 2005). Out of the fifteen Latin American nations that have recently adapted some sort of multicultural reform, only three give recognize Afro-Latino communities and give them the same rights as indigenous groups (Hooker, 2005). Indigenous groups are more successful than afro-descendent groups in gaining collective rights and development aid from international NGO’s. Collective rights important because are closely related to land rights and can become a tool to fight descrimination .I will attempt to uncover the causes for the discrepancy. This study relies heavily on ethnographic

In the sixteen century slavery was on the rise in Brazil. Indigenous people were made slaves in earlier stages of slavery and it was them who carried the weight of labor for the Portuguese’s empire. The indigenous slaves faced same abused as the Africans slaves and the indigenous were first one to grow sugar cans in the area of Bahia. Despite this similarity, the historical narratives about indigenous slaves is different than the Africans. There was a rapid increase in Africans enslavement in the late nineteen century. Brazilians slave story is different in that it exemplifies the same self-serving purpose, leading to the exploitation of labor, yet it is very different with the Portuguese have sexual relation with the indigenous women for racialized hierarches. This ultimately led to a legally supported mestiza with natives. Even though the story regarding the natives’ enslavement demonstrated mistreatment at a high degree but

Child of the Dark: Experimenting with Democracy Citlalli Guillen Gaeta History 162A: Modern Brazil June 1, 2018 “The cost of living makes the worker lose his sympathy for democracy.” Child of the Dark by Carolina Maria de Jesus focuses on the living conditions of a poor Afro-Brazilian mother who lives in the Canindé favela during the late 1950s. Although this diary intended to record the lifestyle of the Favela, De Jesus captures the faults and inequalities of the entire Brazilian society. The diary explores a range of political and economic challenges that the Favelados must face during 1955-1960, in efforts to insinuate that the political economy of Brazil created a vicious cycle of poverty. De Jesus captivates the harmful effects of a weak

Throughout the history of the colonized Americas you will find that slavery played a large role in the success of the countries specifically the United States. With slavery becoming so prominent within the United States we often ignore that most Africans involved in Trans- Atlantic Slave Trade were taken to Brazil. Although Brazil may have one of the largest population of black/ African people living in its country, up until recently many of these inhabitants did not self identify as black or African but actually labeled themselves as white . I believe this is very similar and can be compared to how some citizens of the United States who are of African decent self identify as black or American rather than African American, although there may be different historical backgrounds that leads them to this conclusion. The difference in the labels of self-identification between these two countries, I have found, comes from the different tactics used during the enslavement of these Africans. Throughout this report I will exam the history and effect that slavery has on self- identification as well as other factors, in the post racial society in the United States and Brazil, while also comparing these two countries history with enslavement.

The Portuguese left a legacy in Brazil in terms of demography mainly through the extermination of much of the indigenous population, the bringing in of the African slaves and the miscegenation that is a quintessential feature of Brazil. As mentioned earlier, the Portuguese tried to enslave the indigenous natives, but approximately 90% of the 11 million native Brazilians had perished by 1600 (Brazilian Indians). The native indigenous population is substantially lower in present-day Brazil, with approximately 900,000 claiming an indigenous native identity. These people comprise about only 0.4 of the country’s total population. The Portuguese maltreatment of the indigenous peoples has carried on through the course of Brazilian history, as

One’s status in nineteenth century Rio de Janeiro had a huge impact on all areas of their life. It could allow them to have full or limited access to institutions, it determined their employment opportunities, determined if they can participate in political matters, and even determined where in the city they were allowed to travel. The three biggest factors that shaped a person’s position in society were family status or ancestry, property and slave ownership, and occupation

During the colonial period, from 1500 till 1822, the Portuguese did not promoted their own language in Brazil, in contrast to the French and British colonisers. The French were single minded in the prosecution of their language and they were consicious of a ‘civilizing mission’ (Phillipson 111). Whereas the Portuguese main goals were not related to missionary or civilizing mission, they were primarily interested in wealth and resources. At first they were not planning to actually live in Brazil, therefore language policy was not their first concern. However this changed and more white, Portuguese men settled down in Brazil and due to the lack of European women, married the local women. In present Brazil 38.5% of the population is mulatto (CIA World Factbook), which is a mixture of black and white, as a result of these mixed marriages. The new ‘mulatto’ generation mainly learned to speak the language of the Tupinambá tribe, who were living along the Atlantic Coast