Brazil Race Relations free essay sample

Brazilian race relations and conceptions of race are somewhat different from the United States. In Brazil most African descendents are people live in slums called the favelas. The favelas are small over-crowded communities, which are built on hills. One of the largest is in a city called Rio de Janeiro and it’s full of hundreds of poor urban people. Some Brazilians would argue that there aren’t any racial inequalities in Brazil, which is actually false. Many brown and blacks who live in the favelas do not have the same opportunity as the white Brazilians who live in a more suitable environment. The â€Å"2010 census showed that 51% of Brazilians identify themselves as black or brown. † (The economist 2). The income of white Brazilians is more than the black and brown people in Brazil. African descendents have disadvantages in education level, medical treatment , and other important things. They are also at the bottom of the social pyramid, because of racial inequalities. They live in the poorest and most dangerous communities and there aren’t really any securities in the favelas. The social status and economic advantages were based on how light a persons skin was and if they have European ancestry. The United States and Brazil are different because in the U. S race is weighted in a very different way but in Brazil race is described as if one were describing the color of the rainbows. The United States is home to a lot of immigrants and has a middle class where if people were poor they could climb up the pyramid. People also argue that unlike in the U. S slavery , Brazil never segregated anyone. Although there was no segregation there is a huge difference in the gap between blacks and white in Brazil. In Brazil dark skinned Brazilian who made the same amount of income as the white Brazilian tends to live in concentrated poverty areas. During the slave trade, slaves were shipped to Brazil 10 times more than to the United States. Brazil had a cheaper slave trade and was more convenient. Slaves in Brazil were treated more brutally than the slaves brought to the U. S. Slaves in the U. S were fed more, had better places to sleep and had better clothes. The Brazilian society is still unequal for example, after slavery was abolish the white Brazilian wanted to eliminate the blacks by getting number of immigrants from Europe to come to Brazil. They wanted the white Immigrants to over populate the blacks and breed with them, so African decent would be eliminated. Brazil socially diminished blackness and encouraged the black Brazilians to detach themselves from their African ancestry. This kind of act never took place in the U. S rather blacks and whites were just segregated. Unlike the U. S where racism was open Brazil pretended as if though there was no racism. The United States has a Black president and some of the Blacks that lives there are millionaires different from Brazil where it’s not like that. Racism in Brazil is veiled and that is why most people think that there was no inequality or racism. In reality Brazil is one of the most racist and unequal countries in the world. Blacks in Brazil are not allowed to talk about race because it is believed in Brazil that racism doesn’t exist and that there is no inequality. Although Brazilians think that there is no racial inequality in Brazil there actually is. People who live in the slums of Brazil claim there is inequality. In some ways Brazil and the United States are similar, but some Brazilians might argue that racism in Brazil is very different from the United States. In both Brazil and the U. S the whites have more advantages than the blacks. They are ensured to get a job and a decent job too. For example, if black people apply for a job in U. S or in Brazil they are most likely not to get the job because of their race or skin color. Another example is that most African descendents in Brazil and the United states live in the poorest communities and are separated from the whites. Take for example Chicago; it is has some of the most segregated communities in Chicago. In these communities there are a lot of blacks living there , just like in Brazil with the favelas. The neighborhoods in some of the United States are just like some Neighborhoods in Brazil and it is very poor and there is violence in the communities. Also Brazil and America are also alike when it comes to the way blacks are viewed and how they are looked down upon. In Brazil and United blacks were seen as ugly people and it was said that the black women were too muscular. In the wealthiest part of both the U. S and Brazil it is mostly whites that live there. for example in hotels, restaurants, television and magazine it only features white Brazilian. Moreover there are a lot of similarity between Brazil and American but both countries are denying having thing in common which they do. Black women in Brazil and the United States both of problems with their skin color, shortness and texture of their hair, which is why they do something about their hair for example, in brazil the women do not like the way their hair looks so they go to the salon to have it straighten or curled just like the women on the television. In both United States and Brazil the education system for the blacks are different from the whites. Also both of the countries have thought about using affirmative action to help racial diversity. For example affirmative action in Brazil is to help get African decent in Brazil into universities. It is said that brazil only hope of achieving racial democracy is by affirmative action so that they can get the a little bit of privilege as the whites in brazil, just like in the United States. Blacks in Brazil and in the United States are treated unfairly and they have a lot of disadvantage over the whites. Just like the blacks in American help to build the U. S for 100 years so did the blacks in Brazil and they are the ones under the pyramid. It may seem like Brazil has no racism inequality in really does but because it is been veiled and pretend to be has it there is none. Most people wouldn’t know that Brazil has a lot of racial problems going on because of how it been covered. Regardless of it not been a segregated country or having klu Klux Klan it still is a very racist country where the majority of the people living there are living in poverty. Brazil is undergoing changes at this time hopefully it is able to clear up it racial problem, but it doesn’t look like it will be solved anytime soon.