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Date: 03/19/2010 To: Dr. Tracey Holden From: Angelica Radford Subject of my paper: AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN BRAZIL ??? NEGOTIATIONS OF A COLOR-BLIND NATION LOST BETWEEN THE DEFINITION OF A RACIAL DEMOCRACY AND A HISTORY OF RACIAL AND SOCIAL INEQUALITIES. Introduction: Brazil is a land of contrasts and disparities. It is also a big ethnic pot stirred with social and racial inequalities. The first half of the 16th century marks the beginning of the slavery period in Brazil. During the beginning of Brazil’s colonization, the Portuguese tried to enslave Brazil’s first inhabitants, the native Indians, quickly proving it to be an impossible mission.
Even though the native Indians were amicable at first, working for a while in return for some metal tools, they later on rebelled against the Portuguese resulting in wars. They fought hard against slavery and when they were defeated, they escaped to the wilderness. They were also very frail and susceptible to diseases ??? a result of their encounter with the White man. With Portugal slowly claiming its colony, the production of sugar arising in Brazil and no large surplus of population to send to the New World, the Portuguese brought African natives to Brazil to use as slaves in its sugar-cane farms.
Later on, the immigration of different ethnic groups of people to Brazil such as the Spanish, Italians, Jewish, Germans, Arabs, and Japanese contributed to the diverse population of this country and the miscegenation among races. Because of the diversity of the population in Brazil and due to the lack of a more reliable system than the system of quotas, it is very difficult to determine who belongs to the minority groups that are protected under “Affirmative Action” in Brazil.
My thesis: The general objective of this paper is to show the problems, struggles, and negotiations that multiracial people encounter in Brazil. What defines race in a country of so much diversity? Is it the color of people’s skin or their ethnic background? Is it fair to deny the benefits of “affirmative action” based on people’s phenotypes even if their ethnic backgrounds go back to the African Slaves? Approach to the subject of my paper: For the paper, I chose to research about “Affirmative Action” in Brazil because unlike the United States, which has ad some history of “Affirmative Action” dated back even before the great burst of civil rights statutes in the 1950’s and 1960’s, Brazil is still in diapers compared to the United States, considering that the first “Affirmative Action” effort took place in 2001. In this paper, I will cite scholarly researched articles, papers, and journals that will sustain the negotiations of “Affirmative Action” and my ideas to try to prove that a system of quotas in a country such as Brazil probably does not work as well as in a country as segregated as the United States.
Graphs or charts: I will use some statistics from the IBGE (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica) ??? which is a Federal Government Institution that collects data about the Brazilian Population according to the most recent Census. Documentation Style: APA Tentative List of References: Title: Brazil’s Significant Minority Author(s): David Maybury-Lewis Source: The Wilson Quarterly (1976-), Vol. 14, No. 3 (Summer, 1990), pp. 33-42 Publisher(s): Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Stable URL: http://www. jstor. org/stable/40258259
Title: Paving Paradise: The Road from “Racial Democracy” to Affirmative Action in Brazil Author(s): Sergio Da Silva Martins, Carlos Alberto Medeiros, Elisa Larkin Nascimento Source: Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 34, No. 6, African Descendants in Brazil (Jul. , 2004), pp. 787-816 Publisher(s): Sage Publications, Inc. Stable URL: http://www. jstor. org/stable/3180914 Title: Inequality and Human Rights of African Descendants in Brazil Author(s): Lucila Bandeira Beato Source: Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 34, No. 6, African Descendants in Brazil (Jul. , 2004), pp. 766-786 Publisher(s): Sage Publications, Inc. Stable URL: http://www. stor. org/stable/3180913 Title: Estimating the Stability of Census-Based Racial/Ethnic Classifications: The Case of Brazil Author(s): Jose Alberto Magno de Carvalho ; Charles H. Wood; Flavia Cristina ; Drumond Andrade Source: Population Studies, Vol. 58, No. 3 (Nov. , 2004), pp. 331-343 Publisher(s): Population Investigation Committee Stable URL: http://www. jstor. org/stable/4148214 Title: From “Racial Democracy” to Affirmative Action: Changing State Policy on Race in Brazil Author(s): Mala Htun Source: Latin American Research Review, Vol. 39, No. 1 (2004), pp. 60-89 Publisher(s): The Latin American Studies Association
Stable URL: http://www. jstor. org/stable/1555383 Title: Kilombos of Brazil: Identity and Land Entitlement Author(s): Luiz Fernando Do Rosario Linhares Source: Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 34, No. 6, African Descendants in Brazil (Jul. , 2004), pp. 817-837 Publisher(s): Sage Publications, Inc. Stable URL: http://www. jstor. org/stable/3180915 Copyright (c) 2004 The Vanderbilt University School of Law Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law November, 2004 37 Vand. J. Transnat’l L. 1423 Copyright (c) 2004 Connecticut Law Review Connecticut Law Review Spring, 2004 36 Conn. L. Rev. 787 Copyright (c) 2004 The University of Pittsburgh Law Review
University of Pittsburgh Law Review Fall, 2004 66 U. Pitt. L. Rev. 113 Copyright (c) 2005 New York University School of Law Review of Law and Social Change 2005 29 N. Y. U. Rev. L. & Soc. Change 683 Copyright (c) 2008 Chicago-Kent College of Law Chicago-Kent Law Review 2008 83 Chi. -Kent L. Rev. 185 Copyright (c) 2009 University of Michigan Law School Michigan Journal of Race & Law Spring, 2009 14 Mich. J. Race & L. 143 Copyright (c) 2004 Connecticut Law Review Connecticut Law Review Spring, 2004 36 Conn. L. Rev. 871 Copyright (c) 2004 Connecticut Law Review Connecticut Law Review Spring, 2004 36 Conn. L. Rev. 87