Racism in a Racial Democracy: The Maintenance of White Supremacy in Brazil

Rating:
Summary: Not the way it is!!!!!
Review: I was very dissapointed after reading this book that this is the impression Americans are getting about race in Brasil. I am a Brazilian of mixed black/white/indian heritage like many Brasilians, and I can tell you that France Winddance Twine has misinterpreted race relations in my country. The idea of "white supremacy" does not exist in Brasil. Of course there is racism, but it would be very hard for an American to understand Brasilian miscengenacao (racial mixing). Many white Brasilians do not consider themselves to be white, and share the same afro/mestico culture as the rest of Brasilians, while many wealthy dark skin Brasilians may consider themselves to be white. However, it is so different than the American situation that you cannot begin to compare. Brasil is not divided by race like America is, however we are very divided by class. If you ask most Brasilians what race they are they will likely reply: Brasileiro!! This book analyzes our race situation from an American point of view on Race.

Rating:
Summary: The best written analysis of race in Brazil
Review: Ms. France W. Twine has written a superb analysis on how race is still, in the end of the 20th century, perhaps the main factor determining an individual's social and economic position within Brazilian society. This is truly a myth-shattering book; and it is impressive how an American student (though the fact of being African-American may have helped her not to swallow the official, non-racist myths of official propaganda) has managed, after a stay of only a few months, to understand a reality that has eluded dozens of academics and experts who've written about Brazil in the last decades.

According to Ms. Frances, it is only in the lower classes that the myth of a "non-racial" Brazilian society broadly corresponds to reality; in fact, there are no "black" or brown" ghettoes in Brazil - in the favelas one may find people of all colours, even if darker skin usually predominates. But to gain access to the middle or upper classes while being black or of mixed race is virtually impossible in Brazil (with the possible exception of soccer stars and a few outstanding musicians) - thanks to the deadly efficient system of "polite and hidden" racism that Ms. Frances has understood and analysed so well. A Brazilian citizen, after reading this book, can only say: "obrigado, senhorita Frances!".

Rating:
Summary: Definitely the way it is!
Review: The suggestion that Brazil is divided only by class is the argument that Twine attacke directly in this book. It is precisely the maintenance of a white supremacist social system that has convinced both whites and people of color in Brazil that racism does not exist. Time and again her interviewees insist that racism does not exist, despite mestizo and black Brazilians being paid slave wages for hours and hours of work or the absence of people of color in the government, economy, or the elite, rich, ruling class. There is just enough mobility for people to deny racism in Brazil exists, but Twine dismantles this argument piece by piece...