When I asked in Bahia a group of Brazilian school kids what race they considered me to be, they all simultaneously yelled "MORENO!!" I would say my own complexion is similar to that of actor Denzel Washington. What do these results tell me? For many Brazilians, a person cannot be attractive and black at the same time.Though my last two experiences supplied me with enough memories to fill up a book, the reason I decided to write this essay was because of a comment that another African-American recently made when I mentioned my interest in Brazil. This person was under the impression that there were no black people in Brazil, but a "bunch of Mexican-looking people". This view of Brazil isn't rare as I am sure millions of people have the same perception of Brazil, including George W. Bush.
According to article from German Der Spiegel, published on May 19, 2002, during a conversation between Bush and former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso in Washington, Bush uttered the question, "Do you have blacks in Brazil, too?" It was National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice that saved Bush from an embarrassing situation by telling him "Mr. President, Brazil probably has more blacks than the USA. Some say it's the country with the most blacks outside Africa."
The majority of my last two trips were spent in the city of Ilhéus and it provided me with even more insight into the complex ways that Brazilians view the idea of race. After devoting much time and research into Brazilian racial issues, I felt it necessary to get opinions from actual Brazilians who are the focus of these studies. My discoveries supported but also contradicted many of the conclusions that many Brazilian scholars had theorized.
As most of us who have spent some time learning about Brazil know, the Afro-Brazilian population is said to represent anywhere from 44-59 percent of all Brazilians, depending on what classifications constitute being black. Reports from the United Nations have gone as far as to say that Brazil is a 73 percent black country. Most of us also know that gente de cor (people of color) in Brazil use a plethora of euphemisms to describe their "race", or better yet, color.
full article:
http://www.brazzil.com/p148mar03.htm
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