Abstract

AROCENA, Felipe. Brasil: de la democracia racial al estatuto de la igualdad racial. Argumentos (Méx.) [online]. 2007, vol.20, n.55, pp.97-115. ISSN 0187-5795.

Brazilian intellectuals, with few exceptions, systematically refused to accept that there was a problem of racism against Blacks and Indians in their country. For them Brazil, in opposition to what happened in the US, had integrated harmoniously the three main races of its population: Blacks, Portuguese and Indians. It was not until 1995 when the State, under the government of Fernando Henrique Cardoso, acknowledged publicly that the country suffered from the burden of racism. Since that recognition, supported by abundant empirical data, which unmistakably demonstrates the problem, Brazil has unwaveringly embarked on the path towards affirmative action. This article analyzes the radical transformation that goes from the conception of the country as a racial democracy, to the Statute for the Equality of Race. This law, approved unanimously by the senate -but still waiting approval by the lower chamber- radically challenges the historic perception of racial integration and officially outlines affirmative action policies to fight racism.

Keywords : multiculturalism; ethnic discrimination; affirmative action.