Paving Paradise: The Road from "Racial Democracy" to Affirmative Action in Brazil Author(s): Srgio 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 Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3180914 Accessed: 08/11/2009 17:36
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PAVINGPARADISE The Road From "RacialDemocracy" to AffirmativeAction in Brazil

SERGIODA SILVAMARTINS
GreaterRio de Janeiro University

CARLOS ALBERTOMEDEIROS
FluminenseFederal University,Rio de Janeiro

ELISA LARKINNASCIMENTO
Afro-BrazilianStudiesand ResearchInstitute

actionpolicies in Brazilhas generateda The recentadoptionof affirmative hegemonicdiscourseof publicdebatestarklyin contrastto the traditionally "racialdemocracy." Many a studentof race relationsin Brazil would have predictedthatsuch developmentscould neveroccur.But historicalforerunnersof the concept areto be foundin proposalsmadeby the Afro-Brazilian social movement in the 1940s and 1950s, advanced particularlyby the Black Experimental Theater, and bills introduced by Abdias do Nascimentoin both houses of the BrazilianCongress.The developmentof the black movement's demands and political articulation,leading to the in country'sactive participation the 3rdWorldConferenceAgainstRacism in Durbanin 2001, gave a major impulse to the evolution of affirmative action programsand theirimplementationin Brazil. International support and participation in this process is fundamentally important to the continuedsuccess of black social movement initiatives. Keywords: anti-discriminationlaw; affirmativeaction; compensatory measures;public policy; internationalcovenants and standardsfor the eliminationof racism

It is perhaps an irony and certainly a victory, albeit a partial one, that the recent adoption of affirmative action policies in Brazil has generated a public debate starkly in contrast to the traditionally hegemonic discourse of "racial democracy." Many a student of race relations in Brazil would have predicted that such developments
JOURNALOF BLACK STUDIES, Vol. 34 No. 6, July 2004 787-816 DOI: 10.1177/0021934704264006 ? 2004 Sage Publications 787

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could neveroccur.But they confirmthe prophecycontainedin the following statement,madein the 1950s by seniorAfricanBrazilian scholarand activist Abdias do Nascimento (1968):
The relative nonexistence in Latin society of violent aggression against blacks, United States, South Africa, Angola or Mozambique-style, is identifiedwith the absence of racialdiscrimination. Those who thinkthis way do not perceivethe subtle socio-psychological theorythathas been intricatelybuilt and developedover the course of our history,landingthose who partakeof it in a surrealist labyrinth.This has retarded,but not eradicated,the spectacular also specemergence of prejudiceand its consequentcounterpart, tacular,the militantreactionof blacks. (p. 47)

Likemanyprophetic this statements, one was considered patently absurdat the time it was made.But the recentenactmentof affirmative action legislation and programsin Brazil has been the result precisely of the militant reaction foreseen by Nascimento and spearheaded the Afro-Braziliansocial movement.It is a victory by not only by virtueof the potentialeffect of the measurestaken,but also because the debate on affirmativeaction signals the ultimate failureof the racialdemocracymyth, so effectively legitimizedby the Brazilianrulingelite andby the Stateitself, which concoctedan image of racial harmony that masked the existence of a huge raciallysegregatedlaborreserveand reducedthe race issue to one of class conflict that would be solved by the buildingof socialism or the implementationof universalrace-neutralincome distribution policies. For decades, the Afro-Brazilian antiracist social movement counteredthis discoursewith its own evaluationof the need for speand cific policies to deal with racialdiscrimination its legacy.Howthis propositionbeen taken seriously ever, only very recently has by the Stateandcivil society,andit is still hotly contestedby prominent intellectuals and large sectors of public opinion. What has actionmeasuresarebeing implemented changedis thataffirmative in various contexts, from governmentagencies to public and pri-

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in vate universities,particularly the wake of the 3rdWorldConference Against Racismheld in Durbanin 2001. The process of organizing Brazilian participation in the conference, although between govproblematic,involved building active partnerships ernmentagencies and civil society and was largelyresponsiblefor the creationof policy measuresthat would have been considered highly improbable in Brazil by almost any earlier evaluation. Indeed, the Afro-Braziliansocial movement surpriseditself with its own gains, such as the legislationestablishingquotasfor admission to public universitiesin Rio de Janeiroin 2002. White applicants denied admission in the highly competitiveentranceprocedureflocked to the courtsof Rio de JaneiroState to challenge the admissionof Africandescendantstudentsunderthe quotasystem. Suddenlythe question of racial discriminationwas broughtto the fore and public opinion was rallied aroundan issue it had largely ignored,despite the long historyefforts of Africandescendantsto of define it as a national issue ratherthan a "problem" the black of population.Thus, the victory is twofold: implementation policy measures,on one hand,andthe broadattentionof publicopinionto an issue it traditionallyhad swept underthe rug, on the other. In this essay, we seek to describe the contours of this process, offering an overview of the efforts and gains of the Afro-Brazilian antiracistsocial movementand of recentdevelopmentsin affirmative actionpolicy andthe respectivedebatein Braziliansociety.It is links put into motion in time, culour contentionthatinternational in the 3rdWorldCongress,wereessentialfactorsin buildminating ing these victories. The first section will focus briefly on Afro-Brazilian social movementsin the 20th centuryandearlyaffirmative actionproposthe second section examinesdevelopmentsin the 1980s; in the als; thirdsection, we look briefly at the 3rdWorldConferenceAgainst and Racism and its preparatory process and aftermath; the fourth section will focus on recent developmentsin affirmativeaction in Brazil.

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EARLY AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PROPOSALS, 1930-1979

The racial democracy ideology tends not only to deprive the dominatedpopulation of its base for collective self-defense and self-uplifting but also to convince the ruling elite of its pristine innocence and fairness. There has never been a traditionof integratedcivil rights movementsin Brazil, a fact exacerbatedby two rule majorperiodsof authoritarian (1937-1945 and 1964-1985) in which mostly white leftist political leaders working to overcome militaryregimes saw the race question not only as a nonissue or their last prioritybut also as a threatto the unity of democratic forces. In 1937, the BrazilianBlack Front,a mass civil rightsmovement basedlargelyin Sao Paulo,was closed down along with all political parties,bannedby the New StateDictatorship.In the 1960s, while antipovertyprogramswere being implementedin response to the U.S. civil rightsmovement,Brazil'smilitarydictatorship advanced as it unleashed brutal political policies exacerbatinginequality repression.Congresswas closed in 1968 andpolitical leaderswere exiled; public discussion of racism was prohibitedby decree. After the fall of these regimes, duringthe two majorperiodsof movements of reorganization Braziliandemocracy,Afro-Brazilian campaignedfor policy measures to combat racism. As the New StateDictatorshipgave way to a Constitutional Assembly in 1945, meainclusionof antidiscrimination black organizations proposed In suresin the new nationalcharter. the 1970s, Afro-Brazilian orgaand nizationsproliferated intervenedin the writingof the Citizens' Constitution of 1988. Yet, only very recently-since the late 1990s-have they found solid supportamong allies in othersocial movements. Nonetheless, never has the Afro-Brazilianvoice been silenced. From the beginning of the 20th century, an active black press denounceddiscriminationin Brazil, heraldingthe mood of resistancethatwas to crystallizein 1931 with the creationof the Brazilian Black Front(Quilombhoje,1998). Moving againstsegregation and the systematic exclusion of African Braziliansfrom the new

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industrialeconomy, it spreadover the nation's territory, seeking a place for blacks in "Brazilian"society without questioning the Eurocentric of parameters thatsocietyorclaiminga specificcultural, or ethnic identity. social, The Black ExperimentalTheater(TEN), createdby Abdias do Nascimento in 1944, sought to combat racism in general and the As exclusion of Africans from Braziliantheaterin particular. part of this mission, it worked to rescue and reconstructAfrican heritage in Brazil, introducinga new dimension:the demandof difference, refusalto assume Europeanculturalbaggage as "universal," and emphasison the value of Africanidentity. Duringthe buildingof democracyafterthe fall of the New State DemocraticCommitregime,the TEN spawnedthe Afro-Brazilian tee (1945-1946) and convened important sociopolitical events includingthe NationalConventionof BrazilianBlacks, which met in Sao Paulo in 1945 and Rio de Janeiroin 1946, with a total of about700 participants. Manifestoto the BrazilianNation conIts tained six demands, among them subsidized admission of black students to public and private secondary and higher educational and institutions,"includingmilitaryestablishments," antidiscriminationlegislationcomplementedby policy measures(Nascimento, 1968, pp. 59-60). The demandfor public policy measuresto combat racism was inscribed in each issue of TEN's journal Quilombo. Its program included making race discrimination a crime; providing free schooling for all Brazilian children and subsidized admission of black studentsin secondaryschools and universities;fighting racism throughculturalandeducationalaction;andcorrectingthe distorted Eurocentricimage of Africans and their history (Nascimento, 2003). The 1st Congressof BrazilianBlacks was organizedin 1950 by TEN and held in Rio de Janeiro.It involved hundredsof delegates and countless black organizationsin a broadforum of discussion and analysis of problemsconfrontingthe black population,focusing on the need to define and defend laborrightsfor domestic servants, organize literacy and education campaigns in the favelas,

792 JOURNALOF BLACK STUDIES/ JULY 2004

and discuss issues of Africanidentityand aesthetics(Nascimento, 1968, 2003). With the military coup of 1964, activism of any sort was vioworkspecificallybannedby national lentlyrepressedandantiracist law. Nevertheless,duringthe 1970s, Afro-Brazilianorgasecurity nizations continued to spring up in various parts of the country, along with culturalmovementslike "BlackSoul" thatpromoteda new identityconsciousness. These movementswere heavily influenced by the aesthetics,andto some extentthe rhetoric,of African American nationalism, as conveyed by soul lyrics like James Brown's "Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud"(Brown & Ellis, 1969). Black activistsresistingthe militaryregime had to confrontthe oppositionof leftist groupsthatdenied the legitimacyof antiracist of struggleand particularly identitypolitics. On the international scene, the militaryregimemadeeveryeffort to silence Abdiasdo Nascimentoas he denouncedBrazilianracism from exile at African world events like the 6th Pan-AfricanCongress (Nascimento, 1989; Nascimento & Larkin Nascimento, 1992). In July 1978, still in the face of the militaryregime, the black movement audaciously held a public rally against racism on the steps of Sao Paulo's MunicipalTheater,out of which emergedthe incipientUnified Black Movement(MNU). Africanconsciousness was growing all over South and Central America, and the 1st and 2nd Congresses of Black Culturein the Americas were held in Cali, Colombia (1977), and in Panama (1980). At the 2nd Congress,Abdias do Nascimentolaunchedhis liberation theory of Quilombismo, based on Diaspora maroon resistance(Nascimento, 1980, 1990). Brazil was elected venue of whichtookplacein SaoPauloin 1982(Afrodiaspora, the3rdCongress, 1983-1986). in These congresseswere a landmark the historyof international color AfricanDiasporaconsciousness,denouncingthe hypocritical of Latin societies as a pigmentocracy and challenging hierarchy the pseudo-Marxist theorythatsubsumedraceinto class. They ushered in a new era of demandfor policy againstracismand for self-

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definitionin which Brazil would take a leading role confirmedby its hosting the 3rd Congress.

NEW ARTICULATIONS IN THE 1980S

The 1980s saw the rebuildingof democracyin Brazil with the directelection of stategovernorsand membersof state andfederal legislaturesin 1982 and the indirectelection, in 1985, of the first civilian presidentafter 20 years of authoritarian rule. The decade with the nationwide gathering of black organizations at began Serrada Barriga,site of Zumbi'sRepublicof Palmares,wherethey createdthe ZumbiMemorialand definedan agendafor the decade with emphasis on an intense campaign against the Apartheid in regime and participation draftingthe new constitution. The firstpostdictatorship Congressionaland stateelections followed hot on the heels of the 3rd Congressof Black Culturein the Americas,and its president,Abdias do Nascimento,took office in the House of Deputies. Among otherunprecedented initiatives,he introducedBill of Law No. 1.332/83, providing for "Compensaand tory Action to implementthe rightsof equal opportunity equal protection... securedby Article 153, Section 1 of the Constitution" (Nascimento, 1983-1986, v. 1). The bill proposed a set of compensatorymeasures in education, government,employment, andcivil service, includingincentivesfor diversityprogramsin the private sector. It set percentagegoals of 20% black women and 20%black men, a total of 40%, in "allagencies of public administration,direct and indirect, on the Federal, State, and Municipal levels," including the Armed Forces, "at all levels of service and (Art. 2), as well as in "businesses,firms, and estabmanagement" lishments in commerce, industry,services, financial marketand (Art.3). It establishedpercentagegoals of 40%of fedagriculture" eral, state, and municipalgrantsand stipendsto black students,as well as 40% of the places at Rio BrancoInstitute,the highly prestigious official diplomatic training school, again divided equally among men and women (Art. 7). Its scope was not limited, however, to numericalmeasures,because it requiredthe federal, state,

794 JOURNALOF BLACK STUDIES/ JULY 2004

to andlocal educationauthorities studyandimplement"changesin school and academic curricula,on all levels (primary,secondary, into incorporating the contentof Braziluniversity,andgraduate)," ian historyandgeneralhistorycourses "thepositive realizationsof Africans and their descendants"and also of African civilizations, their culturaland technological advancesbefore the "particularly
" (Art. 8). Approved by the two relevant European invasion . .

and House Committees(Constitution Justice;Social Issues), it was nevertaken to plenaryvote. CongressmanNascimento separately introducedanother bill, PL 3.196/84, creatingpercentagegoals of 40% of the places for AfricanBraziliansin the Ministryof ForeignRelations'diplomatic school, the Rio Branco Institute,traditionallya bastion of racial discrimination(Nascimento, 1983-1986, v. 3, pp. 91-92). Several of the principles contemplatedin these bills would be signed into law 20 years later,including subsidized admission of (only 20) black studentsto the Rio Branco Institute,percentage goals in civil service and university admissions, and mandatory teaching of African and Afro-Brazilian history and culture in school curriculum. At thattime, the idea of administrative policy attendingspecific needs of the Afro-Brazilianpopulation was taken as far-fetched andracist.Gainswere made,however,as the blackmovementgrew more effective. Advisory bodies were createdwithin government structuresand agencies in an increasingnumberof state and city administrations. 1988, instigatedby the Zumbi Memorial,the By federal Ministry of Culturehad created an Abolition Centennial Foundation. Cultural out Commission of whichwasbornthePalmares In the same period, the ConstitutionalCongress approvedseveral measures proposed by the Afro-Brazilian community and These provisionsestablishedracism included in the 1988 charter. or statuteof limitations(Art. 5, sec. XLII); as a crime withoutbail of the mandated demarcation the landsof contemporary Quilombo communities (Art. 68, TransitionalProvisions); announced the and pluricultural multiethnicnatureof the country,providingthat the state would protect manifestationsof Afro-Brazilianculture among others (Art. 215, par. 1); preservedas nationalpatrimony

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the sites of formerQuilombos and theirdocuments(Art. 216, sec. 5); and mandatedinclusion of "the contributionsof differentcultures and ethnicities to the formationof the Brazilianpeople" in history courses (Art. 242, sec. 1). Some State ConstituentAssemblies followed suit. Since 1988, promulgation federallaw 7.716 of the crime of racism and implementingthe constitutional defining provision was considered a crucial development. A plethora of stateandmunicipallaws, mostly in the areaof education,sprangup as well (Silva Jr., 1998).

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION DEVELOPMENT IN THE 1990S

These developments must be credited to the Afro-Brazilian social movement.Even when very sparselyrepresented the halls in of power, its pressure was already influencing Brazil's South Africa policy in the 1980s (Nascimento, 1985; Afrodiaspora, 1983-1986). NGOs andblackorganizations activelyengagedlabor unions, political parties,the Christianchurches,religious communities of Africanorigin, culturalorganizations,and civil society in general.Raisingthe "racialquestion"in each area,andoften facing hostility andrejection,they won allies andconvincedconsciences. The most visible expressionof this trendis the substitution May of of slavery's abolition,for November20th, anni13th, anniversary versaryof Zumbi'sdeathdefendingthe Republicof Palmares. May 13this now a day of reflectionon the falseness of abolitionandthe injusticeof its aftermath.Schools, culturalinstitutions,the media, and governmentagencies celebrateNationalBlack Consciousness Day on November20th, which has become a holidayin some cities and states, including Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre (RS), and Piracicaba(SP). These gains have not been easily made;the backlashis vociferous and consistent. When Governor Leonel Brizola of Rio de JaneiroStatein 1991 createdSEAFRO,the firstandonly top-level state governmentagency concerned with public policy for AfroBrazilians,opposition in the State Legislaturealleged reverserac-

796 JOURNALOF BLACK STUDIES/ JULY 2004

ism. Challenges to the constitutionalityof the administrative law creating the Secretariatprevented its being made a permanent agency,andit was abolishedin 1994 by the succeedingadministration. Similarly,MayorCelio de CastroofBelo Horizonte,capitalof Minas Gerais State, createda City Secretariat Black Commufor nity Concerns.In 1998, it was approvedby the city legislatureas a permanent agency;nevertheless,it also was extinguishedin 2002. In 1993, 5 years after it came into effect, the new constitution was subjected a revision to Florestan Femandes, process. Congressman andveteranally of the black movement,confrontedhis sociologist party'sstanceof boycottingthe revisionandintroducedan amendment thatwould have devotedan entirechapterof the constitution to the issue of racialequality,inscribingthe principleof affirmative action in the charteritself (Fernandes,1994). His amendmentwas in not approved, its introduction but markeda definiteturnabout the openness of leftist intellectualsto the idea of compensatorypolicies and helped pave the way for introductionof the Statute of Racial Equality(Paim, 2003). The year 1995, 3rd Centennialof Zumbi's Immortality,was a watershedin terms of the evolution of race policy. In June, Brazil received the official visit of Dr. Maurice Glegle Ahanhanzo of of Benin, Special Rapporteur the United Nations Human Rights Committee, and his staff. His mission was to verify information broughtbeforethe committeeand the ILOby black activistsaffiliUnion (CUT) in parallelreportsthat atedwith the CentralWorkers' counteredthe allegationscontainedin Brazil's official reports. Dr. Glegle's reportwas a directand seriousblow to the nation's The international pretenseto racialdemocracy. mission visited four states and interviewedmembersof city, state, and federal legislative bodies; governmentofficials, advisory councils, NGOs, and civil society."Onthe official plane,racismdoes not exist in Brazil," the reportobserved,concluding that legislation defining race discriminationas a crime failed to diminishpersistentracialinequalities; research and policy measures are necessary to close the vicious cycle of discriminationand general denial of the racial natureof inequality.

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The effect of this reportwas great. A society that had largely ignored the appeals of Afro-Brazilianactivists was forced to take notice of the UN mission's data. In November,African-Brazilian mobilizationwas consolidated in a majorMarchon Brasilia,with 30,000 participants. National The Executive Committee (CEN) presented to President Fernando HenriqueCardosoa Programfor OvercomingRacism and Racial Inequalitythat still standsas a synthesis of the black movement's demandsfor public policy measures,identifyingfour criticalareas of intervention:education,the labor market,infant mortality,and racial violence. It concluded by demanding inclusion of survey questionson race/colorin all public records,a demandstill of vital importancetoday (Munanga, 1996); implementationof International Labor OrganizationConventions29, 105, and 111 and the International Conventionon the Eliminationof RacialDiscrimination; a nationalemergencyliteracyprogram;income supplementation for black youth in elementaryand secondaryschools; affirmative action in higher education;and other items (CEN, 1996). In response, the president announced the creation of an Interministerial Working Group for the Black Population (GTI) andmadean unprecedented official statement recognizingthe existence of racial discriminationand the need for policy measuresto combat it. Underfundedand understaffed,the GTI sponsored a series of seminarson affirmative actionall over the country,as well as an international forum(Souza, 1997), anddrewup 46 publicpol(Presidenciada Republica [PR], 1998, p. 62). The icy proposals NationalHumanRights Program(Ministryof Justice)includedin its Proposals for GovernmentalAction supportfor "positivediscrimination" and "compensatory policies" to combat racial inequalityand to improvethe Afro-Braziliancommunity'ssocioeconomic status(Programa Nacionalde DireitosHumanos,1998). These principleswere not acceptedby the generalpublic, howto ever,andthe presidenthimself contributed the bias againstaffirmative action by identifying it with quotas and alleging that it "impliesignoring the evaluationof merit"(PR, 1998, pp. 29-30), one of the foremost theses of Brazilian society's resistance to

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antidiscrimination policy andthe one raisedin the SenateConstitution and Justice Committee against Abdias do Nascimento's bill when it was reintroducedin 1997 (Nascimento, 1997-1999, v. 4, pp. 39-62). Majorlabor organizationsplayed an importantpartin combatleftist taboo thatraising this resistanceby breakingthe traditional the issue of racial discriminationwould divide the working ing class. They created internal agencies whose literaturesupports antidiscrimination policy and published serious researchdemonracial inequalities (Central Unica dos Trabalhadores strating [CUT] & Comissao Nacional Contra a Discriminacao Racial [CNCDR], 1997, 1998; Instituto Sindical IntramericanoPela Igualdade Racial [INSPIR] & Departamento Intersindical de Estatisticae Estudos Socio-Economicos [DIEESE], 1999). This developmentled black movementand workers'organizaLabor Organization tions to bring a case before the International in 1994 for noncompliance with Convention No. 111 on (ILO) EmploymentDiscrimination,ratifiedby Brazil in 1965. Responding to the ILO citation, Brazil requestedtechnicalcooperation.In 1996, the LaborMinistryinstituteda WorkingGroupfor the Elimination of Employment and Occupation Discrimination (GTEDEO),a tripartite body createdwith ILO technical support for implementationof Brazil's commitmentsunderILO Convention No. 111 (PresidentialDecree of March20, 1996, in Silva Jr., 1998, pp. 82-83; Ministry of Labor & International Labor Organization,1998). action Thus, not until the mid-1990s was the idea of affirmative in Brazil. SenatorBeneditada Silva presentedBill takenseriously of Law 14/95, proposing a 10%quota programfor entranceinto higher education institutions for "socially discriminatedethnoracial sectors,"meaning blacks and indigenous people. The bill was not takento vote. The issue of reparationsalso was taken to Congress that year. Bill of Law 1.239/95, introduced by then Congressman Paulo Paim,refersto the "moralandmaterialdebtof BrazilianStateto the Afro-Brazilianpopulationby reason of the slave regime and the measures." proposesa set of It absenceof post-abolitionintegration

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measuresincludingpecuniaryreparation, quotasin the public education system proportionate the black share of the population, to and compensatorypolicies in access to employmentand housing. Reintroducedin the Senate in 1997, Abdias do Nascimento's comprehensive Compensatory Action Bill 75/97 was recommendedfor passage by its Rapporteur the Constitutionand Jusin tice Committee,SenatorRobertoRequiao.Othercommitteemembers raiseddoubtsas to its constitutionality it was not takento and vote but inspireda milder version, SenatorJose Sarey's PL 650, introducedin 1999 and discussed below. Afro-Brazilian participationin the halls of power-political parties,elected offices, andgovernmentagencies-has grownconsiderablysince 1982, when the first direct elections were held as duskfell over the militarydictatorship. Abdiasdo Nascimentowas then the only AfricanBraziliansent to Congresswith a mandateto representthis population.Today,althoughby no means approachthe ing what would be proportionate representation, weight of the black voice has increased by countless administrativeappointments and elected offices. Two governors, Albuino Azeredo of Espirito Santo and Alceu Collares of Rio Grande do Sul, were elected in 1990. Former Senator Benedita da Silva was elected vice-governorof Rio de Janeiroin 1999 andtook office as governor in 2002. The numberof stateandcity legislatorsis everincreasing. SenatorsAbdias do Nascimento,Beneditada Silva, andMarinada Silva served in the 1990s and veteranCongressmanPaulo Paim, elected senatorin 2002, took office as vice-presidentof the Senate in 2003. There were enough members of Congress to bring together an incipient Afro-BrazilianCaucus in 1997 and to organize collective parliamentaryrepresentationto the Preparatory Meetings and the 3rd World Congress Against Racism in 20002001. Underthe leadershipof Congressman Luiz Albertoof Bahia, the 1st National Encounterof black Parliamentarians held in was Salvadorin 2001. This meeting,combinedwith the 3rdWorldCongress experience,pavedthe way for the 1st Encounterof blackParof liamentarians LatinAmericaandthe Caribbean, held in Brasilia in 2003.

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At the end of the 1990s, black attorneyswere engaged in building jurisprudenceon cases of racism in Braziliancourtsbased on the new constitutional provisions and legislation. Yet, it was increasinglyclearthatrecourseto criminallegislationwould not be effective in solving the problemsof structural racism. One of the mostimportant developmentspavingthe way for positive action was the production and dissemination of statistical researchdocumentingracial inequalities and demonstratingthat they could not be attributed entirelyto factorslike education,poverty, or the heritage of slavery. Early sociological research had 1979;Lovell, 1991;Silva& Hasenbalg, begunthistrend(Hasenbalg, Afro-Braziliansocial movementhad insisted for years 1992). The the on the need for reliabledatato undergird formulationof public andevaluateits effect. Inclusionof surveyquestionson race policy or color in vital records like birth and death certificates,hospital and otherinstitutionalrecords,employee records,and so on is still of vital importancetoday. Groups of researchersin federal agencies like the Brazilian Geography and Statistics Institute (IBGE) and the Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA) demonstratedwith increasingly specific data the extent to which racism was a significant componentin the constructionof inequality.Studies like those by Roberto Borges Martins (2000, 2001) and Ricardo Henriques (2000, 2001) of IPEA; Jose Luis Petruccelli (2002) of IBGE; Rosana Heringer (1999) of IERE; and Wania Sant'Anna (2001) to and MarceloPaixao (1998) of FASE lay the groundwork justify measures. positive policy It can be said thatthe 1990s usheredin a new stage in the Brazilian State's rhetoricon race but thatthe initiativesdid not go much beyond producing reports. The two Working Groups created in 1995, as well as the Human Rights Program,were charged with examining the racial situation and formulatingpolicy proposals, programsof action, and resources to counteractinequality.They finishedtheirworkin 1998 andpresentedtheirreportsto the president,who practicallyignoredthe resultsandadoptedno significant measuresfavoringthe black population.Behind the scenes, those in government circles commentedon the difficultyof establishinga

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consensus aroundthe need for such measuresin the state bureaucracy and the risk of negative effects in the polls on the eve of the 1998 presidentialandCongressionalelections. Only when internafurther tional developments pushed the reelected administration would it take significant action, as its second term of office was closing in late 2001.

3RD WORLD CONFERENCE AGAINST RACISM, PREPARATORY PROCESS, AND AFTERMATH

at Brazil's participation the 1st WorldConferenceAgainst Racin August 1978, had been well in line with its Africapolicies: ism, sophisticatedand astuterhetoricwith very little content.The black movement made itself present through a telegram addressedby Abdiasdo Nascimento(2002) to UnitedNations SecretaryGeneral KurtWaldheim,in which he describedwhathe definedas the genocide of black Braziliansand declared,
In my name and that of millions of African Brazilians I want to express our hope that effective measureswill be taken against the crime of racism and racial discriminationthat also afflicts the majorityof the Brazilian population,consisting of black African descendants.(p. 209)

At thattime, the characterization the African-Brazilian of population as a majority was unusual and provocative. Even more shockingwas to describeit as the secondlargestAfricanpopulation in the world andto emphasizethe dominationof this majorityby a white minority elite, similar to the Apartheid regime in South Africa. Then polemical and hotly contested, these comparisons have been consolidatedin time, becoming terms of referencefor international researchand humanrights organizations. for the Preparation the 3rd WorldConferenceunderscored contrastbetween this lone black voice in 1978 and articulation among dozens, indeed hundreds,of Africanorganizationsin Brazil andin the region as the 21st centurybegan.

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Brazil had offered to host the regional preparatory conference for the Americas.This would have been a rareopportunity bring to before the world the internalrace problemsof the countrywith the largestblack populationin LatinAmerica.However,the Brazilian on meeting after governmentbacktracked hosting the preparatory street demonstrationsduring the commemorationsof the 500th of anniversary Brazilin March2000, when indigenousandAfrican Brazilianswere arrestedand repressed,made it clear thatthe official racial democracydiscoursewould not hold water. Brazilianorganizationslike Geledes, ENZP,CEAP,and Criola and articulation building began an intense process of international with other organizationsin Latin America, North of partnerships America,and the Caribbean, exchangingexperienceand informafor tion in preparation the 3rd WorldConference.These internathe tional networkswere very effective, in particular LatinAmerican and CaribbeanStrategic Alliance, which brought together about600 activistsin Santiago,Chile, duringthe regionalPreparatoryConferencefor the Americas,formingthe AfricanDescendant and AfricanFront,which workedclosely to pressuregovernment delegations during conference sessions in Santiago, Geneva, and Durban.Certainpartnershipswere crucial, among them Mundo HumanRights Law Group,the Afro of Uruguay,the International Education Foundation and FordFoundation, the Southern Comparative Initiativeon HumanRelations (Telles, 2003). moveReinforcedby international networks,the Afro-Brazilian mentplacedintensepressureon the Braziliangovernmentanddiplomatic agents, leading the countryto assume advancedpositions includingan explicit commitmentto the principleof compensatory policies for the Africandescendantpopulation.InformedandmonBrazil'sdelegatestook a leaditoredby movementrepresentatives, role in the negotiation of resolutions that would become ership activistEdnaRoland law. normsof international African-Brazilian of the Durban Conference and was elected General Rapporteur latertookoffice as partof the HumanRightsCommission'sWorking Groupof Expertson Peoples of AfricanDescent. that It is ourunderstanding the resolutionsset forthin the SantiDeclarationand Plan of Action, which were maintainedin the ago

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final document draftedin Durbanin August 2001, despite being were an important stepforwardin the fight against noncompulsory, racismandracialinequalityandhada directeffect in the country. Forthe firsttime in history,the Americascolonized by Spainand the linksbetween Brazil,recognized inseparable Portugal, principally colonialismand slaveryandtheirconsequencestoday.It is signifito actionandrepacantlyimportant unite the debateon affirmative rationswith theirhistoricalreferences. In the Plan of Action, the conference "requestsStates to consider . . . investments in healthcare systems, education, public

health, electricity, drinking water and environmentalcontrol, as well as other affirmativeor positive action initiativesin communities ofprimarilyAfricandescent."It urgesstatesto ensureaccess to education and new technologies and promote "thefull and accurate inclusion of the historyand contributionof Africansand people ofAfricandescentin the educationcurriculum" (italicsadded). Hot on the heels of the DurbanConference,affirmativeaction measuresbeganto cropup in Brazil andthe governmenttook measureslike adheringto Article 14 of the International Conventionon the Eliminationof All Forms of Racial Discrimination(CERD), ratifiedby Brazilnearly40 yearsearlier,acceptingthe competence of the United Nations HumanRights Commissionto receive individual complaintsof discrimination. In September2001, while the DurbanConference was still in session, the Ministryof Agrarian Development(MDA) announced an affirmative actionprogram raceandethnicity, for seekingto "adopt and temporarymeasures to acceleratethe compensatory,special process of buildingracialequalityin the countryside"; surveyand levels of blackcivil servantsin the institution; analyzeparticipation and institutea minimumquota of 20% blacks in decision-making positions in 2001 and 30%by 2003, a minimumof 20%black parservices, firms,andinternational ticipationin out-contracted agencies, anda minimum20%of places availablein publicemployment contests for posts in the ministry(MDA, 2002). The Ministryof Justicesoon followed suitwith similarmeasures No. 1.156, December 20, 2001). The FederalCouncil to (Portaria

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CombatRacism was formed by PresidentialDecree No. 3.952 of October4, 2002, with competenceto hear complaints. PresidentialDecree No. 4.228 of May 13, 2002, consolidated these initiativesby institutinga nationalaffirmative actionprogram in the federal public administration, with the following goals: (a) guaranteethe realization of percentagegoals of participationof African descendants, women, and handicappedpersons in high ranking public administrationposts called DAS; (b) clauses of adherence to the program in terms of negotiated transfer of resources within the Federal Public Administration;(c) observance, in contract bidding for agencies of the Federal Public of Administration, an additionalscoringcriterionto benefitsuppliers who prove thatthey have adoptedpolicies compatiblewith the program'sgoals; (d) inclusion, in contractswith firms supplying services, technicians,andconsultantsin the contextof projectscarried out in partnership with international bodies, of clauses estabof for participation Africandescendants, lishing percentagegoals and the handicapped. women, The Ministryof ForeignRelationsadheredby offering20 black studentssubsidizedadmissionto the Rio BrancoInstitute(Cooperation Protocol,May 14, 2002). decreeslike these areessentiallyrhetorical. Administrative They affect only the governmentagencies involved and theirintentsare inertia.Moreover,they or easily thwarted annulledby bureaucratic can be revoked at will. Laws, on the other hand, have a broader effect on society and are revokedonly by subsequentlegislation, which involves a complicatedprocess of negotiationand political
concession.

With this in mind, the black movement offered legislators the technical assistance of jurists like JoaquimBarbosaGomes, later appointedto the SupremeCourt,who wrotebriefson constitutional issues invokedagainstsuch measures.In November2001, the presof identof the SupremeCourtmadea comprehensivestatement the actionat a majorseminarheld at the of constitutionality affirmative LaborTribunal(Mello, 2001). Superior In this context,it was possible in the Senateto overcomethe constitutionalobjections raised against earlier bills, and PL 650/99

Martinset al. / AFFIRMATIVEACTION IN BRAZIL 805

became law in 2002. It providesfor 20% quotasin all civil service entrancecompetitions,public and privateuniversitiesand funding action programsfor for poor students,and compulsoryaffirmative businessescompetingfor public funds andcommissions. It private also calls on political partiesto createincentiveprogramsfor African descendant candidates and binds the public authorities to engage in publicity campaignspromotingpositive images of this population.Such measuresdo not prejudicesimilarinitiativesby states and municipalities. Approvalof this law involved the most significantpost-Durban development:recognition of the constitutionalityof affirmative action.Thispavedthewayfornewfederal, state,andlocalinitiatives. Less than a year later, Federal Law No. 10.639 of January9, 2003, was promulgated,mandatingthe teaching of African and Afro-Brazilian at historyin school curricula all levels of education. the Currently, most comprehensivepiece of federal legislation underscrutinyis the Statuteof Racial Equality,proposedby then PauloPaimin 2000. This bill was discussedin major Congressman national seminarsinvolving civil society organizations;a special committee was set up to write a substitute text based on those inputs.It establishesthe rightto positive measures,includingquota systems, in health care, education, sports and leisure, religious freedom,land,employment,communicationsmedia,andaccess to the courts. It sets up a Fund for Promotionof Racial Equality to financepublicpolicy promotingequalopportunity inclusionof and AfricanBraziliansin all these areas.It calls for creationof permanent ombudsman offices in local, state, and federal legislative houses (Paim, 2003). The role of antidiscrimination law has been questioned (Dzidzienyo, 1995) in a society where the existence of rhetorical but ineffective legal normshas never guaranteed racialequalityor any other principle of human or citizenship rights. But the laws inscribedin the new Braziliansocial orderandthe normsapproved at the 3rdWorldConferencehave a definiterole, albeitnotoriously not as a resultof theireffective enforcement.Rather, they makeup a resourceand a weapon in the handsof organizedcivil society as it

806 JOURNALOF BLACK STUDIES/ JULY 2004

in exercises its role of criticalparticipation the implementationof victories it has won that resultin formulationof state policy. In Brazil, the internationalcontext is particularlyimportantin this respect. International repercussionand the pride of the elite on its avantgarde sophisticationare two factors diplomaticcorps thatfacilitated,withoutdoubt,the gains won in the wake of the 3rd WorldConference.

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN UNIVERSITY ADMISSIONS: THE NEW SCENARIO

The election of PresidentLuiz InacioLula da Silva in 2002 herand aldedthe coming to powerof a poorNortheasterner tradeunion The Northeastis a miserablypoor region of Brazil, suborganizer. ject to chronic and devastating drought, whose population has migratedin droves to the favelas and townships of cities like Sao are Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.Northeasterners targetsof prejudice and discriminationwith a distinctly racial tint, as the African descendantpopulationis highly concentratedin thatregion. createda cabinetpost with In March2003, Lula'sadministration the status of ministryfor policies promotingracial equality (Special Federal Secretariatfor Policies Promoting Racial Equality [SEPPIR]).In conjunctionwith otherministries,this body articulates policy measures largely by means of task forces, the most of important which is one on racialequalityin educationinstituted in September2003 jointly with the Ministry of Education.Their workhas resultedin the publishingof a NationalPolicy for the Promotion of Racial Equality,emphasizing the need for affirmative of actionandkilombocommunityentitlement,the articulation race and gender, and the institutionof a monitoring system allowing civil society to follow and intervene in the implementationof policies combatingracism (SEPPIR,2003). The educationalsystem and universityadmissionshave been a primaryfocus of the black movement'sactivityin the past decades (Munanga,1996, 1999), whetherthroughthe creationof community schools (Luz, 1989), debatesand seminars(Silva & Barbosa,

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teachertrainingcourses 1997; Triumpho,1991), or extracurricular 1993, 1994). (Larkin-Nascimento, Public universities in Brazil, which hold the most academic prestige and credibility,are tuition-free.Admissions are decided solely on the basis of an entranceexam called the vestibular.Students who can afford to attend private primary and secondary schools and take preparatory courses for the entranceexam attend tuition-free public universities, whereas students coming from poor families andpublic schools have very little chance of gaining access to public universityand are forced to pay high tuitioncosts at privatefacultiesanduniversities.AfricanBraziliansarevirtually excluded from free higher education, particularly prestigious careercourses like medicine, law, and dentistry. In the mid-1990s, the black movementcreatedits own form of affirmative actionwithoutquotas:community-based Unigratuitous AdmissionsPreparation Coursesfor BlacksandPoorPeople versity (PVNC). The programhas spreadto manydifferentstatesand municipalities with the goal of increasing access of Afro-Brazilians and poor people to higher education. Some PVNC groups succeeded in getting universitiesto offer subsidized admissions for students from these courses. In Rio de Janeiro,for example, the PontificalCatholicUniversityhas offered some 700 tuitiongrants to PVNC studentssince 1996. More problematicthan entranceinto universityis the ability to stay there and finish the course. Many studentslive far away from campus, depend on precariouspublic transportation systems, and cannotpay for books, transportation, or even food. Those clothing, who workareoften so exhaustedon arriving home in the wee hours after riding three or four buses or trainsthat they cannot keep up their early morningstudy schedule. In the wake of the 3rd WorldConferenceand the federal measuresdescribedabove,Rio de Janeiro'sStateLegislativeAssembly passed a law creatinga quotain the stateuniversitysystem of 40% for "blacks and pardos." This quota was added to a 50% quota, alreadyin effect, for studentscoming frompublic schools. During the next year,the StateUniversityof Bahiainstituteda similarmeasure, followed in 2003 by the (federal)Universityof Brasilia, the

808 JOURNALOF BLACK STUDIES/ JULY 2004

Federal University of Alagoas, and the State University of Mato Grosso do Sul, which alreadyhad a quota for indigenous people. The Federal University of Bahia and the University of Rio de Janeiro(UNI-Rio) are also examining the adoptionof quotas for African descendants.The JoaquimNabuco Foundationof Recife, PernambucoState, adopteda 40% quota for studentsat all levels. Simultaneously,several municipalitiesin the State of Sao Paulo Cubatao,Jundiaf, Piracicaba) (Jaboticabal, adopted20%quotasfor African descendantsin their civil service contest exams, whereas the mayorof PortoAlegre instituteda 10%quota. Theoreticaldiscussions were being trampledby reality: Contraryto the predictionsof most studentsof the issue, affirmative actionwas beginningto happenandproduceresultsin the worldof racial democracy. The suddenand intense reactionwas impressive.A society that had ignoredthe race issue for decades was jarredinto discussing it at every turn,the prevailingopinion being thatquotas are racistin natureandthatpreferenceby anycriterionotherthanmeritis unjust in principle. Other preference systems, however, were not conor tested, includingthose for the handicapped for women as candidates for election. A seriesof ongoing battlesin thejudiciarybeganandhas continued. Some 300 white candidatesdeniedplacementin the StateUniversity of Rio de Janeiro(UERJ)in early 2003 went to the courts and won injunctions.Some of them would not have been admitted independentlyof the quotas. At the same time, the National Confederation of Learning Establishments (private schools) (Consuit fenen) took a directunconstitutionality to the SupremeFederal action campaignthathas This triggereda proaffirmative Tribunal. involved the majororganizationsof the black movementand their allies in the media, the academy,and the political arena. Several organizationssigned on to the suit as amicus curiae, a tool that is being used in Brazil for the first time, presentingbriefs in which action with sociological they defendedthe principleof affirmative and political arguments. In this context,an important developmentis the formationof the AffirmativeAction Affinity Group, spearheadedby international

Martinset al. / AFFIRMATIVEACTION IN BRAZIL 809

the InternationalHuman Rights Law Group, Mundo Afro and of humanrightsorganizations Uruguay,andseveralAfro-Brazilian and attorneys.When the U.S. SupremeCourtdeciorganizations sion in the MichiganStateUniversitycases reaffirmed constituthe tionality of the principle of affirmativeaction in June 2003, the Affinity Groupmet with governmentofficials and varioussectors of civil society in Rio de Janeiro,Brasflia,andSao Pauloto support its consolidationin Brazil, sharingtheir experience and exchanging informationwith the attorneyswho arguedthe Michigancases. This partnership continuedand promisespositive results. has The SupremeFederalTribunal's profilehadbeen changedweeks earlierby the appointmentof PresidentLula of JoaquimBarbosa Gomes, the first African descendantto sit on the highest court's bench. The possibility of a judgment that could have established strong precedentin favor of the affirmativeaction principle was thwarted,however,by the universityitself, which proposeda new law to the State Assembly that was approvedin August 2003, in time to be implementedfor the 2004 entranceexam. It cut the quotas by half, to 20%, and providedthat the state governmentfund of programssupportstudentsthroughto graduation. Promulgation the new law nullifiedthe SupremeCourtaction,andthe new law is now being challengedin the more conservativestatecourts,where its opponentshave a betterchance of prevailing. actiontakeplace almostdaily, Althoughseminarson affirmative the broad debate is still characterized general disinformation. by The majorityof Braziliansdo not know what affirmative action is, and the few who have any idea believe it is synonymouswith quotas, somethingused in the United States to benefit only blacks and that has not been effective in any case because racist incidents in thatcountrystill occur periodically. One of the most problematicissues is definingthe beneficiaries, whose identityis so easily revealedin statisticsthatshow profound inequalitiesin income, education,andmortalityratesbutso hidden away in daily life's intricateweb of supposedly cordial relations under the cloak of agreed-on prejudice and discrimination.In a tone of irony,activistshave suggesteda simpleprocedure: Whenin doubt as to someone's racial identity, consult the police-or the

810 JOURNALOF BLACK STUDIES/ JULY 2004

doorman of the residential building or the employee selection agents at the local shoppingmall, indeed any of the myriadagents of discrimination Braziliansociety. in of affirmativeaction allege thathigh ratesof misceOpponents genation do not allow one to distinguish who is black in Brazil. use They opportunistically two race concepts thatthey themselves as opposites: the Brazilian color/appearance generally portray model andthe U.S. one-droprule.Even thoughthey indictthe latter as racist because it defines anyone with an African ancestor as black, they do not hesitateto adoptit, invokinga supposedlyblack when it is in their interestto "prove"that they great-grandparent, too are Africandescendants.When one notes thatthereare almost no blacksin the diplomaticcorps,for instance,the standard answer "Well, most Brazilian diplomats aren't all that white either." is, Thus is the need for policy measuresdismissed:The same voices thatexalt the value of the nation'ssingularracialexperienceunder the color criterion now suddenly adhere to the heredity rule to block the adoptionof remedies against inequality. This is not to deny that difficulties can arise. The criterion adoptedby UERJ and by the Afro-Braziliansocial movement is law, and in some self-identification,consistent with international cases white candidateshave registeredas African descendantsto benefitfrom quotas.In one incident,an organizedgroupof whites registeredas blacks with the stated purpose of demoralizingthe selection process. But attemptedfraud against a system should of serve to indict not the system butthe perpetrators the fraud.The cutoff for defining the poverty line or delimiting age groups can also be contested, but this does not bring into question the legitimacy of public policy benefitingthe poor or senior citizens. of The argument merit,which alleges thatquotasunfairlyprejuis dice whites whose academicperformance superior,leaves alone anotherdiscussion, which has been on the agendafor years, about the validity of the vestibularitself. Many specialists assertthatthe entranceexam does not serve to evaluatea student'sprospectsfor success, whetherfrom the academicpoint of view or, more important, with respect to futureperformancein the labor market.For many,the vestibularmeasuresnothingotherthanone's capacityto

Martinset al. / AFFIRMATIVEACTION IN BRAZIL 811

performon the vestibular.Recent studies showed that the presidents of major public universities,if they took their institutions' entranceexamstoday,would not pass. And the majorityof students who pass the exam todaywould not pass it againnext year.Furthermore, PVNC students admittedby PUC-RIO with tuition grants achievedexcellent results.Althoughthey were admittedto the university with lower grades, those who completed their studies reversedthe situation and graduatedwith grades higher than the averageamong paying students.This points to the validity of one argumentin favor of affirmativeaction: that studentsovercoming seize the opportunity with enthusiasmandworkhard, disadvantage in contrastto those who take a college educationfor grantedand content themselves with a gentleman'sC. In fact, what is at stakehere are the privilegesof whiteness, and these have been sustainedfor centuriesby a hypocriticalform of racism that makes concessions and blurs boundariesto guarantee its overall victory in essence and effect.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

An interestingaspect of the Brazilian approachto affirmative actionis that,differentfromthe United States,its justificationconsistently emphasizes the constitutional principle of equality (isonomia),which mandatescompensationfor the pastdiscrimination thatcreatedcurrent racialinequalities.This has been truefrom the outset;in his legislative proposals,Abdias do Nascimentopreferredthe termcompensatory action to affirmative action.The idea is to implementthe constitutionalprincipleof equality by paying what former Supreme Federal TribunalPresident Mello (2001) calls "historical debts" owed by the Brazilian State to social AfricanBrazilians. minorities,in particular In this way, Brazil anticipatedthe model of the DurbanConference, which by recognizing slavery and the slave trafficas crimes The general idea againsthumanitypaved the way for reparations. of public policy as compensationimprovingthe living conditions of a historically discriminatedpopulationunderliesthe Brazilian

812 JOURNALOF BLACK STUDIES/ JULY 2004

notionof affirmative action.The appealto diversityandits positive effects in the workplace,university,andsociety,which won the day in the Michigan cases and became the foundationof the constitutional endorsementof affirmative action in the United States, are a dimension still to be explored and developed in Brazil. Althoughthe gains of the Afro-Braziliansocial movementhave been significantandhave acceleratedover the past decade, it is too early to evaluatethe long-termconsequencesof policies thathave been put on the books, althoughnot in all cases put into effect, in a countryplaguedby extremepovertyandinequality.Wehaveon the horizon the certaintyof difficult battles to fight because the same elite thatfor years has refusedto contemplateor adoptaffirmative action policies will be largely in chargeof puttingthese measures it into operation.Traditionally, is an elite cloisteredin bureaucratic the andtribunals capableof transforming best of laws into agencies "thingsfor Englishmento see,"like the legislation prohibitingthe trafficin Africansduringthe time of the slave regime.The idea, in of sum, is to make the appearance runningwhile standingstill. to In this scenario,once moreit is of utmostimportance maintain and develop internationalcooperation, links, and partnerships among organizationsand networksthat,jointly with local actors, our can reinforceandstrengthen actionsin the struggleagainstracIt ism and race discrimination. is truethattoday we have before us actions that demandmore than good will and dedication:professionalism, sophistication,andtechnicalknow-how.Withoutthese, we will returnto anothercycle of protestanddenunciationwithout significant practicalresults, because our fellow citizens, when it comes to "blackpeople's problems"(assunto de preto), preferto turntheirbacks and apply the law of omission. Meanwhile,the Afro-Brazilian populationandsocial movement is perfectingits meansandtools of monitoringpublicpolicy implementation,ever alertto the new and sinuous turnsthatracismcertainly will take in the land of paradise promised and privilege sustained.

Martinset al. / AFFIRMATIVEACTION IN BRAZIL 813

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Petruccelli,J. L. (2002). A Declaracdo de cor/raca no censo 2000 (Textoparadiscussaono. 6) [Raceandcolor identificationin the census of 2000 (Textfor discussionno. 6)]. Rio de Janeiro:IBGE. Presidenciada Repuiblica (PR). (1998). Construindoa democracia racial [Building racial democracy].Brasilia:Office of the Presidentof the Republic of Brazil. ProgramaNacional de Direitos Humanos (PNDH) [National Human Rights Program]. (1998). Brasil, Genero e Raca [Brazil, Gender and Race. Brasilia: Minsterio do Trabalho. Quilombhoje.(Ed.). (1998). FrenteNegra Brasileira: Depoimentos[BrazilianBlack front: e Testimonies](Entrevistas textos de MarcioBarbosa).Sio Paulo:Quilombhoje/Fundo Nacional da Cultura. Sant'Anna,W. (2001). Desigualdades6tnico/raciaise de genero no Brasil-As revelaoes possiveis dos Indices de Desenvolvimento Humano e Indice de Desenvolvimento and ajustadoao Genero,revista [Ethnic/racial genderinequalitiesin Brazil-The possible revelationsof the humandevelopmentindexes and the developmentindex adjusted for gender].Proposta, 88/89, 16-33. Silva, H., Jr.(1998). Cr6nicada culpa anunciada[Chronicleof guilt proclaimed].In D. D. Oliveiraet al. (Eds.),A Cordo medo:Homicidiose relacoes raciais no Brasil [Thecolor of fear:Homicideandracerelationsin Brazil](pp. 71-90). Brasilia:EditoraUnB/Editora UFG/MNDH. Silva, N.D.V., & Hasenbalg,C. (1992). Relacoes Raciais no Brasil Contempordneo [Race relationsin contemporary Brazil]. Rio de Janeiro:Rio Fundo. Silva, P., & Barbosa, L.M.A. (Eds.). (1997). O PensamentoNegro na Educacao [Black thoughtin education].Sio Carlos:UniversidadeFederalde Sio Carlos. InternacionalMulticulturalismo Racismo: o e Souza, J. (Ed.). (1997). Anais do Semina'rio Papel da Acio Afirmativanos Estados Democrdticos Contempordneos [Annals of the International Seminaron Multiculturalism Racism:The role of affirmative and actionin democraticstates]. Brasilia: SecretariaNacional dos Direitos Humanos contemporary (SNDH), Ministerioda Justiqa. Special Federal Secretariatfor Policies Promoting Racial Equality (SEPPIR). (2003). Politica Nacional de Promocdoda IgualdadeRacial [Nationalpolicy for promotionof racial equality]. Brasilia:Office of the Presidentof the Republicof Brazil. Telles, E. (2003). Racismoa Brasileira: UmaNova PerspectivaSociologica [RacismBrazilian style: A new sociological perspective].Rio de Janeiro:Relume Dumara. Triumpho,V. R. (Ed.). (1991). Rio Grandedo Sul: Aspectos da Negritude[Rio Grandedo Sul: Aspects of Blackness]. PortoAlegre: MartinsLivreiro.

Sergio da Silva Martins is an attorneywith a master's degree in constitutionallaw and theory of the state from the Pontifical Catholic Universityof Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio). He founded and served as the coordinatorof the Zumbidos Palmares National Office(ENZP)and coordinatedthe law andjustice programof the Center forArticulationof MarginalizedPopulations(CEAP).He activelyparticipatedin the 3rd WorldConferenceAgainst Racismpreparatoryprocess and was one of the creators of the Afro-Latin-American CaribbeanAlliance. He participated in the and HumanRelationsInitiativeorganizedby the SouthernEducationFounComparative

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dationof Atlanta.He teaches constitutionallaw at GreaterRio de JaneiroUniversity (Unigranrio). CarlosAlbertoMedeirosis a journalist byprofession,witha B.A. in communication andpublishingand an M.A.injuridical and social sciencesfromFluminenseFederal University(Rio de Janeiro).An activistsince the 1970s in the struggleagainst racial inequalityin Braziland abroad,he is a memberofIPCN, CIDAN,andIPEAFRO.He hasproducedor helpedproducevideos,articles, and booksaboutracismand related issues and has been active in the recentaffirmative action developmentsin Brazil. Elisa LarkinNascimento holds an M.A. in American studies and a J.D. from the State Universityof New York Buffaloas well as a Ph.D. inpsychologyof education at and humandevelopmentfromthe Universityof S~o Paulo.A cofounderof the AfroStudBrazilianStudiesand ResearchInstituteand of theAfricanandAfro-American at ies Program(PROAFRO) Rio de JaneiroState University(UERJ),she organized the Sankofa:AfricanMatrixof BrazilianCulturecoursefrom 1985 to 1995. SheparInitiativeon Human ticipatedin the SouthernEducationFoundation'sComparative Relations and in the 3rd WorldConferenceAgainst Racism. She has written or coauthoredmany books and articles.