VZCZCXRO9447
PP RUEHRG
DE RUEHSO #0895/01 3101757
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 061757Z NOV 07
FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7653
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 8766
RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 3160
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 2924
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 2485
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ 3544
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0592
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 2186
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 3864
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 8422
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SAO PAULO 000895 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/BSC, WHA/PDA AND DRL 
NSC FOR TOMASULO 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
USAID FOR LAC/AA 
 
TAGS: PHUM SOCI SCUL KDEM KPAO BR
SUBJECT: BRAZIL: NOT A MULTIRACIAL, MULTICULTURAL PARADISE 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Discrimination against Afro-Brazilians tarnishes Brazil's 
international reputation as a tolerant and welcoming country home to 
hundreds of indigenous groups and immigrants from every corner of 
the world.  In Brazil the issue is extremely divisive with many 
claiming that racism does not exist, despite overwhelming evidence 
to the contrary.  Some Afro-Brazilian activists believe part of the 
problem is traditional racism against "darker-skinned" people, but 
place equal, if not more, blame on internal divisions and a lack of 
common efforts within the black community.  Analysts tell us that a 
combination of legislative action and private sector initiatives as 
well as a change in the national culture is essential if Brazil is 
to move past decades of racism.  End Summary. 
 
Background 
---------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Brazil is home to between 90 and 100 million descendants 
of African slaves - over half of the country's total population. 
Despite the 1888 abolition of slavery, Afro-Brazilians still face 
significant economic, political and social challenges.  Blacks are 
overwhelmingly poor, representing two-thirds of Brazilians below the 
poverty line, and do not have access to good education. 
Afro-Brazilians face serious hurdles entering the formal labor 
market and securing high-paying jobs.  Blacks earn on average half 
as much as whites and are twice as likely to be illiterate. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Discrimination against Brazil's black population is a 
cruel injustice that remains a powerful reality, according to Elisa 
Lucas Rodrigues, President of the Sao Paulo State Council on the 
Participation and Development of the Black Community (CPDCNGSP). 
Rodrigues, a 2005 International Visitor (IV), remarked that a 2003 
law that requires public schools to teach African culture and 
history is a positive first step; her Council has trained 16,000 
teachers in the subject.  Maria Aparecida de Laia, General 
Coordinator of Sao Paulo's Special Secretariat for Participation and 
Partnership's Coordinating Body for Issues of the Black Population 
(CONE), also hailed the law, highlighting its vital role in raising 
the self-confidence of young Afro-Brazilians and allowing them to 
see that they can achieve more than basic service jobs.  (Note:  The 
law does not cover private schools which are overwhelmingly 
dominated by richer, white Brazilians.  End Note.) 
 
¶4.  (SBU) CPDCNGSP President Rodrigues expressed support for state 
and federal universities that are self-implementing quota systems to 
ensure greater diversity.  According to the Special Secretariat on 
Racial Equality, over 40 universities have already adopted such 
quota systems.  These opportunities have helped provide a superior 
level of education to many Afro-Brazilians, who for generations were 
denied a higher degree, CONE Coordinator de Laia said.  Senator 
Paulo Paim of President Lula's Workers' Party (PT), the only 
self-declared Afro-Brazilian senator, is leading an effort to 
require federal universities to have quotas in place.  There is much 
debate within the Afro-Brazilian community regarding quotas, 
however.  Denise Aparecida Tobias, a family attorney involved in 
initiatives supporting the Afro-Brazilian community, said that some 
Afro-Brazilians contend that quotas separate blacks even more from 
whites. 
 
Community Self-Image Improving 
------------------------------ 
 
¶5.  (SBU) De Laia noted that Afro-Brazilians have achieved major 
success in a number of academic fields.  More Afro-Brazilians are 
becoming scholars and researchers, more scholarships are granted to 
Afro-Brazilians and more academic papers are being published on 
Afro-Brazilian issues.  Only a few years ago, whites were the 
principal authors of research projects on the Afro-Brazilian 
community, she said, and now blacks are taking the lead.  Attorney 
Tobias claimed that Afro-Brazilians are beginning to see some hope 
in media and popular culture.  Widely-viewed soap operas no longer 
"fear" featuring black actors, and due to Afro-Brazilian athletes' 
 
SAO PAULO 00000895  002 OF 003 
 
 
success, particularly in soccer - the national obsession - black 
self-confidence, non-existent for generations, is on the rise. 
Moises de Freitas, a researcher on Afro-Brazilian socio-economic 
development, said Afro-Brazilians are increasingly more likely to 
identify their race on surveys, a sign that they are no longer 
afraid of admitting who they are instead of trying to classify 
themselves in another category.  Father Jose Enes de Jesus, 
President of the Institute of the Black Baptist Father (IBBF), a 
Catholic organization trying to get Afro-Brazilian youth off the 
streets, claimed that in the last fifteen years, Afro-Brazilians 
have become more conscious of their racial identity and have begun 
to demand more rights and more follow-up by authorities on racial 
crimes. 
 
Government Efforts Needed 
------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) In March, Minister of Racial Integration Matilde Ribeiro 
made a provocative statement in which she asserted that it is 
natural for blacks to dislike white people.  Many criticized her 
statement as a racist incitement, prompting Vice President Jose 
Alencar to deny the existence of racism in Brazil; however, it 
helped raise awareness of an often overlooked issue.  CPDCNGSP 
President Rodrigues expressed disappointment that the Sao Paulo 
State Government fails to financially support many agencies dealing 
with disadvantaged groups, including women, children and senior 
citizens, impacting the programs her entity can run.  Government 
agencies handling diversity and discrimination, as well as those 
working on education and health, need greater integration to improve 
the lives of Afro-Brazilians, CONE's de Laia commented.  Federal, 
state and local offices in large urban areas charged with this 
portfolio are making progress but smaller and more rural cities and 
towns lack basic support for such initiatives.  Maria da Penha 
Guimaraes, IBBF Legal Coordinator, noted that government initiatives 
help the poor and disadvantaged in general rather than targeting 
Afro-Brazilians, adding that many laws are not enforced, further 
complicating anti-discrimination efforts.  The government is 
effective in providing basic food aid to the poor, of whom many are 
Afro-Brazilians, but does not build an "infrastructure" for personal 
growth and development or mechanisms to help improve the community 
as a whole, she said. 
 
The Private Sector as a Model? 
------------------------------ 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Researcher de Freitas assisted in a major project on 
social and racial issues in the workplace which demonstrated that 
the private sector may be ahead of government in some 
anti-discrimination efforts.  His findings also highlighted that 
challenges remain.  Many businesses in Brazil, including even large 
corporations, are family-owned and conduct business with other 
family-operated companies.  Black Brazilian families do not have a 
history of owning large businesses and therefore have difficulty 
competing.  Because of the nature of family ownership and the fact 
that the rich attend the same schools and religious and social 
organizations, networking is extremely important.  Blacks do not 
belong to these same networks and therefore face this additional 
obstacle.  According to de Freitas, many businesses are moving away 
from hiring based purely on networking, potentially opening the 
field to more blacks. 
 
Divisions within Afro-Brazilian Community 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Contacts repeated that unity is a major challenge for the 
Afro-Brazilian community in fighting discrimination.  Da Penha of 
IBBF said Afro-Brazilians are divided based on various "shades of 
blackness."  As she explained it, "darker" blacks do not consider 
"lighter" blacks to be "real" Afro-Brazilians and do not cooperate 
on common causes.  Many "lighter-skinned" Afro-Brazilians also do 
not rally around the black cause to avoid having society group them 
with Afro-Brazilians as a whole, and some Afro-Brazilians do not 
even recognize themselves as black.  De Freitas commented that black 
people suffer from prejudice perpetrated not only by non-blacks, but 
also by "lighter-skinned" blacks, who are sometimes the most 
virulent racists because they consider themselves better than 
 
SAO PAULO 00000895  003 OF 003 
 
 
"darker" blacks because of their lighter skin tone.  Rodrigues said 
that while there is a national movement to address these issues, it 
does not get much attention because Brazilians are more concerned 
about immediate problems such as their next meal or paycheck.  Da 
Penha said that the Afro-Brazilian rights movement needs mre unity 
and structure, but more importantly, blcks must change their 
mentality and gain confidene to battle racism.  Mauricio Pestana, a 
2006 IVand prominent Afro-Brazilian political commentator also 
called for greater cooperation, saying tha a serious lack of 
leadership prevents black Brailians from pressing for more rights. 
Brazil does not have a Martin Luther King, Jr., he said, and wthout 
one, internal fighting and the absence of  common effort are 
impeding progress.  In attorny Tobias' opinion, this lack of a 
culture of organized activism to promote change is a serious 
problem.  Many blacks do not want to "fight" because they believe 
that whites will always have more power.  She added that 
Afro-Brazilians do not want to help each other because doing so 
would highlight their "blackness" and make them lose favor among 
whites. 
 
Other Challenges Remain 
----------------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) CPDCNGSP President Rodrigues lamented the fact that the 
majority of Afro-Brazilians serve in poorer paying jobs and are not 
represented in senior state government offices.  She said part of 
the problem is because power is often passed down from father to son 
in Brazil, and it is therefore difficult for blacks to hold 
leadership positions if historically they have never had any. 
CONE's de Laia argued that an overwhelming number of Afro-Brazilian 
descendants live in shantytowns and represent the demographic with 
the lowest education level in Brazil.  No matter what successes 
Afro-Brazilians have achieved, whites still have an easier time 
finding jobs and securing a higher salary, adding that there are no 
major Afro-Brazilian business executives.  Rodrigues also criticized 
severe police brutality aimed at blacks in custody, but said the 
Council is working on this issue through a mandatory diversity 
training course for all incoming police officers created in 2005. 
De Laia said that black youth are particularly prone to problems 
because they regularly resort to violence to resolve disputes.  She 
said police often do not pursue the possibility of hate- or 
race-related motives in crimes perpetrated against Afro-Brazilians 
specifically because law enforcement denies or ignores the existence 
of racism. 
 
Comment 
------ 
 
¶10.  (SBU) The plight of Afro-Brazilians is a complicated issue that 
sheds the myth - advanced in the 1930's by renowned sociologist 
Gilberto Freyre - of "racial democracy" as a key component of 
Brazil's "luso-tropical civilization," warm and friendly people, 
beautiful beaches, laid-back music and a carefree lifestyle.  Racism 
is a serious problem that impacts the lives of millions of 
Brazilians.  It limits their educational and social opportunities, 
which, in turn, hinders their entry into the workforce and 
participation in the mainstream economy.  Both the public and 
private sectors have an obligation to take serious steps in 
addressing deficiencies, but the real question is whether Brazilians 
as a whole are ready to acknowledge the problem and willing to take 
action.  Doing so would require them to move past decades of 
discrimination and change their whole mindset on race and culture. 
Undoubtedly this will be an issue of growing importance in Brazil 
for years to come.  End Comment. 
 
¶11.  (U) This cable was cleared by Embassy Brasilia. 
 
WHITE