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RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 1420

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRASILIA 000033 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL BR
SUBJECT: BRAZIL GRAPPLES WITH RACISM AND RACIAL QUOTAS 
 
REF: A. SAO PAULO 00895 
 
     ¶B. SAO PAULO 01002 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Poloffs recently met with University of 
Brasilia (UnB) President Timothy Mulholland, an expert on 
Brazil,s university quota systems to discuss self-imposed 
quotas and the proposed Racial Equality Statue.  Racism in 
Brazil is a difficult topic to address largely as a result of 
a stricter definition of what constitutes racism than that in 
the U.S.  Many Brazilians continue to deny that racism exists 
in Brazil, even in the face of clear statistical evidence, 
and the idea of using race-based quotas to address racial 
inequality is controversial.  While many universities and 
some private sector companies have implemented internal 
race-based quotas, the Brazilian Congress has yet to enact 
any legislation pertaining to this into law.  End Summary. 
 
Racism As Defined in Brazil 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) According to University of Brazil (UnB) President 
Timothy Mulholland, there are several issues based on a 
Brazilian's perspective that makes racism discussions 
problematic.  Mulholland, an American/Brazilian dual 
national, experienced America's Civil Rights Movement while 
attending school in California in the 1960s, and spent 
considerable time in Brazil's Northeast, the region with the 
highest concentration of Afro-Brazilians.  He told Poloffs 
that the reason so many Brazilians have difficulties 
understanding what racism means and challenge its existence 
in Brazil stems from the widely accepted narrow definition of 
the term.  In Brazil, racism is an overt crime with implied 
violence, legally defined as a crime for which there is no 
bond or bail.  Mulholland pointed out that by this 
definition, "racism" usually occurs in reference to 
anti-Semitism, and almost never in reference to negative 
actions against Afro-Brazilians; in reality, anti-Semitism is 
a much smaller problem than racism in Brazil (reftel B).  He 
said that it is also important to note the strong Marxist 
orientation of social science studies in the Brazilian 
educational system, according to which discrimination is 
defined as exclusively class-based, not race-based, which 
makes the concept difficult for Brazilians to fathom. 
According to Senator Paulo Paim, Brazil's only 
self-identified black senator, it is these factors, combined 
with the fact that only six percent of Brazilians 
self-identify as black (50 percent of Brazilians would be 
considered black by U.S. norms), that account for Brazil 
being "50 years behind the U.S." in terms of civil rights 
awareness and actions (septel). 
 
¶3. (SBU) Mulholland said that Brazil's racism is usually not 
overt.  Interracial marriages, friendships, and professional 
associations between the races are common in Brazil. 
Instead, he said, some white Brazilians demonstrate racism by 
complaining that non-white Brazilians "don't know their 
place" when they insist on equal benefits and status. 
Against the claims that discrimination is really 
socio-economic, he pointed out that it is not a matter of 
social status:  "blacks in Brazil are the poorest of the 
poor, the poorest of the middle class, and the poorest of the 
rich."  Studies show that blacks consistently have less 
education, less pay, and fewer opportunities in Brazil.  He 
further asserted that the situation has not measurably 
improved in the last 50 years, citing a study showing that 
the gap in those areas between white and non-white Brazilians 
has not narrowed.  While both groups have benefited from the 
economic growth in the last few years and the overall 
standard of living has improved for all Brazilians, 
non-whites still lag behind considerably.  According to 
Mulholland the situation is extremely grave in the favelas 
where racism exists to the extent of "virtual genocide" in 
Brazil's largest cities, where armed drug trafficking is the 
only option for many residents. 
 
Self-implemented Quotas in Universities 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) The application of quotas originated in Rio de 
Janeiro and Bahia states, and then began to gain momentum in 
other states with large black populations.  In an extremely 
controversial move in 2004, UnB was the first federal 
university to adopt racial quotas, currently set at 20 
percent for Afro-Brazilians.  Mulholland says that if he were 
 
BRASILIA 00000033  002 OF 003 
 
 
to try to seek approval again from his current board of 
regents, it might fail, but he believes firmly that it is 
time for quotas.  Quotas or any other affirmative action 
program, in his view, are an intervention aimed at overcoming 
failed or ineffective public policies to make things right, 
and that neither legislation nor moral conviction are 
bringing into being.  In his 31 years at UnB, he has seen 
class after class of graduates that could have been 
graduating classes in apartheid South Africa because there 
were no "people of color" among them.  This is true across 
Brazil, even though it has a larger black population than any 
other country except for Nigeria.  He said that the faculty 
situation is even worse, only five to six of his over 2,000 
faculty members are black. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Today, according to the Palmares Cultural 
Foundation, a division of the Ministry of Culture that 
promotes ethnic integration and culture, there are over 40 
universities that have quota systems of some form or another. 
 Mulholland said that 17 of 46 federal universities, 
considered the best institutions of higher learning in 
Brazil, have now adopted quota systems.  Notably absent from 
this list is the University of Sao Paulo (USP), the most 
prestigious school in Brazil, located in the country's 
wealthiest state.  According to Mulholland, USP steadfastly 
refuses to implement a quota system.  He noted that there is 
also inconsistency with the quota numbers used among the 
universities, but believes that the increase in quotas is a 
positive sign.  He also mentioned that UnB has a unique 
relationship with the National Indigenous Foundation (FUNAI), 
which admits 10-20 indigenous persons per year in specialties 
chosen by their communities.  FUNAI provides housing and 
stipends and UnB provides special assistance such as tutoring 
and additional educational counseling to guarantee full 
participation.  He said that the only the University in 
Alagoas State actually has a quota for women (60 percent). 
 
Quota Controversy 
----------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Mulholland said that critics of the quota system are 
extremely vocal.  Many claim that it creates a conscious 
divide between the races, including elements of Brazil's 
black rights movement (reftel A).  However, none of the ill 
effects, divisions, or open conflict between groups predicted 
by some highly vocal critics of quotas and affirmative action 
have come to pass.  In fact, he said, students are quite 
accepting of diversity and so is most of the faculty; there 
is no exclusion.  He said that in his conversations with 
groups supporting Brazil's black rights, he has pointed out 
that they are not advancing their cause by disagreeing about 
quotas.  Other critics say that Brazil's problem is not a 
racial issue, but a socio-economic issue.  However, 
Mulholland disagrees with this wholeheartedly, noting that 
studies in which race and gender are variables and other 
potential factors are held constant, blacks consistently earn 
less money than white male colleagues with the same 
backgrounds.  "No one is black because they are poor;" he 
said.  Conversely, "money doesn't eliminate discrimination." 
 
Quotas & Legislation 
-------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Mulholland pointed out that race issues are 
politically sensitive, and speculated that even the Special 
Secretariat on Racial Issues (SEPPIR), a Cabinet-level agency 
 
SIPDIS 
created by President Lula, has been stifled by the 
administration in order to avoid putting the president in the 
spotlight on a controversial issue.  A bill creating Brazil's 
first Racial Equality Statute has passed the Senate, 
traditionally the more conservative branch of the two houses 
of Congress, largely due to Lula's efforts.  But the bill, 
introduced in 2005, has moved very slowly, and is now in a 
special committee in the Chamber of Deputies that was created 
by Chamber President Arlindo Chinaglia on November 9, 2007. 
Legislation in the Brazilian Congress is usually only 
considered in the plenary after general agreement by the 
Chamber President and party leaders, but there is still no 
such agreement on a racial equality bill and no one can 
predict when the legislation might reach the plenary. 
According to Paim, should it be passed, the law will already 
be outdated, as some large companies have already implemented 
racial quotas and others are considering instituting them to 
deal with glaring inequalities within the work force.  This 
 
BRASILIA 00000033  003 OF 003 
 
 
is one of the many positive results of private sector 
corporate responsibility initiatives. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Comment:  Racism exists in Brazil, and Brazilians 
are increasingly trying to address it.  A growing number of 
Brazilians worry that, if the inequalities are not addressed, 
there may come a time when the deferred dreams of Brazil's 
black and indigenous populations clash explosively with the 
rising expectations of all Brazilians, spawned by a growing 
economy and a rising standard of living.  This effort to 
combat racism is hindered by the widely held view that racism 
is violence against a particular group, rather than the 
treatment of one human being as inferior to another. 
Although the Racial Equality Statute working its way through 
Congress is an important step that comes at a pivotal time, 
with Brazilians still divided on the issue, the legislation 
may never reach the Chamber Plenary for passage into law 
without additional pressure.  Both a possible visit by 
members of the U.S. Black Caucus and the proposal of a 
U.S./Brazil Joint Action Plan in support of racial equality 
are USG actions that could provide timely reinforcement to 
national efforts and spur further Brazilian action on this 
issue.  End comment. 
 
Sobel