Racism in a Racial Democracy: The Maintenance of White Supremacy in Brazil (Paperback)

~ Francine Winddance Twine (Author) "On 13 May 1996, the anniversary of the abolition of slavery in Brazil, six black students at Brazil's most prestigious public university planted an eight-foot..." (more)
Key Phrases: white inflation, memorializing practices, racismo cordial, United States, Rio de Janeiro, Boa Vista (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A revealing and sharply observed dissection of how racism works 'on the ground' in Brazil." -- George Reid Andrews, author of Blacks and Whites in Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1888-1988

"This wonderfully engaging study explodes the myth of racial democracy in a pathbreaking analysis of Brazilian style." -- Karen Brodkin, author of How Jews Became White Folks

"Twine offers one of the most sophisticated analyses to date of the intransigence of Brazilian racism. Her nuanced account of the complex interplay of gender, race, and class is particularly exciting. This book will have a powerful impact not only on the field of Brazilian racial studies, but on the whole burgeoning literature on the African Diaspora." -- Howard Winant, author of Racial Conditions: Politics, Theory, Comparisons

Product Description

An analysis of the intransigence of Brazilian racism in which the author asks why there is still faith in Brazil's "racial democracy" in the face of pervasive racism in all aspects of Brazilian life. The author also illuminates the problems activists face when trying to set up antiracist movements.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press (October 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813523656
• ISBN-13: 978-0813523651
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #326,711 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Definitely the way it is!, October 17, 2002

By	John W. Lloyd (Decatur, GA United States) - See all my reviews

The suggestion that Brazil is divided only by class is the argument that Twine attacke directly in this book. It is precisely the maintenance of a white supremacist social system that has convinced both whites and people of color in Brazil that racism does not exist. Time and again her interviewees insist that racism does not exist, despite mestizo and black Brazilians being paid slave wages for hours and hours of work or the absence of people of color in the government, economy, or the elite, rich, ruling class. There is just enough mobility for people to deny racism in Brazil exists, but Twine dismantles this argument piece by piece...

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A picture of many facets of racism in Brazil, April 15, 2008

By	Nele (Rio de Janeiro, RJ Brazil) - See all my reviews

The book contains the author's field observations about racism during her one year stay in a very small community. The book does describe many forms of racism in Brazil but the observations can not be generalized to our entire country. Brazil is a very large country and racism is expressed in different ways in different regions. But, definetely, racial democracy is a Brazilian myth.

14 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best written analysis of race in Brazil, August 31, 1999

By A Customer

Ms. France W. Twine has written a superb analysis on how race is still, in the end of the 20th century, perhaps the main factor determining an individual's social and economic position within Brazilian society. This is truly a myth-shattering book; and it is impressive how an American student (though the fact of being African-American may have helped her not to swallow the official, non-racist myths of official propaganda) has managed, after a stay of only a few months, to understand a reality that has eluded dozens of academics and experts who've written about Brazil in the last decades.

According to Ms. Frances, it is only in the lower classes that the myth of a "non-racial" Brazilian society broadly corresponds to reality; in fact, there are no "black" or brown" ghettoes in Brazil - in the favelas one may find people of all colours, even if darker skin usually predominates. But to gain access to the middle or upper classes while being black or of mixed race is virtually impossible in Brazil (with the possible exception of soccer stars and a few outstanding musicians) - thanks to the deadly efficient system of "polite and hidden" racism that Ms. Frances has understood and analysed so well. A Brazilian citizen, after reading this book, can only say: "obrigado, senhorita Frances!".