Short Writing Assignment
Is Brazil a Multiracial Democracy? There are so many comparisons between Brazil and the United States of America. Both Brazil and the United States of America are the largest multiracial societies in the Americas, as well they both share a history of slavery, and plantation slavery at that, and finally both societies have confronted the legacy of slavery in the form of deeply entrenched racial inequality(Racial Inequality in Brazil and the United States, page 229). With all these similarities you would imagine that they both would be making strides toward a more equal society. It is safe to safe that the United States of America is at a state of more equality than any time in the history of this country, but where does that put Brazil? Are they making the same strides as the United States of America?
Brazil is most definitely a Multiracial population, which would lead you to believe that it is a multiracial democracy, but that assumption would be far from the truth based on all the research that I have done and based on the articles that I have read. In the year 1991 51.6% of Brazil’s population was white, while 42.6% of the population was brown, and 4%was black (Demographic Censuses). When you look at that compared to the United States of America in 1980 when 83% of the population was white, while only 11.7% of the population was black and 5% of the population had some other orientation (1980 Census of Population). When you look at
Trivett 2 those numbers you would instantly assume that Brazil has more of a multiracial democracy than even the United States of America. There are several main reasons why this is not the case, and I am going to explain while although being more racially diverse in its’ entire population, it is predominantly one sided at the top of the socioeconomic status ladder. This problem essentially started when