Lebon Latin American Perspectives 2007

Beyond Confronting the Myth of Racial Democracy: The Role of Afro-Brazilian Women Scholars and Activists Author(s): Nathalie
Lebon Source: Latin American Perspectives, Vol. 34, No. 6, Aggressive Capital and Democratic Resistance (Nov., 2007), pp. 52-76 Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27648059 . Accessed: 29/07/2013 14:26
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Beyond Confronting theMyth ofRacial Democracy The Role ofAfro-Brazilian Women

Nathalie
Scholars and Activists
by
Lebon
Examination of current scholarship mapping the social and economic exclusion of women ofAfrican descent in Brazil reveals the important roleplayed byAfro-Brazilian women scholars and activists in redressing thepaucity, until recently,of basic data and research on this topic. It also gives rise to some initial thoughts on the national and transnational dynamics of knowledge production underlying this state of affairs.The production of knowledge on the gendered dimensions of racial exclusion has been impacted by state policy, institutionalpracticeswithin academia, and the fit between the wave the and second movement's ideal of sister racial early democracy myth of feminist on class. The to hood and its racism in the visibility brought Marxist-influenced focus on in racism held Durban in the 2001 world conference region by helpedfacilitate large scale projects on the lifeexperiences ofBrazilians of African descent. Keywords: Afrodescendant, Women, production Social and economic conditions, Knowledge
its rank as the ninth-largest economy in the world, Brazil holds the Despite of being a showcase for the socioeconomic distinction unsavory inequalities cuts many ways? of Latin America. that characterize much The divide versus African or Native American descent, male versus female, European and urban versus rural, along with divisions in terms of class of origin and region of residence. Forty-five percent of Brazilians are ofAfrican descent (or, according to census categories, 5.39 percent preto [black] and 39.9 percent pardo [brown]).
in terms of the size of This places Brazil second in the world only toNigeria of African descent thus represent nearly a quar its black population. Women ter of all Brazilians this incontrovertible fact, until (AMB, 2001: 10). Despite had little been research conducted about this recently very segment of the This paper offers a synopsis of the emerging scholarship Brazilian population. in the social and economic exclusion of women of African descent mapping statistics gathered and/or compiled Brazil. The race- and gender-disaggregated are scholars and activists, inmany cases Afro-Brazilian women, by pioneering
Nathalie Lebon
and assistant professor is an anthropologist of women's studies at Gettysburg is the coeditor, with Elizabeth of De lo privado a lo p?blico: 30 a?os de lucha Maier, en Am?rica Latina las mujeres research focuses on Brazilian women's (2006). Her to feminist nongovernmental with particular attention thanks She movements, organizations. Cecilia Helen and Scott Hill for Santos, Peggy Lovell, Millicent Safa, Jean Potuchek, Thayer, on earlier drafts of this article. The research for itwas as comments conducted part of insightful a invited Helen Bank, which by the Inter-American Development larger project commissioned She College. ciudadana de Safa an overview of the conditions provide and the Caribbean. Latin America throughout to of the exclusion of women of African descent
LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES, DOI: 10.1177/0094582X07308263 ? 2007 Latin American Perspectives 52
Issue 157, Vol. 34 No. 6,November
2007 52-76
AFRO-BRAZILIANWOMEN SCHOLARS AND ACTIVISTS Lebon / beginning of African

democracy.1
53
that shape the lives of women to reveal the depth of the inequalities in the birthplace of the now embattled myth of racial descent
race- and at this data available gender-disaggregated outlining the some initial this in the paper provides Portuguese language, point, generally on that hindered the of such have factors reflections production knowledge for the emergence of this until recently and on the changes that have allowed Before field of research.
in academic limitation of earlier circles. A well-established inequalities as a on men's relied black have scholars is that many experiences scholarship a as on women and those of white experience yardstick forAfrodescendant racial yardstick impinges race and ment of movement
the inhibiting role played by mani In particular, it describes festations of racial and gender hierarchies such as themyth of racial democracy and a lingering official indifference in state agencies until the early tomid-1990s and scarcity of resources for the study of race relations throughout the 1990s, for attributed to class-based explanations along with the theoretical weight
Afro-Brazilian
of the reproduction scholars and activists' understanding on own and analyses, their based racial oppression, of gendered experiences of knowledge has been later strengthened by the appropriation produced by
for female experience. The complexity of Brazilian racial identity also on efforts to provide an accurate representation of the intersection of the develop class. On the enabling side, factors that have promoted include the emergence of a black women's this body of knowledge and the black movement. and its impact on both the women's women
U.S.
in 2001 is considered. on this is a challenging proposition when working large sets of Although of the complexity data of an empirical/statistical nature, our understanding is strengthened when theoretical of racial inequalities of the reproduction axes of and models identity among people inequality incorporate intersecting of African descent such as gender (my focus here), class, and sexuality. held in Durban
to gender, race, class, and sexuality of the intersectionality-based approach women of Fernando of color.2 The presidency scholars Henrique a a in race relations, facili interest with Cardoso, long-standing sociologist and political racial in official discourse tated the change strategy around issues. Finally, the impact on the Brazilian national racial formation of interna conference on racism tional institutions and especially of the United Nations
INTERLOCKING RACE AND GENDER HIERARCHIES AND THE DYNAMICS OF KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION
of of women the paucity of data on the lived experiences that we consider both racial and gender ideology demands realms. For and related structural features in the social, political, and academic most of the twentieth century, the notion that Brazil was a racial democracy was an essential component of the Brazilian racial formation. Later denounced as myth, this founding narrative focused on mesti?agem (racial mixing), claiming since the 1930s that there is no racism in Brazil because most Brazilians are of descent. This narrative was mixed adopted both by elites and by pre-1964 2002: there ismuch black movements Guimaraes, 166) as an ideal. While (see Understanding African descent
54
LATINAMERICAN PERSPECTIVES
in the past and over its this myth prevailed debate over the extent to which to the dismantling in Brazil of racial inequalities role as the first roadblock we now move to most that would need 2001), (Guimaraes, agree beyond sim no some it. Yet there is doubt that form of denial of racial ply denouncing erasure of race as a fundamental to structur contributed the has inequalities In institutions and life. axis Brazilian of academia, daily ing throughout most of
the twentieth century and until the late 1990s, themajority of scholars of racial to of contemporary racial inequalities difference steered clear of discussions focus on studies of African culture and religions, syncretisms, and regional variation out that this was in and resistance to slavery (Reichmann, 1999: 24). Reichmann points in part a result of the difficulty for themajority of academics privilege and of the insecure position of the first academics
of recognizing white of African descent. In the hands used
much-needed
and suffered from having in tabulations" to work "special as the was the late its isolation. Nevertheless, 1970s, by dictatorship easing life, a few pioneers, such as the sociologists Carlos Hasenbalg grip on academic in the footsteps of Florestan Silva (1978), following (1979) and Nelson set to out demonstrate the of the myth with statistical data Fernandes, fallacy in income and standards. Less noted was the stark inequalities living showing women scholars and activists, Sueli Carneiro and Thereza work of two black ofAfrican descent. (1985), who focused on the life conditions ofwomen linked to black studies centers and the the early 1990s scholars, mostly have moved beyond denouncing themyth and have focused black movement, the mechanisms which racial exclusion takes place instead on examining by Santos Since
of the authoritarian state, the myth of racial democracy was to justify the complete elimination of the gathering of race-disaggregated data from the 1970 census, leading to almost 20 years without information as an As Brazilian late the scholars still faced indifferent 1990s, (Berqu?, 2001). on race census bureau unable "to disseminate statistical data and to timely race socioeconomic indicators by (or gender)" (Reichmann, 1999: disaggregate to pay for the of the scarcity of resources, many were unable 26). Because
The visibility brought to the issue of racism in the region by the Third World on Racism and Discrimination, in 2001, and the held in Durban Conference resources allocated accordingly by government and international institutions Economic
(Guimaraes and Huntley, 2000; Silva, 2001). This work was eased by President Cardoso's resolve to clear up impediments related to the Fernando Henrique census administration in themid-1990s 1999: (Reichmann, 26).
Econ?mica such as the Instituto de Pesquisa (Institute forApplied Aplicada and the Bank Inter-American Research?IPEA) Development on research also facilitated the life of (IADB) projects large-scale experiences Brazilians ofAfrican descent (S. Soares, 2000; Zoninsein, 2001; Henriques, 2001; Safa, Lebon, and Asher, 2002). It also provided more visibility to and further on a smaller scale by Brazilian spurred the work already being conducted scholars. A dramatic shift in Brazilian state policy since the turn of themillen nium toward
of racial inequalities the full recognition and the need for as affirmative action has resulted in such from part policies reparation-oriented these international events and the work of national activists and in part from a a the conscious effort of President Cardoso, sociologist with long-standing interest in race relations, to challenge the official discourse on race (Htun, 2004)
Lebon / AFRO'BRAZILIAN WOMEN SCHOLARS AND ACTIVISTS and the institutionalization
55
statistics mapping the material manifestations and consequences of racial takes the form of a "cumulative accu of The cycle disadvantages." mulation takes place both over generations and over the life cycle of individ uals, reflecting not only the legacy of slavery but also contemporary was coined discrimination. The term "cumulative cycle of disadvantages" by exclusion3 Hasenbalg and Silva
of this policy by theWorkers' party government of the establishment Brazil's Department for the Promotion of Racial through the first regional confer Equality. Most recently, this department coorganized ence of the Americas against racism, held in Brasilia July 26-28, 2006, to eval uate the progress made since the Durban conference. in The theoretical model much of the diagnostic work based on proposed
is perhaps best (cited inGuimaraes, 2000), and themodel recent the studies of Silva Lovell and b), (2001), (1999a by exemplified Zoninsein and Guimaraes S. Soares This is the model (2000), (2001), (2000).4 it here by systematically that I follow, modifying the gendered including dimension of racial exclusion. By speaking in terms of a cumulative cycle, I do not mean to imply that simply "breaking the cycle" by increasing access to for black women, for example, will suffice to turn the situa quality education most recent tion around. In fact, the work on the topic suggests otherwise (Lovell, 2006). starts with a familial Briefly stated, the cumulative cycle of disadvantages environment and a region of residence with limited material and political resources (resulting originally from the aftermath of and continues with slavery) access to two These to education. factors contribute unfavorable unequal quality timing and mode of entry into the labor market, which is aggravated by wage
discrimination. Many of the reports attempting to systematize diagnostic data on racial exclusion of the wealth of data stop at this point, probably because but other elements contribute to the that must be taken into consideration, At each of these stages, of racial discrimination. reproduction neglect by the state to provide services available to better-off populations such as health care, potable water, sanitation, and electricity constitutes another aspect of exclusion
in part, by the limited (see Henriques, 2001). Such neglect ismade possible, access of theAfro-Brazilian to political representation. Lack of access population to goods such as proper housing and labor-saving appliances resulting from over restricted access to income and lack of accumulated wealth generations to making it more difficult to also contributes juggle life responsibilities. are Finally, difficulties inmaintaining good health under such circumstances an to with to educa compound likely already disadvantaged position regard tional and occupational in turn is likely to reduce which achievements, in the political system.5 participation Until recently, thismodel generally did not consider the effects of gender or other axes of identity and inequality. In part, this is likely a result of the relative recency of race studies and gender studies and the division of labor of scholars. the importance of gender as Indeed, researchers have only recently recognized constitutive of racial identity and integral to black men and women's experi ence of discrimination. In thewords of black women activists, gender-related that are seen as oppression has been couched in terms of "specificity"?issues women to not to and black of African descent (Ribeiro, 1995; specific people Roland, 2000). Such issues are often invisible even to black men, since they do
56
but not systematically, not affect them or, rather, affect them differently?often, in their midst. This is com relative to the women in the form of a privilege in academia especially black women, pounded by the limited number ofwomen, a one racist As issues related of the results of result, (itself oppression). gendered as and issues child-care have been the double day to reproduction such ignored, as well It is worth
as issues related to sexuality, domestic violence, and reproductive health. as a the consequences of what might be viewed pondering as a crucial component of racial ideology, namely, Brazil's self-representation sex in which the exoticized erotic democracy" "color-blind (Goldstein, 2003), a nation ofmixed race. for the birth the basis of the mulatta of provides appeal access The assumption implicit in this construction of Afro-Brazilian women's socioeconomic for upward towhite men's assets and possibilities mobility via to mask discrimination of their sexuality may have helped the exploitation women or at least contributed to the lack of attention to the female black against Ferreira da Silva (1998: 222) describes of racial discrimination. experience of the sexual objectification of the black female related to "the the consequences at the heart of the national narrative" as follows: of miscegenation placing the one hand, the black Brazilian woman has constantly to negotiate the blackness ultimately assumption of her faultymorality and powerlessness?her writes her as solely responsible forher own subordination. On the other hand, as the celebrated instrument ofmiscegenation, the black female body can also be more easily seen in the (positively) used to escape racial subordination. This is controversial figure of themulata (a sort of exotic dancer). On women (2003) points to the frequency with which Afrodescendant a coroa one that the the (a wealthy, poor express among hope day working their everyday misery a thing of the past. most often white man) will make to ascertain towhat extent this assumption Further research would be needed has found itsway into the work of researchers as well. Goldstein activists who
For all these ideological and institutional reasons, the very intellectuals and to highlight the the racism that pervades have been working at have slow been mainstream apparatus generally knowledge-production most recent works on racial exclusion do include The bias. sexist unveiling to the cumulative adding gender constraints cycle of dis gender, usually advantages encountered outlined above. Often the focus is limited to the disadvantages in the labor market and education, possibly because by women this is theway inwhich women's experience most resembles men's and there such data "speak" to policy mak fore data are more available but also because Finally, one should also not underestimate sets of data with
in the challenges involved variables (McCall, 2005). intersecting complex managing and the academic of scholars of racial If the black movement production on black women's of experiences inequality have only partially shed light this is also true of thework of feminist researchers and activists. discrimination, are do not evolve in a vacuum but, like academia, Indeed, social movements ers. to some extent molded
a result, the impact of the by their cultural matrix. As on the feminist movements and work that academic racial of democracy myth on sexist in research since the late 1960s have oppression spearheaded that little attention has been paid to ethnic/racial lives has meant women's differences among women. Just as in the case of race-studies scholars, this
Lebon / AFRO-BRAZILIANWOMEN SCHOLARS AND ACTIVISTS trend was
57
did not cross-tabulate and Statistics?IBGE) color categories with Geography socioeconomic variables until the early 1980s (Nobles, 2000). The origins of inMarxist political sectors and the ideological movements Brazilian women's "sisterhood" also contributed to this lack of and political appeal of unconditional attention
were then trained likely bolstered by the fact that these academics to focus principally on gender issues. Moreover, themilitary government from on racial research 1964 until themid-1980s squelched inequalities. As focusing a result, the Instituto Brasileiro de Geograf?a e Estat?stica (Brazilian Institute of
to race-related differences. The myth of racial democracy certainly researchers' original primary focus on class served to bolster Marxist-influenced that all based inequalities and was perfectly aligned with the basic assumption women had similar concerns and interests. In all these cases notions of racial on women were pushed aside. oppression and certainly its differential impact that of the concerns of women of color does not mean This marginalization or that women of African descent were not present or active in themovement of European their concerns were not shared by some women descent. We should L?lia Gonzalez
take note here of the pioneering work in the 1980s of, among others, women (1982) on the often exploitative relationships between as and European the of African descent, exemplified by empregada/patroa and Araujo Oliveira, Porcaro, (domestic worker/employer) relationship. a raceand of female heads of (1983) presented picture gender-disaggregated and their income situations. In 1985 Carneiro and Santos published households
and political conditions of black women the firstportrait of the socioeconomic women Kia to be produced activists, work that the anthropologist by black statistical analysis of the Caldwell (2000) has called the most comprehensive women available.6 situation of Afro-Brazilian At the social-movement movements and ofwomen's in feminist of black women level, thismarginalization issues in the black movement led in themid-1980s
to the establishment of autonomous black women's (Roland, 2000). organizations articulations. This was not, however, just a matter of power within movement the theoretical As Caldwell framework of feminist scholars (2000) has noted, an differences among women, and activists tended to minimize producing as a notion of women unitary category and limiting the space essentializing how race and other aspects of identity shape the available for examining construction
for their own scholars, who appropriated as such hooks and Collins (1984) (1991) at least purposes as as 1995 (see, e.g., Bairros, 1995). early work on women's studies in Brazil resonates with As much as Caldwell's in situation of the academia, as well as with criticisms I heard my understanding women in activist circles in 1992 about the lack of inclusion of Afro-Brazilian on in the organization of Planeta Femea during the UN conference the envi to ronment in Rio de Janeiro, it also seems that by 1995 change had begun occur. Participation by women of African descent in the preparatory meetings have resonated with black Brazilian theworks of scholars
and representations of gender of identity and the experience same time, black Brazilian as At the hierarchies. feminists such gendered about Carneiro and Santos as early as 1985 argued that attempts to generalize denied the diversity of those experiences. all Brazilian women's experiences thatwork along similar lines by U.S. women research demonstrates Caldwell's to feminism generally. It does seem, however, of color did not reach Brazilian
58
LATINAMERICAN PERSPECTIVES Conference
on Women in Beijing, sometimes in key leadership roles, of their race-based into the discussion the incorporation analysis seems and to have come Oliveira Sant'Anna, 1995; 2002). Change (Ribeiro, than in academic social earlier in social movements circles, probably because are more movements fluid and do not require academia's long process of conference was held (cer recruitment and training. By the time the Durban as a result of constant pressure of prominent black feminists in their tainly midst), not only did two major national feminist networks place it squarely on racism as a Brazilian women's their agendas, concern, but both the adopting for theUN facilitated Brasileiras de Mulheres (Brazilian Women's Articulation?AMB) Articula?ao e Sexuais Feminista de Saude, Direitos Reprodutivos and the Rede Nacional for Feminist Network and Health, Reproductive (National Sexuality? Rights of demographic data on RedeSa?de) support for the publication provided women in preparation for it (AMB, 2001; Jornal da Rede, of African descent on Racial Dossier issue, March 2001). More recently the network's special Hierarchies in Brazil ammunition
to provide activists with (Sant'Anna, 2003), developed in the discussion of the government's Four-Year Plan, was pre These docu sented to the then newly elected Workers' party government. woman of the work the black and with ments, activist, historian, along state of the Rio W?nia of de former secretary for human Janeiro rights Paix?o of the Human Sant'Anna, with Marcelo (1997), on the disaggregation we most constitute the Index, up-to-date demographic Development pictures have. In fact, they have been praised by black activist leaders (Carneiro, 2002). to this willingness It remains to be seen to what degree of the movement throw itsweight behind the antiracist struggle will be transformed into a thor on issues that matter to women of ough revisiting of its internal conflicts African descent and of interracial relations among activists (Sant'Anna, per sonal communication).
RACIAL IDENTITY FORMATION AND ASSESSMENT OF RACIAL INEQUALITIES

the interlocking effects of racism and sexism on women's Before exposing to it understand the complex reality of racial identity formation is essential lives, accounts of racial identity argue in Brazil (see Hanchard, Conventional 1999). thatmost Brazilians think of themselves as citizens of different colors rather than as Safa (2005) illustrates, the concept of as mestizaje racially different. However, at the heart of the nation-building myths of Latin American countries is unequiv
to be precise) use the term moreno (brown), shying away from their African asked to reclassify themselves according to census categories,7 ancestry. When half of these morenos choose the pardo (brown) category and half choose either the white, black, or "other" category (Silva, 2001:147). Many as well number argue that in everyday life cor/raga (color /race) is shaped by context, as involved. For this reason a by other attributes of the persons of the fluidity and of scholars focus on the extent and consequences
and of the supremacy of European ocally connected to the notion of whitening race and civilization. As a result, when asked to identify themselves, Brazilians use dozens of different terms, based mostly on phenotypes, but most (43 percent,
Lebon / AFRO-BRAZILIANWOMEN SCHOLARS AND ACTIVISTS ambiguity
59
of color/race identity. They call attention to the risk of reifying and racial categories that they consider the creation of social scientists reinforcing and the black movement 2002; Ferreira da Silva, 1998). (Maggie and Rezende, At the same time, recent ethnographic research is showing increasingly clearly see past the multitude that Brazilians of color terms they use and identify a common racial identity for of color (raga) (Sheriff, 2002, 2003; Pravaz, people 2003). This would explain why despite thinking in terms of color, Brazilians are aware of differential racial treatment: in a recent acutely study 90 percent "Are whites prejudiced toward responded yes to the question in 2001: The role of women's racial iden (Silva, 148). gender shaping to in women be has how and begun particular tity investigated, negotiate their economic limited the given options, manipulate, differing stereotypes of interviewees blacks?"
versus mulatas that plague unattractive workhorses) negras (hardworking, and shrewd, (racially mixed, sexually intrepid, the image of Brazilianness) (Bennett, 1999; Gilliam, 1998; Pravaz, 2003; Goldstein, 2003). The dynamics of this racial formation and its ramifications in terms of research politics affect the quantitative work on which the assessment of racial thiswork is based on the bifurcated census inequalities in Brazil is based. When income and choose brown
categories, some will
higher social socioeconomic Lovell
1998: 93-94). This and other research led to instead (Lovell and Wood, that "the boundary between black and brown is ambiguous the conclusion and unstable over time, but the boundary between white and nonwhite is relatively and remarkably stable over time" (Lovell and Wood, 1998: 94). unambiguous For its part, the Brazilian black movement has advocated the use of a single the category (negra or, in recent years, afrodescendente), arguing that keeping two categories in the census has contributed to the persistence of the idea of and hence of racial democracy racial mixing (see also Nobles, 2000). The sees a single category as more conducive movement to political mobilization. Safa notes that the term "Afrodescendant" is particularly useful in that it brown "dismisses inclusive the whitening bias inherent in mestizaje" (2005: 312). A single sense also makes category given the fact that quantitative assessments for various for black and brown
1998: 91). The extent to which and Wood, this drift occurs was exam ined by the sociologist Charles Wood, who found out that nearly 40 percent of those who declared themselves black in 1950 no longer did so in 1980, choosing
education Therefore impinge on self-identification. over black their darker if skin despite they have to and this in contributes differences cross-tabulations of status, variables between the brown and black categories (Silva, 2001:147;
of racial discrimination
social indicators generally show much Lovell and 2001; Wood, (Silva, 1998). similarity Finally, our of racial identity formation in Brazil increasingly refined understanding also moves us in this direction. The
scholars and activists, many of them women of findings of pioneering us to allow extent the of the difficulties Afro descent, begin evaluating Brazilian women face in concrete and specific ways. Using a gendered version of we can themodel of the cumulative cycle of disadvantages, begin to identify the women mechanisms of racial exclusion for of African descent8 and assess their African consequences at different stages of the life cycle.
60
LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES
MECHANISMS
OF GENDERED
RACIAL EXCLUSION
racial years 1999), have
of A few vital indicators will reveal the depth of the consequences is 64.8 of African descent in Brazil: life expectancy exclusion forwomen men and 71.2 years forwomen for (Pan American Health Organization, but since the 1940s people of African descent (both browns and blacks) been
descent (Cunha, 2001). living about 7 years less than people of European to 66 years, or 3 years less women's life expectancy This brings Afro-Brazilian a around the world women than that of white men, when generally have men than (Sant'Anna, 2001). Worse, perhaps, despite greater life expectancy the remarkable decline in the general infantmortality rate since World War II, race-disaggregated saw their newborn data babies reveal that, in 1993, 62 mothers of color out of 1,000 die versus half as many (Cunha, (37) white mothers is not shrinking: while white infant this differential
2001). Unfortunately, was reduced by 43 percent between mortality was Afro-Brazilians only 25 percent (Cunha, to the Human Brazil ranked 108th according white counterpart ranked 43d10 (AMB, 2001:
1977 and 1993, the reduction for 2001). To sum up, in 1999 black Index9 while its
Development 11).
RESIDENCE in terms of wealth and economic devel Brazil's regional inequalities women cumulative for ofAfrican and racial distribution, opment disadvantage The and location of residence. Southeast starts with their descent South, which are are largely white (64 percent and 83 percent respectively), also thewealth and industrialized the poorer regions, iest and most urbanized regions, while are the North and Northeast, respectively 71 percent and 70 percent Afro Given Brazilian
Brazilian
(brown and black) (Henriques, 2001: 6). Even though the large major is now urban (75.6 percent of the population lived Brazilian the of population ity of African descent ismore rural, and women in cities in 1991), the population of African descent are slightly more rural than men of African descent. They but only 23 percent of the constitute 27 percent of the rural population population (AMB, 2001: 10).
EDUCATION the gender gap in years of schooling and illiteracy has been eliminated,11 data reveal a striking gap; illiteracy stands at 19.8 percent race-disaggregated more than double that of Euro-Brazilians forAfro-Brazilians, (at 8.3 percent) narrower: is marginally (Henriques, 2001). The racial differential among the young are versus 7.6 percent illiterate 2.6 percent ofwhites between the ages of 15 and 25 While In fact, the educational differential between blacks and whites has remained since
of blacks.
terms in absolute the 1920s, although virtually unchanged both groups are improving. This is also true among women. Household survey versus 10 data for 1997 show that black women's illiteracy rate was 22 percent women it is clear that boys (Sant'Anna, 2001: 19). However, percent forwhite are to enter the labor force much earlier than their sisters. At forced of color 15.1 percent of black girls, 14.6 percent age 12,when asked, "Have you worked?" of brown girls, 26.6 percent of black boys, and 34.1 percent of brown boys said of white girls and 18.8 percent of white yes12 (as compared with 7.3 percent
Lebon / AFRO-BRAZILIANWOMEN SCHOLARS AND ACTIVISTS
61
analysis of 2000 census data forworking men boys) (Silva, 2001: 154). Lovell's in urban S?o Paulo and women confirms this trend: 23 percent of white women women and 6 percent of Afro-Brazilian but only 18 percent of white men and 4 percent of Afro-Brazilian men had 12 or more years of schooling This sad reality is in part due to the regional differences discussed earlier, to lead tomore precarious class differences, which in educational establishments to parents' lower level of schooling, and to earlier entry their neighborhoods, 2001: 18). into the job market (Sant'Anna, of color entering the university is growing faster than that ofwhite women, which is not a surprise given the low level at which they in 1996, 5.9 percent had 15 or more years of school started. For white women The number ofwomen
(Lovell, 2006: 70).
Brazilians declined
7 and 13, both blacks and whites, who 2001: 28). (Unfortunately, (Henriques, disaggregated by gender.) States with large populations in terms of educational continue to lag behind quality between by half
ing compared with only 1.1 percent of black and 1.4 percent of brown women efforts in the 1990s at improving access to (Sutherland, 2001: 6). Successful meant that 1992 and 1999 the number of young have between education early did not go to school these data were not of African descent
shaping of gender- and race-based men and women, opportunities for reasons as well as discrimination
(e.g., teacher/pupil 2001). ratio) (Arias and Yamada, in this area note that it is not only in access to Scholars working quality educa tion that discrimination takes place today but also in the hidden curriculum?the
despite their higher education economic benefit from their educational OCCUPATION AND ECONOMY
roles that reinforce different expectations and blacks and whites (Soares, 1998:43). For these in the labor market, Afro-Brazilian women, level than black men, are least likely to reap the full achievement.
discrimination to (Zoninsein, 2001). Faced with adversity, motivation wage invest in one's human capital is difficult for people of African descent to sus tain (Zoninsein, 2001). Here again we need to provide a gender dimension to enter thismodel. Women of African descent the job market earlier and remain on the women than in all the metropolitan of descent job longer European is the This because to contribute to the of need either country. they regions earn livelihood of their family (since the men in their households generally or to ensure it low wages) therefore have entirely. They higher job-market par women In women). ticipation rates than nonblack (including Asian-Brazilian 1998 the numbers were 55.1 percent versus 52.8 percent in Brasilia and 43.9 percent versus 43.0 percent in Recife. In comparison, black men's participation in Salvador rates range from 66.3 percent to 73.4 percent in S?o Paulo
is (not disaggregated gap racially based wage by sex) agree that what is the lack of accumulation of human capital extending back over involved several generations (Arias and Yamada, 2001), unequal quality of education and labor market that of drives people Yamada, 2001), (Arias segmentation industries and occupations, color into lower-productivity and finally "pure"
in the labor market constitutes the next phase of Entry into and promotion themodel of cumulative Most studies focusing on the cycle of disadvantages.
(INSPIR/DIEESE, 1999: 117).
62
of color are overrepresented their greater need for income, women Despite in informal-sector activities that offer low wages, no benefits, and no stability. the formal sector is the In 1991 in urban S?o Paulo, one of the areas inwhich most 66 percent of brown 69 percent of working white women, developed, women had work cards while 80 percent of and 63 percent of black women, benefited from white women but only 71 percent of brown and black women 86 percent ofwhite men had work cards and 90 social security (in comparison,
the numbers for brown percent of them benefited from social security, while and black men respectively were 87 percent and 84.7 percent forwork cards and 88.5 percent and 87.4 percent for social security cards) (Lovell, 2000: 93). on racial and and based stereotypes gender segregation Occupational as as human in terms levels of of well lower capital (no longer gender roles, in the informal sector. education), help explain women's greater involvement So do other discriminatory practices such as the common request for boa aparencia a inwhich all Brazilians in job announcements, recognize (good appearance) are to call for "well-dressed whites only." Moreover, women generally pressed
63 percent ofwhom could be found in this type of employment white women, that women of African 1999a: 145). The 2000 census data shows (Lovell, descent in urban S?o Paulo are still nearly half as likely to be employed as pro than white women but almost twice as likely to fessionals or as administrators are as A in either full 62 percent of black women domestics. be hired employed or domestic service occupations service, in contrast to 27 percent low-paying and 22 percent ofwhite men. At the of black men, 39 percent ofwhite women, same time, men of either racial group are four to five times as likely towork in that group (Lovell, 2006: 71-75). In other inmanufacturing than thewomen a is clear there words, segmentation of the labor market by gender and race. in Women of African descent have much higher levels of unemployment areas than other groups. Factors such as Brazil's metropolitan early entry into the labor market and the concentration of blacks in the less dynamic sectors are and unskilled of the economy and inmore precarious employment jobs important in explaining are often not meaningful rates (AMB, 2001: 17). Unemployment in the of the which informal sector, given importance are underemployed. Still, in the best of cases (Belo rate compared have a 20.5 percent unemployment this situation
choose jobs thatwill allow them to perform their traditional duties as mothers further restricting their options in terms of either space or time. As and wives, a result, in rural areas most black women work on family farms where their labor remains invisible, as sharecroppers or as boiasfrias (literally "cold lunchboxes"), or day laborers. In the cities, many work as self-employed street vendors, laun in sweatshops. They also sew at home, subcontracting dresses, or seamstresses or their subcontractors. Stable blue fromwell-known multinational companies collar jobs in the formal sector are still a white men's preserve. Most dramatic is the high percentage of Afro-Brazilians (men and women) employed as domes at that of is least double nonblacks 1999: 120). which tics, (INSPIR/DIEESE, Since the 1960s the Brazilian economy has grown and modernized, offering women new opportunities in white-collar work for women. Afro-Brazilian have registered the largest absolute gain because of their very modest starting women 34 of urban in Afro-Brazilian 1960. 1980, percent By employed point and technical jobs. Still, they lagged considerably behind held professional
large numbers of people black women Horizonte)
Lebon / AFRO-BRAZILIANWOMEN SCHOLARS AND ACTIVISTS with
63
and 11.5 percent for nonblack men 16.8 for nonblack women (includ In worst 1999: situation the (INSPIR/DIEESE, 119). Asian-Brazilians) ing are the numbers (Salvador) respectively 27.6 percent, 20.3 percent, and 15.2 the ismuch This gap between black and nonblack women percent. being said, narrower worst 36 black and nonblack men than between (at percentage at best 6.7 points in Brasilia for women, points in Salvador and in Recife formen) in 26.6 and 57.8 Salvador (INSPIR/DIEESE, compared with 1999: 118).
WAGES inwage levels, prohibits discrimination though the 1988 Constitution on the basis of sex or race, Brazil in 1999 trailed only and positions hiring, Sierra Leone in terms of inequity in income distribution (Sutherland, 2001: 4). In 1998, nationally, black women made only 40 percent of white men's earnings, on their effects of gender and race discrimination under the compounding an in the economy, and their differential participation important paychecks, in skills. In comparison, white women and black men made differential Even respectively 79 percent and 46 percent ofwhite men's income (S. Soares, 2000: 6). Income levels are not sufficient to account for poverty, since asset worth and over generations provide an essential "safety net" that is absent accumulation for most people terms of income
and between "labor market inequalities between whites and Afro-Brazilians women and men have actually increased with economic growth and modern ization in Brazil" (1999a: 140). Indeed, while this period saw large numbers of women shifting to better-paid white-collar work, the gender gap remained and in white-collar 61 in fact increased: In 1960 Afro-Brazilian women jobs made versus were in men's 57 1980. Gains wages percent percent of Afro-Brazilian made only in the lowest categories of unskilled manual labor, mostly because women were starting from such an unfavorable position13 (Lovell, 1999a: 147). In the 1990s, women greater gains compared with men: by 2000 experienced 71 percent of Afro-Brazilian men's wages Afro-Brazilian women were making between the wages of white and black (Lovell, 2006: 75). The discrepancy women workers 1980 and 2000, with black women remained stable between
in of African descent (Conley, 2004). Still, discrimination is sadly revealing. the claim that such sharp inequalities not only have per Statistics validate as the economy urbanizes sisted over time but do not systematically disappear In fact,while the overall gender wage gap shrank at about 1 and modernizes. 1987 and 1998, the race-based wage gap did not percent per year between seen it remains to be whether the gender Moreover, change (S. Soares, 2000). trend will continue. A look at the gender wage gap in the United States shows returned to the 1946 level, 66 that itwas not until 1988 that women's wages a downturn after (with a low of 56.6 percent in long percent of men's wages, on 1973) (National Committee Equal Pay, 1998: 236). on the 1960-1980 in urban S?o Paulo, notes that Lovell, period focusing
making How
in the labor market, number in skills, participation of hours differences etc., is the next important question. Studying S?o Paulo's urban labor worked, force through 2000 census data, Lovell found that "pure" wage discrimination is the single largest element contributing to both the gender and race wage
about 60 percent of white women's wages (Lovell, 2006: 77). a much of these wage differentials is result of unequal pay rather than
64 gaps with
LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES and
in the highest-paying She argues jobs (Lovell, 1999b; 2006; S. Soares, 2000:17). in an expanded and upward mobility that the greater opportunities economy for the highest-paying have in fact generated greater competition, especially as a jobs, and this has favored the strengthening of the color and gender lines access for some (1999b: 413-414). means tomaintain privileged an intersectional the need model, Lovell (2006) underscores explicity Using for public policy to consider the specificity of the barriers that confront Afro or Afro Brazilian women compared with those confronted by white women to be considered by Brazilian men. Adding one more dimension policy makers, Iwill note that although in 1990 white women made more money than black men in urban areas, the reverse was true for rural areas: white men earned on salaries (about US$250 per month), black men 1.4, and average 2.5 minimum white women 0.9, while black women were again in the harshest situation, with only 0.7 (Bruschini, 1994: 23). FEMALE-HEADED Adding mainstream HOUSEHOLDS of marital
women the wages that it is increasing. Comparing of Afro-Brazilian 53 those ofwhite men, she found that discrimination percent of explained the difference in 1960 and 63 percent in 2000 (Lovell, 2006: 79). She and others and Afro-Brazilians have also shown that this differential is largest forwomen
is generally missing from status, which seems an accounts of racial inequality, essential to understanding in the reality of colonial of the gendered nature of racial exclusion. Anchored was rare in the lower classes and Brazil, where legal marriage racially mixed served mostly as a marker of social differentiation (Hahner, 1990: 8), race and on the status of Brazilian women. Research class still shape the conjugal more 1940 the black between and 1980 identified of population demographics lower levels of legally married black and unmarried black men and women, and more mixed brown women, couples consisting of black men and white reverse. women This internalization of the aesthetic of whitening than the constitutes one of themost important grievances ofwomen of African descent with regard to racism within the black community and even within the black movement (Santos, 1999; Twine, 1997). are over These tendencies contribute to the fact that Afro-Brazilian women the dimension households. Such households have been represented among female-headed on the increase in the past decades: from 13 percent of families in 1970 to 20.1 26 percent in 1998 (Teles percent in 1989 (Soares, 1998) and approximately in the region, economic difficulties such Costa, 2001: 5). In Brazil as elsewhere as those encountered throughout the 1980s and 1990s have prevented many men from their role of family provider, the linchpin fulfilling traditionally to Under have their chosen abandon of masculine pressure, many identity. and in As in other countries the households Cavalcanti, 1999). (Giffin region, are often among the poorest, limited job these households given their heads' reveals that a majority opportunities and remuneration. Yet race-disaggregation earn less than one minimum (60 percent) of the poorest among them (those that are headed by Afro-Brazilian women while only 29 percent of female wage) or more times theminimum wage are headed headed households earning three women Afro-Brazilian (AMB, 2001: 18). by
Lebon / AFRO-BRAZILIANWOMEN SCHOLARS AND ACTIVISTS DISTRIBUTION Lack OF GOODS AND SERVICES
65
and conse of access to goods and services is not only a manifestation one women but also of the racial exclusion of mechanisms which of quence by from full-fledged citizenship and see their life African descent are excluded choices constrained, given the ensuing additional difficulties in juggling employ ment and family. In particular, lack of access to state services, which inmany and their ways amounts to state neglect of the needs of Afro-Brazilian women of racial exclusion. An obvious lack of concern for families, is another mechanism and its limited political weight the marginalized leave neighbor population hoods devoid of basic sanitation infrastructure. In 1996,32 percent of households head were classified as inadequate, with an Afro-Brazilian compared with 12
35 percent of them did not have piped households; percent forwhite-headed access to the sewage system compared with only and half of them lacked water, 26.4 percent of white households (AMB, 2001: 20). Similarly important for the as are consumer woman and refrigera goods such washing machines working tors, and here again the differences are staggering: 90 percent of Afro-Brazilian households
white
and 83 percent do not have refriger do not have washing machines ators compared with 73 percent and 56 percent respectively for white households we an seen time have in both state 2001: Over 44). improvement (Henriques, services and acquisition of consumer goods for both black and white house holds, but the pace at which improvement has taken place has been greater for households, leading to greater inequality (Henriques, 2001: 41-44).
HEALTH A population's health status is a clear indicator of its relative marginalization to other groups. However, the state's lack of concern for a particular section of In fact, the very lack its citizenry constitutes a clear component of exclusion. state to and collect genderdata in this area of effort by the race-disaggregated
it difficult to evaluate the reality of this exclusion. has made Suitable data a few scholars and activists (Souzas, come work of from the pioneering only Women's Health, a feminist-inspired 2003). Not even the Integrated Program for the federal since the 1980s, has holistic program government sponsored by race of a woman to be recorded or considered. Indeed, the required only pressure to begin collecting such led the Health Ministry from the black movement the Black Population Health Program of 1996. In fact, nothing was was done until December that themandatory 2001,14 when it finally announced notification system for diseases such as AIDS and tuberculosis would from now data under on include the race of the individual involved (Marta de Oliveira, 12, 2001). Yet it is obvious
interview,
October
that the very living conditions ofwomen of African descent a at for number of health risk them conditions (Oliveira, 2001: 11). put greater in 1997 were estimated at 110 per 100,000 deaths for black women Maternal live births, a level similar to that of the poorest countries in the region, and it that large numbers ofmaternal deaths are not being reported is acknowledged women are more (AMB, 2001: 22). Afrodescendant likely to be affected because and diabetes of the higher level of hypertension among and their lack of access conditions under which live, they them, the difficult to knowledge and
66
LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES
of contraceptives. They are more likely to live in the states with themost in rural the North and Northeast?and health care facilities?in precarious care facilities are areas more health nonexistent. where practically generally, of African descent have reduced research has shown that women Moreover, access to prenatal care (half as many white as Afro-Brazilian women?6 percent care in 1996) versus 12.8 (Perpetuo, 2000, cited inAMB, prenatal percent?lacked 2001: 25). Finally, one 1993 study in Paran?, in thewealthier part of the country, that blacks were 7.4 times more revealed likely to die in pregnancy-related one than whites, hypertension circumstances being important factor in the causes noted15 (Martins, 2001: 39). Women of African descent are more likely to die of hypertensive descent heart disease and of European than women heart attack, as well as of stomach and cervical cancer (Batista, 2003). supplies The feminization of the AIDS epidemic
in the country is now common is spreading faster among women than among Indeed, HIV/AIDS knowledge. reasons and because men both for biological of gender inequalities, sexual violence, and sexism in the health care system. The greater vulnerability of low in has also been established. Structural violence, especially income populations it difficult for prevention programs to trafficking,makes themselves are an important mode of transmission. The in ofAfrican descent is overrepresented marginalized neighborhoods population in For 2001: and these other reasons, black women AMB, 31). (Bastos, 2001, cited connection with drug take place, and drugs activists are calling attention to the plight of Afro-Brazilian toAIDS16 (Werneck, 2001; see also Batista, 2003). We understand the reasons forAfro-Brazilian women's women with regard
greater health risks to evaluate research is needed and redress and mortality, but much more and differential access to the health care system and prevention programs and treatment and in access differences in the availability of quality diagnosis to drugs and adherence to drug regimens. Finally, on the part of practitioners will also need to be was exposed by Diva in health-sector practices patients and doctors in the private and public the role of racial discrimination examined Moreira's interviews further: racist bias of 120 of Belo Horizonte,
Minas
on the consequences of the procedure, lack of alternatives, of a "culture of sterilization." Nowhere have the rates of and the development in women the mostly Afro-Brazilian sterilized been higher than Northeast, sterilization represent 62.9 percent of all where women who have undergone some contraceptive method versus 23.0 percent women using using the pill same was in 47.2 In 1986 the 1995: 9). percent and comparison, figure (Berqu?, the use of the pill 32.1 percent. The increase in sterilization is even more striking in 1986 5 percent of women had been sterilized among young women: while was 19 percent (Roland, 1999: 201). Studies focusing 1991 the figure by age 25, by on the racial identity of thewomen sterilized have shown no difference in rates of misinformation
hospitals Gerais (Moreira, 2000, cited inAMB, 2001: 33). is the abuse of sterilization One area inwhich racism has been most obvious as a means of contraception. Sterilization has been widely used in Brazil because
2001; Berqu?, 1999), but "black activists have questioned (see, e.g., Chacham, of those researchers and argued that regional differences the methodologies a (Roland, 1999: 202). Most curious point to policy directed at the Northeast" the is the fact that the white Brazilian population grew by 1 percent between 1 censuses of 1980 and 1990 while the black population percent dropped by
67
the performance of the surgery, and methods must contraceptive during counseling n. 5). be offered to discourage sterilization" 1999: 205 (Roland, precocious were also taken in 1995 to prevent caesarean Measures sections from being used as cover for sterilization (Roland, 1999: 202). Finally, hoping to broaden period the contraceptive options of women, initiative in 1999 to ensure greater condoms, the public health services launched
same period. Sterilization has, of course, been an during the important issue forAfro-Brazilian women's and Carneiro, 1990; Roland, groups (Roland 1999). As a result of pressure from activists, in 1996 "a federal law was passed which a and men, the presence of 2 living age of 25 for both women requires minimum children, informed and written consent by the interested party, and a minimum of 60 days between time other which the request and
an
methods,
of reversible availability contraception in the health public system and in private clinics including 2000: 22). (Cadernos do Observatorio, Sickle cell anemia is another area inwhich state neglect of the needs of its is clear. Despite of African descent estimates that as many as 10 population the black and brown of the sickle cell trait, the carry percent population in 1996 had still not been national sickle cell program proposed implemented (Roland, 2001). by the turn of themillennium Changes have been in theworks since the coming to power of theWorkers' is being given to racial issues by the new coordi party; serious consideration nator of women's health programs, and these programs have close working ties with the new agency for the promotion of racial equality. POWER AND LEADERSHIP
is a dearth of information on and understanding of the role of people in Latin American of African descent of the arenas, political partly because on division of labor between scholars focusing on race and those focusing issues Positive in terms of (Hanchard, 1999). larger purportedly developments in politics started with President Fernando the participation of Afro-Brazilians Cardoso's of militants from the black movement to Henrique appointing a on and conference in affirmative action 1996 government positions calling Workers' party government has continued (Hanchard, 1999:14-15). Since 2003 the in education, a this pro-affirmative-action and has established notably policy, There Special Secretariat for Politics for the Promotion of Racial Equality headed by activist Matilde the respected black woman Ribeiro. The participation of the in was Brazilian the Durban in conference 2001 also delegation September women but activists Afro-Brazilian find that the acts notable, legislature only the healthy national discussion around slowly (Carneiro, 2002). Nevertheless, affirmative action has meant greater awareness of racial inequalities in the at large. population of African is to be expected from the small numbers of both women17 and people in politics, women of African descent are almost descent entirely absent from formal politics. When themilitary loosened its grip on the political As
were the 479 system in the late 1970s and early 1980s, 8 women among members of the Chamber of Deputies, and a woman was elected to the Senate in 1982. Among the 26 women elected to the Constituent Assembly in 1986 was Benedita da Silva, a black resident of Rio's slums and a member of the
68
divisive nature (Hanchard, 1999). bring to the table because of its purportedly and do Women and people of African descent also lack political experience not come from the occupations among which Brazilian politicians have tradi owners. As a and business tionally been recruited, namely, professionals result, they do not get the support they need as candidates (Olivia Santana, interview, December 15,2001).18 Finally, women party militants find itdifficult as mothers. In an attempt to balance their public lifewith their responsibilities some of these inequities, new legislation has stipulated that no to address or a more 70 than 30 than of less have should percent representation gender a in 1998 Few of for election the of candidates parties political party. percent met the quota. In fact, fewer women were elected to theHouse of Representatives in 1998 than in 1994 (Miguel, 2000:166), and therewas not a single black woman
elected to this assembly only black woman party?the newly formed Workers' to be elected to Congress. In 1994 she became and later the firstblack woman senator (Benjamin and Mendon?a, the first black woman 1997), and she was one of three black women ministers appointed by Luis In?cio Lula da Silva to in 2003, heading theMinistry of Social Affairs. his government women arena for Afro-Brazilian start with the in the political Problems are in These linked to the difficulties difficulties they face political parties. as and Afro-Brazilians irrational, dependent, "passive, stereotypes of women which translate into a and lacking in leadership and entrepreneurial ability," lack of symbolic capital (Oliveira, 1999:168). Leftist parties have also resisted the and Afro-Brazilians of racial and gender inequalities thatwomen understanding
Hanchard
2001: 32). of Black Brazilian Women, among them (Network of Organizations in formal politics stands in women's lack of participation Afro-Brazilian in community institutions, whether Afro sharp contrast to their active role or social movements. communities and cultural Brazilian Indeed, religious (1999: 8) argues that "samba schools, churches, terreirosde Candombl? and other religious and cultural (Afro-Brazilian religious houses of worship), centers for political mobilization. sites" should be considered They provide and are important for self-esteem and tools for mobilization identity. a network to has led the of their of emergence impact political Recognition known as Coordination Nacional de Entidades the Coordena?ao Women of Black Organizations?CONEN). In Afro-Brazilian role in such organizations. Negras play an (National
and within the women's within the black movement struggle for space both the For when S?o Paulo State Council on movement (Santos, 1999). example, were was seats in 4 32 of the created Women's Condition 1982, requested by was later reversed, and were at first denied them. This decision black women
leadership in particular, the priestess has considerable worship, on and on itsmostly white patrons. Afro-Brazilian influence her congregation a for girls and women, number of role models deities provide including women and far from the selfless defiant Virgin Mary's sacrificing ideal strong, and Abdon 1994 Carneiro, 1984). [1947]; (Landes, Cury The Women of color in Brazil have also created their own organizations. but has had to has held several national meetings black women's movement
important of spiritist houses and spiritual worldly
reasons the for party-political (Santos, 1999), and from it emerged mostly on Black Women. council's Commission Later, Edna Roland and Sueli Carneiro Committee of the recently elected in the S?o Paulo City Women's participated
Lebon / AFRO-BRAZILIANWOMEN SCHOLARS AND ACTIVISTS mayor and Workers'
69
party militant Luiza Erundina. After this experience with that are now they founded powerful advocacy policy making, organizations the Gel?des-Black Women's Institute and Fala internationally recognized: Pr?ta! In Rio, nongovernmental such as Cri?la were established. organizations In 2001 black women
Women's
one-third of the National Council for represented out 19 of none national had been However, (6 representatives). Rights as activists would have nominated by the black women's movement preferred Brazilian of of Black Women, (Network 2001). The Special Organizations toward Women Secretariat for Policies established party in by theWorkers' in its upper echelon. One 2003 had no recognizable black women positive has been that its new minister had previously overseen the development establishment affirmative action in her capacity as president of of race-based the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. women black leaders are also found inwhat many would consider Respected Brazilian the national-level of the women's movement. Nevertheless, leadership remain with regard to public parity has not yet been achieved, and problems movement and advocacy tends to focus on policy. Women's organization women's whereas black women's groups feel that socioeco rights, ensuring in particular nomic conditions, those affecting the reproductive labor resting on women's shoulders, need to be addressed with equal urgency (interview, e Centro Brasileiro de An?lise 12, 2001). Planej amento, December It seems fitting to bring to a close this overview of the available data on the of racial inequality in Brazil with a discussion of partici gendered dimension arena. One could argue that this iswhere the accumula in the pation political in education, occupation, time lost to lack of access to tion of disadvantages good health care and nutrition, and overburdened and productive reproductive labor crystallizes to hinder black women's in the formal realm of participation and the combined racist and sexist politics compounds stereotypes that prevent an election. them from being put on an electoral slate or winning
CONCLUSIONS
body of data in some areas, such as employment a and education, but not in number of others, notably health and violence on the The production of knowledge of against women. gendered dimensions racial exclusion has been impacted by state policy, which until the early 1980s data difficult to come made race-disaggregated by and repressed research on racial issues. Similarly, institutional practices within academia have delayed the incorporation of new theoretical perspectives because of the division of labor among scholars of race studies and gender studies and the extremely of African descent in higher education. limited number of women From the We now have a substantial
point of view of ideology, themyth of racial democracy?whatever may be left with of it now?interlocked the frameworks perfectly present in ideological race and with the ideal of sisterhood studies, notably early gender present in feminist circles and with the primary focus on class of theMarxist frameworks that influenced many feminist scholars and scholars of race relations. One aspect of themyth, namely, Brazil's self-representation as a "color-blind erotic
70
to a lack of attention to the female may also have contributed was cer If this indeed the case, itwas discrimination. of racial experience a now well-established to to reinforce and served pattern of tainly secondary It in took the establishment of the Afro-Brazilian research. bias masculinist and the rise ofAfro-Brazilian women scholars, supported by women's movement democracy," work a few visionary senior scholars, to produce more substantial work (including data by both gender and race. that disaggregated by non-Afro-Brazilians) conference to consider The international invitation provided by the Durban national "related oppressions"
to racism and xenophobia and the funds provided by inter as a its served for preparation catalyst for this change. organizations race tend to be that include various research the reports gender and Although race in terms of how gender and interact, an descriptive rather than analytical on the intersection of axes of gender, race, class, and other approach that focuses in women's and the black movement is and gaining ground inequality identity women of color,20 recognizes U.S. academic work.19 This approach, developed by that it is impossible to separate the various facets of people's identity in every in in interactions with the their others, way they are treated by day experience, an in them. of and institutions, intersectionality representations Although on the it not in does itself generally focuses preclude essentialism, approach nature of the categories itexamines. It also recognizes that sex socially constructed ism, racism, and other forms of oppression all function on the same principle?the social construction of a norm and exclusion of those who differ from it. This of the additive model for explaining how framework points to the inadequacy race and gender interlock and shape each other in terms of both oppression and an additive model identity formation. For example, Bairros (1995) shows that cannot account for the undermining of the privilege that black men are supposed to derive from their gender by their racial identity. It also cannot explain why now have higher levels of education than boys in their racial/ girls in Brazil ethnic groups (see also Lovell, 2006, on complex interactions of gender and race in labor market positioning). do more to achieve a truly inclusive A fully intersectional approach would such as class and sexuality. In this framework by integrating other dimensions
sense, this paper is limited in its efforts, especially with regard to sexuality. An to the sort of models that is generally less amenable intersectional approach com it is to convert difficult these research usually favors because quantitative can linear models. into so, however, processes Doing yield reasonably plex as an extremely (2005) fine-grained analysis of intercategorical complexity, McCall's work on the new inequality in the United States has demonstrated. Statistical data are certainly crucial, especially when convincing policy makers of the reality of discrimination, and they have been invaluable in tackling I believe that our understanding of the nature the myth of racial democracy. thework of also benefits from of racial of the reproduction greatly inequalities and economic dimensions of people's scholars who look beyond thematerial work
lives to incorporate the intertwined process of construction of otherness. This can help us to understand how otherness or difference is used, in the access to that condition Brazilian context, to build hierarchical systems resources, symbolic and material. Because, ultimately, it is this construction of otherness that leads to exclusion.
AFRO-BRAZILIANWOMEN SCHOLARS AND ACTIVISTS Lebon /
71
NOTES
1. This review includes and and all the works themost recent quantitative data on the mate presenting of racial exclusion that Iwas able to locate after substantial work, coupled with interviews of key individuals
rial manifestations library research
engaged in this fieldof study in 2001.
consequences a search for unpublished
2. This is not to suggest that the racial formations of the United States and Brazil are identical. 3. It is important not to underestimate the material of the dimensions consequences ideological in or erasure of racial exclusion, such as stereotypical from religious, representations scholarly, and literary texts, national educational the media, materials, etc., and their identity narratives, enactment the data in everyday institutional and available for currently assessing of the studies that draw statistical data individual interactions. are However, the extent of racial this paper in Brazil. focuses on inequalities
4. Many national published zations,
on this model
and other national-level institutions
census studies employing comprehensive that are conducted in the framework of international and
produced African descent of gendered 5. We meated
and the IADB) or at least (such as the IPEA, the UN Development Program, Bank in particular) and of nongovernmental (the World by such institutions organi as well as individual are not academic work 2006). They (e.g., Lovell, necessarily women of African descent of 1991; Sant'Anna, (but see Bairros, 2001). Women by have racial are on of smaller-scale studies aspects focusing particular Oliveira, 2001; 1999; Roland, Werneck, (see, e.g., 2001). oppression to scratch the surface of the price paid only beginning by understanding men and women for the frustration resulting from a culture and institutions per contributed health state a wealth
Afrodescendant
(Batista, 2003; Souzas, 2003). We are also just institutions such as the police and the justice darker skin color with criminality (Mitchell and Wood, 1999). system associated in the late 1980s at the Federal 6. Also of note is a seminar organized of Minas University Gerais Lovell and funded by the Ford Foundation entitled in "Racial by Peggy Inequalities A Brazil/' third of the book that resulted from the seminar with deals various Contemporary beginning aspects of the gendered scholars, by Brazilian the Ford Foundation edited of racial oppression volume of works (Lovell, 1991). Another Reichmann served as program officer with (1999), who by Rebecca in Rio de Janeiro, devotes close to half of its chapters to Afro-Brazilian dimensions and, since (white), amarela (yellow), census for the 2000 tested new
in terms of mental by racism, notably to understand the extent towhich
women's
issues.
7. Pr?ta (indigenous).
branca (black), parda (brown), The consultative committee
to people's and "ascendance," but these "origin" referring in the tests for the of 2001: majority population pilot confusing (Berqu?, on both is available "black" and "brown" when information categories language, their own 8. Two judgment. remarkable exceptions are Peggy Lovell, a U.S. sociologist,
1991, ind?gena and categories terms turned out to be too 8-9). Iwill use the terms to allow readers to use a Brazilian
and Elza
Berqu?,
demographer. 9. The HDI knowledge, combination weight), and
and
for the local cost of living (GDP) per capita adjusted power parity). (purchasing 10. Brazil ranks 27 points lower on the gender-adjusted index for women development than for human African descent issues it does while much better development generally, points on issues for white women higher) gender development issues (AMB, 2001: 12). opment to 25) show a 11. In fact, young women (aged 15 considerably than young men (9.2 percent) (UNESCO, 1999), and the number is now men. slightly greater than that of 12. The fact that nonremunerated tasks within considered "work" than lower for general human
is a composite of three basic of human components development: longevity, a standard of living. Longevity is measured by life expectancy, by knowledge of adult and mean of schooling (two-thirds weight) years (one-third literacy on real gross domestic standard of living by purchasing power, based product of
(16 devel
illiteracy rate (5.7 percent) of years of of women schooling
are the home forwhich respon generally girls some of this may explain gap. in unskilled 13. In the same period, black women's went from 36 percent wages occupations men to 54 (Lovell, 1999a: 147). percent of those of black 14. Except in the state of S?o Paulo, where race-identified death-certificate collection started with modest were results in 1996. By 2000 only 7 percent of the certificates registered missing racial information (Batista, 2003). sible are not
72
did not caveat is that 27.4 percent of the cases of maternal deaths included 15. One important ended up with a risk factor This may help explain why browns of the mother. specify the color lower than that of whites 1.0). (0.8 versus as a result of that shown 16. At least one study, in S?o Paulo state, has now mortality HIV /AIDS 17. With (Miguel, 18. This 19. As and men is greater among black women (Batista, 2003). a mere in 1997 and only 7 percent of the legislature the situation and the executive, 2000: 166). In the judiciary interview evidenced Hill and the ones that follow were Dossier conducted by academic published more generally production are two writers and bell hooks Collins page Mulheres Negras the Durban 5.5 percent is no better. of mayorships
in the feminist 20. Patricia
Safa for the IADB project. by Helen Feministas in 2002 and Revista Estudos by (e.g., V. Soares, 2000).
mentioned (1995) and figure by Bairros o Mundo do Umbigo para (http://www/ prominently more of [accessed January 11, 2002]). A analysis fine-grained mulheresnegras.org/publica.html to towhat extent and how Brazilian have scholars be necessary this body of work would identify women of color to reflect the reali the intersectionality translated by U.S. developed approach world. and economic ties of their sociopolitical on the web
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Beyond Confronting the Myth of Racial Democracy: The Role of Afro-Brazilian Women Scholars and Activists Author(s): Nathalie

Beyond Confronting theMyth ofRacial Democracy The Role ofAfro-Brazilian Women

Scholars and Activists

LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES, DOI: 10.1177/0094582X07308263 ? 2007 Latin American Perspectives 52

Issue 157, Vol. 34 No. 6,November

AFRO-BRAZILIANWOMEN SCHOLARS AND ACTIVISTS Lebon / beginning of African

of recognizing white of African descent. In the hands used

Lebon / AFRO'BRAZILIAN WOMEN SCHOLARS AND ACTIVISTS and the institutionalization

Lebon / AFRO-BRAZILIANWOMEN SCHOLARS AND ACTIVISTS trend was

LATINAMERICAN PERSPECTIVES Conference

RACIAL IDENTITY FORMATION AND ASSESSMENT OF RACIAL INEQUALITIES

Lebon / AFRO-BRAZILIANWOMEN SCHOLARS AND ACTIVISTS ambiguity

categories, some will

higher social socioeconomic Lovell

LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES

Lebon / AFRO-BRAZILIANWOMEN SCHOLARS AND ACTIVISTS

(Lovell, 2006: 70).

(INSPIR/DIEESE, 1999: 117).

large numbers of people black women Horizonte)

Lebon / AFRO-BRAZILIANWOMEN SCHOLARS AND ACTIVISTS with

LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES and

LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES

Lebon / AFRO-BRAZILIANWOMEN SCHOLARS AND ACTIVISTS

important of spiritist houses and spiritual worldly

Lebon / AFRO-BRAZILIANWOMEN SCHOLARS AND ACTIVISTS mayor and Workers'

AFRO-BRAZILIANWOMEN SCHOLARS AND ACTIVISTS Lebon /

rial manifestations library research

engaged in this fieldof study in 2001.

consequences a search for unpublished

4. Many national published zations,

and other national-level institutions

produced African descent of gendered 5. We meated

in terms of mental by racism, notably to understand the extent towhich

branca (black), parda (brown), The consultative committee

demographer. 9. The HDI knowledge, combination weight), and

illiteracy rate (5.7 percent) of years of of women schooling

in the feminist 20. Patricia

(Articula??o 2001 Mulheres

Arias, Omar 2001 "Education,

Bairros, Luiza 1991 "Mulher Brasil 1995 Bastos, 2001

family background, to the Inter-American Development or Ethnic Washington, Background," negra:

contempor?neo. feminismos "Nossos In?cio

o refor?o da subordina??o," in Peggy Belo Horizonte: UFMG/CEDEPLAR. revisitados." Revista Estudos

(ed.), Desigualdade 3: 458-463. estruturais

da Silva: An Afro-Brazilian Ramos

of the sexual mulata Bloomington and

das mulheres and

Feminist Network in Contemporary

Inequality: 2001 "Perfil "Estudos Bruschini, 1994 "O Cadernos

demogr?fico de genero na sociedade Cristina trabalho da mulher

do Observatorio do Furac?o. Janeiro: IBASE/ Observatorio

2000 Implementando o Cairo: Avan?os no Olho 1 (March). Cidadania/Dawn Network,

Lebon / AFRO-BRAZILIANWOMEN SCHOLARS AND ACTIVISTS

Feminina. e raciais." Jornal da

Patricia Collins, 1991 Black Feminist Routledge. Conley, Dalton

(eds.), Race, Class,

Identities 4: 201-234. Estudos Feministas 53-71. and Class 57-69.

Angela 1998 "The Brazilian Donna M.

in the global Violence,

Paper 9.Washington, color: behind Brazil's

e Terra. 1850-1940. Durham:

raciais no Brasil. Rio das condi??es

Graal. de 90. IPEA Texto