A Prominent Afro-Brazilian
He was an activist in the battle against racial discrimination (one of the courageous few blacks to do so). He was a close friend and we spent many an hour comparing race relations in Brazil and the U.S.
He did not take lightly to the frequent humiliations that he suffered in a society that was far less tolerant than its white elite said it was.
My friend fell into despair, locked himself in his apartment and starved himself to death. Consternation quickly spread. Weeks later I was at a small dinner party in Rio. Conversation turned to this recent event and a distinguished (and reputedly very progressive) Rio professor turned to me and said, “Poderia ser preto mais pelo menos foi decente.” I thought, “You hypocritical SOB,” but I bit my lip.
He was talking about a fellow Brazilian who had translated works about Brazil from the French.
Moral: my country wasn’t the only one with race problems. (I am keeping both names anonymous to preserve their privacy.)
Live and learn.
P.S. Brazil, some decades later, under President Fernando Henrique Cardoso (who had, earlier in his career, written important revisionist works on Brazilian race relations) adopted an ambitious affirmative action program, which began making a real difference.
Further Readings
Degler, Carl N. Neither Black nor White: Slavery and Race Relations in Brazil and the United States. New York: Macmillan, 1971.
Twine, Francine Winddance. Racism in a Racial Democracy: The Maintenance of White Supremacy in Brazil. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Univ. Press, 1998.
Weinstein, Barbara. The Color of Modernity: São Paulo and the Making of Race and Nation in Brazil. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University, 2015.