Afro-Brazilians

Percentage of black Brazilians per state, 2009.

Main ethnic groups in Brazil.

The first system referred by Telles is that of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). In the Census, respondents may identify their ethnicity or color from five categories: branca (white), parda (brown), preta (black), amarela (yellow) or indígena (indigenous). The term parda needs further explanation; it has been systematically used since the Census of 1940. In that census, people were asked for their "colour or race"; if the answer was not "White", "preta" (black), or "Yellow", interviewers were instructed to fill the "colour or race" box with a slash. These slashes were later summed up in the category pardo. In practice this means answers such as pardo, moreno, mulato, caboclo etc., all indicating mixed race. In the following censuses, pardo was added as a category on its own, and included Amerindians.[20] The latter were defined as a separate category only in 1991. It is a term for people of color who are lighter than blacks, and does not imply a black-white mixture, as there are some entirely indigenous persons.

Telles' second system is that of popular classification. Two IBGE surveys made more than 20 years apart (the 1976 National Household Sample Survey (PNAD) and the July 1998 Monthly Employment Survey (PME) have been analyzed to assess how Brazilians think of themselves in racial terms. The IBGE thought the data might be used to adjust classifications on the census (neither survey, however, resulted in changes to the Census classifications). Data Folha has also conducted research on this subject. The results of these surveys are somewhat varied, but seem to coincide in some fundamental aspects. First, a great number of racial terms are in use in Brazil, indicating a flexibility in thinking about the topic. The 1976 PNAD found that people responded with a total of 136 different terms to the question about race;[10] the July 1998 PME found 143.[21] However, most of these terms are used by small numbers of people. Telles notes that 95% of the population used one of 6 different terms for people of color and at least some African ancestry (branco, moreno, pardo, moreno-claro, preto and negro). Petruccelli shows that the 7 most common responses (the above plus amarela) sum up 97% of responses, and the 10 most common (the previous plus mulata, clara, and morena-escura - dark brunette) make 99%.[22]

Petruccelli, analysing the July 98 PME, finds that 77 denominations were mentioned by only one person in the sample. Twelve are misunderstandings, as respondents used terms of national or regional origin (francesa, italiana, baiana, cearense). Many of the racial terms are (or could be) remarks about the relation between skin colour and exposure to sun (amorenada, bem morena, branca-morena, branca-queimada, corada, bronzeada, meio morena, morena-bronzeada, morena-trigueira, morenada, morenão, moreninha, pouco morena, queimada, queimada de sol, tostada, rosa queimada, tostada). Others are clearly variations of the same idea (preto, negro, escuro, crioulo, retinto, for black, alva, clara, cor-de-leite, galega, rosa, rosada, pálida, for White, parda, mulata, mestiça, mista, for parda), or refinements of the same concept (branca morena, branca clara), and can be grouped together with one of the chiefly used racial terms without falsifying the interpretation.[22] Some responses seem to express an outright refusal of classification: azul-marinho ("navy blue"), azul ("blue"), verde ("green"), cor-de-burro-quando-foge. In the July 1998 PME, the categories Afro-Brasileiro ("Afro-Brazilian") and Africano Brasileiro ("African Brazilian") were not used at all; the category Africano ("African") was used by 0.004% of the respondents.[9] In the 1976 PNAD, none of these terms was used even once.[10]

The notable difference in the popular system is the widespread use of the term moreno. This is difficult to translate into English, and carries a few different meanings. Derived from Latin maurus, meaning inhabitant of Mauritania,[23] it has traditionally been used to distinguish White people with dark hair, as opposed to ruivo ("redhead") and loiro ("blonde").[24] It is also commonly used as a term for people with an olive complexion, a characteristic that is often found in connection with dark hair.[25] In this connection, it is applied as a term for suntanned people, and is commonly opposed to pálido ("pale") and amarelo ("yellow"), which in this case refer to people who are not frequently exposed to sun. Finally, it is also often used as a euphemism for pardo and preto.[17]

Finally, the Black movement has combined the groups pardos and pretos as a single category of negro (it does not use Afro-brasileiro or any other hyphenated form).[18] This appears to be similar to the Black Power movement in the United States, or, historically, the discriminatory one drop rule.[26] But in Brazil, the Black movement understands that not everybody with some African ancestry is Black.[27] It knows that many White Brazilians have African (or Amerindian, or both) ancestrys – so a "one drop rule" isn't what the Black movement envisages,[28] as it would make affirmative actions impossible. Second, the main issue for the Black movement is not cultural, but rather economic: its members are not seeking a supposed cultural identification with Africa, but rather to rectify a situation of economic disadvantage, common to those who are non-White (with the exception of those of East Asian ancestry), that groups them into a negro category.

However, this effort to divide Brazilians between brancos and negros is seen as influenced by American one-drop rule, and attracts much criticism. For instance, sociologist Demétrio Magnoli considers classifying all pretos and pardos as Blacks as an assault on the racial vision of Brazilians. He believes that scholars and activists of the Black movement misinterpret the ample variety of intermediate categories, characteristic of the popular system, to be a result of Brazilian racism, and that causes Blacks to refuse their identity and hide in euphemisms.[29] Magnoli refers to a survey about race, conducted in the town of Rio de Contas, Bahia, in which the choice of pardo was replaced by moreno. The town has about 14,000 people, 58% of whom White. Not only pardos chose the moreno category, but also almost half of the people who previously had identified as white, and half the people previously identified as pretos also choose the moreno category.[30]

According to a 2000 survey held in Rio de Janeiro, the entire self-reported preto population reported to have African ancestry. 86% of the self-reported pardo and 38% of the self-reported White population reported to have African ancestors. It is notable that 14% of the pardos (brown) from Rio de Janeiro said they have no African ancestors. This percentage may be even higher in Northern Brazil, where there was a greater ethnic contribution from Amerindian populations.[15]

Racial classifications in Brazil are based on skin color and on other physical characteristics such as facial features, hair texture, etc.[31] This is a poor scientific indication of ancestry, because only a few genes are responsible for someone's skin color: a person who is considered White may have more African ancestry than a person who is considered Black, and vice versa.[32] But, as race is a social construct, these classifications relate to how people are perceived and perceive themselves in society. In Brazil, class and economic status also affect how individuals are perceived.

Evolution of the Brazilian population according skin color: 1872–1991
Population growth Caucasians in white color Mixed and indigenous in black Negro in yellow Asians are very few[61]
Percentual in overall population Caucasians in white Mixed and indigenous in yellow Negro in black Asians are very few[61]

Before abolition, the growth of the black population was mainly due to the acquisition of new slaves from Africa. In Brazil, the black population had a negative growth. This was due to the low life expectancy of the slaves, which was around seven years.[38] It was also because of the imbalance between the number of men and women. The vast majority of slaves were men, black women being a minority.[36] Slaves rarely had a family and the unions between the slaves was hampered due to incessant hours of work. Another very important factor was that black women were held by white and mixed-race men. The Portuguese colonization, largely composed of men with very few women resulted in a social context in which white men disputed indigenous or African women.[38] According to Gilberto Freyre, in colonial Brazilian society the few African women who arrived quickly became concubines, and in some cases, officially wives of the Portuguese settlers. In large plantations of sugar cane and in the mining areas, the white master often choose the most beautiful black slaves to work inside the house. These slaves were raped by their masters, producing a very large Mulato population. The diplomat and ethnologist Richard Burton wrote that "Mulatism became a necessary evil" in the captaincies in the interior of Brazil. He noticed a "strange aversion to marriage" in the 19th century Minas Gerais, arguing that the colonists preferred to have quick relationships with black slaves rather than a marriage.[36]

According to Darcy Ribeiro the process of miscegenation between whites and blacks in Brazil, in contrast to an idealized racial democracy and a peaceful integration, was a process of sexual domination, in which the white man imposed an unequal relationship using violence because of his prime condition in society.[38] As an official wife or as a concubine or subjected to a condition of sexual slave, the black woman was the responsible for the growth of the "parda" population.[62] The non-White population has grown mainly through sexual intercourse between the black female slave and the Portuguese master, which, together with assortative mating, explains the high degree of European ancestry in the black Brazilian population and the high degree of African ancestry in the white population.[63]

Historian Manolo Florentino refutes the idea that a large part of the Brazilian people is a result of the forced relationship between the rich Portuguese colonizer and the Amerindian or African slaves. According to him, most of the Portuguese settlers in Brazil were poor adventurers from Northern Portugal who immigrated to Brazil alone. Most of them were men (the proportion was eight or nine men for each woman) and then it was natural that they had relationships with the Amerindian or Black women. According to him the mixture of races in Brazil, more than a sexual domination of the rich Portuguese master over the poor slaves, was a mixture between the poor Portuguese settlers with the Amerindian and Black women.[64]

The Brazilian population of more evident black physiognomy is more strongly present along the coast, due to the high concentration of slaves working on sugar cane plantations. Another region that had a strong presence of Africans was the mining areas in the center of Brazil. Freyre wrote that the states with strongest African presence were Bahia and Minas Gerais, but that there is no region in Brazil where the black people have not penetrated.[36] Many blacks fled to the hinterland of Brazil, including the Northern region, and met Amerindian and Mameluco populations. Many of these acculturated blacks were accepted in these communities and taught them the Portuguese language and the European culture. In these areas the blacks were "agents for transmitting European culture" to those isolated communities in Brazil. Many blacks mixed with the Amerindian and caboclo women.[36]

A recent genetic study of African Brazilians made for BBC Brasil analysed the DNA of self-reported native Africans from São Paulo.[67]

The research analysed the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), that is present in all human beings and passed down with only minor mutations through the maternal line. The other is the Y chromosome, that is present only in males and passed down with only minor mutations through the paternal line. Both can show from what part of the world a matrilineal or patrilineal ancestor of a person came from, but one can have in mind that they are only a fraction of the human genome, and reading ancestry from Y chromosome and mtDNA only tells 1/23rd the story, since humans have 23 chromosome pairs in the cellular DNA.[68]

Analysing the Y chromosome, which comes from male ancestors through paternal line, it was concluded that half (50%) of Brazilian "negros" Y chromosomes come from Europe, 48% come from Africa and 1.6% come from Native Americans. Analysing their mitochondrial DNA, that comes from female ancestors though maternal line, 85% of them come from Africa, 12.5% come from Native Americans and 2.5% come from Europe.[66]

Portrait "A Redenção de Cam" (1895), showing a Brazilian family each generation becoming "whiter".

The high level of European ancestry in African Brazilians through paternal line exists because, for much of Brazil's History, there were more Caucasian males than Caucasian females. So inter-racial relationships between Caucasian males and native African or Native American females were widespread.[69]

Over 75% of Caucasians from North and Northeastern Brazil would have over 10% native African genes, according to this particular study. Even in Southeastern and Southern Brazil, regions which received large waves of European immigration beginning in the 1820s and growing strongly in the late nineteenth century, 49% of the Caucasian population would have over 10% native African genes, according to that study. Thus, 86% of Brazilians would have at least 10% of genes that came from Africa. The researchers however were cautious about its conclusions: "Obviously these estimates were made by extrapolation of experimental results with relatively small samples and, therefore, their confidence limits are very ample". A new autosomal study from 2011, also led by Sérgio Pena, but with nearly 1000 samples this time, from all over the country, shows that in most Brazilian regions most Brazilians "whites" are less than 10% African in ancestry, and it also shows that the "pardos" are predominantly European in ancestry, the European ancestry being therefore the main component in the Brazilian population, in spite of a very high degree of African ancestry and significant Native American contribution.[70] Other autosomal studies (see some of them below) show a European predominance in the Brazilian population.

Another study (based on blood polymorphisms, from 1981) carried out in one thousand individuals from Porto Alegre city, Southern Brazil, and 760 from Natal city, Northeastern Brazil, found whites of Porto Alegre had 8% of African alleles and in Natal the ancestry of the samples total was characterized as 58% White, 25% Black, and 17% Amerindian". This study found that persons identified as White or Pardo in Natal have similar ancestries, a dominant European ancestry, while persons identified as White in Porto Alegre have an overwhelming majority of European ancestry.[71]

According to an autosomal DNA genetic study from 2011, both "whites" and "pardos" from Fortaleza have a predominantly degree of European ancestry (>70%), with minor but important African and Native American contributions. "Whites" and "pardos" from Belém and Ilhéus also were found to be pred. European in ancestry, with minor Native American and African contributions.[70]

According to another study conducted on a school in the poor periphery of Rio de Janeiro, autosomal DNA study (from 2009), the "pardos" there were found to be on average over 80% European, and the "whites" (who thought of themselves as "very mixed") were found out to carry very little Amerindian and/or African admixtures. "The results of the tests of genomic ancestry are quite different from the self made estimates of European ancestry", say the researchers. In general, the test results showed that European ancestry is far more important than the students thought it would be. The "pardos" for example thought of themselves as ⅓ European, ⅓ African and ⅓ Amerindian before the tests, and yet their ancestry was determined to be at over 80% European. The "blacks" (pretos) of the periphery of Rio de Janeiro, according to this study, thought of themselves as predominantly African before the study and yet they turned out predominantly European (at 52%), the African contribution at 41% and the Native American 7%.[14][72]

According to another autosomal DNA study (see table), those who identified as Whites in Rio de Janeiro turned out to have 86.4% – and self identified pardos 68.1% – European ancestry on average (autosomal). Pretos were found out to have on average 41.8% European ancestry [12]

Another study (autosomal DNA study from 2010) found out that European ancestry predominates in the Brazilian population as a whole ("whites", "pardos" and "blacks" altogether). European ancestry is dominant throughout Brazil at nearly 80%, except for the Southern part of Brazil, where the European heritage reaches 90%. "A new portrayal of each ethnicity contribution to the DNA of Brazilians, obtained with samples from the five regions of the country, has indicated that, on average, European ancestors are responsible for nearly 80% of the genetic heritage of the population. The variation between the regions is small, with the possible exception of the South, where the European contribution reaches nearly 90%. The results, published in the American Journal of Human Biology by a team of the Catholic University of Brasília, show that, in Brazil, physical indicators such as skin colour, colour of the eyes and colour of the hair have little to do with the genetic ancestry of each person, which has been shown in previous studies"(regardless of census classification)[72][73] "Ancestry informative SNPs can be useful to estimate individual and population biogeographical ancestry. Brazilian population is characterized by a genetic background of three parental populations (European, African, and Brazilian Native Amerindians) with a wide degree and diverse patterns of admixture. In this work we analyzed the information content of 28 ancestry-informative SNPs into multiplexed panels using three parental population sources (African, Amerindian, and European) to infer the genetic admixture in an urban sample of the five Brazilian geopolitical regions. The SNPs assigned apart the parental populations from each other and thus can be applied for ancestry estimation in a three hybrid admixed population. Data was used to infer genetic ancestry in Brazilians with an admixture model. Pairwise estimates of F(st) among the five Brazilian geopolitical regions suggested little genetic differentiation only between the South and the remaining regions." Estimates of ancestry results are consistent with the heterogeneous genetic profile of Brazilian population, with a major contribution of European ancestry (0.771) followed by African (0.143) and Amerindian contributions (0.085). The described multiplexed SNP panels can be useful tool for bioanthropological studies but it can be mainly valuable to control for spurious results in genetic association studies in admixed populations." [74] It is important to note that "the samples came from free of charge paternity test takers, thus as the researchers made it explicit: "the paternity tests were free of charge, the population samples involved people of variable socioeconomic strata, although likely to be leaning slightly towards the ‘'pardo'’ group".[75] According to it the total European, African and Native American contributions to the Brazilian population are:

According to another autosomal DNA study (from 2009) conducted on a school in the poor periphery of Rio de Janeiro the "pardos" there were found to be on average over 80% European, and the "whites" (who thought of themselves as "very mixed") were found out to carry very little Amerindian and/or African admixtures. "The results of the tests of genomic ancestry are quite different from the self made estimates of European ancestry", say the researchers. In general, the test results showed that European ancestry is far more important than the students thought it would be. The "pardos" for example thought of themselves as ⅓ European, ⅓ African and ⅓ Amerindian before the tests, and yet their ancestry was determined to be at over 80% European. The "blacks" (pretos) of the periphery of Rio de Janeiro, according to this study, thought of themselves as predominantly African before the study and yet they turned out predominantly European (at 52%), the African contribution at 41% and the Native American 7%.[14][72]

An autosomal study from 2013, with nearly 1300 samples from all of the Brazilian regions, found a pred. degree of European ancestry combined with African and Native American contributions, in varying degrees. 'Following an increasing North to South gradient, European ancestry was the most prevalent in all urban populations (with values up to 74%). The populations in the North consisted of a significant proportion of Native American ancestry that was about two times higher than the African contribution. Conversely, in the Northeast, Center-West and Southeast, African ancestry was the second most prevalent. At an intrapopulation level, all urban populations were highly admixed, and most of the variation in ancestry proportions was observed between individuals within each population rather than among population'.[76]

According to another autosomal DNA study from 2009, the Brazilian population, in all regions of the country, was also found out to be predominantly European: "all the Brazilian samples (regions) lie more closely to the European group than to the African populations or to the Mestizos from Mexico".[78] According to it European ancestry was the main component in all regions of Brazil: Northeast of Brazil (66.7% European 23.3% African 10.0% Amerindian) Northern Brazil (60.6% European 21.3% African 18.1% Amerindian) Central West (66,3% European 21.7% African 12.0% Amerindian) Southeast Brazil (60.7% European 32.0% African 7.3% Amerindian) Southern Brazil (81.5% European 9.3% African 9.2% Amerindian). According to it the total European, African and Native American contributions to the Brazilian population are:

An autosomal study from 2011 (with nearly almost 1000 samples from all over the country, "whites", "pardos" and "blacks" included, according to their respective proportions) has also concluded that European ancestry is the predominant ancestry in Brazil, accounting for nearly 70% of the ancestry of the population: "In all regions studied, the European ancestry was predominant, with proportions ranging from 60.6% in the Northeast to 77.7% in the South".[70] The 2011 autosomal study samples came from blood donors (the lowest classes constitute the great majority of blood donors in Brazil[80]), and also public health institutions personnel and health students. In all Brazilian regions European, African and Amerindian genetic markers are found in the local populations, even though the proportion of each varies from region to region and from individual to individual.[81][82] However most regions showed basically the same structure, a greater European contribution to the population, followed by African and Native American contributions: "Some people had the vision Brazil was a heterogeneous mosaic [...] Our study proves Brazil is a lot more integrated than some expected".[83] Brazilian homogeneity is, therefore, greater within regions than between them:

A 2015 autosomal genetic study, which also analyzed data of 25 studies of 38 different Brazilian populations concluded that: European ancestry accounts for 62% of the heritage of the population, followed by the African (21%) and the Native American (17%). The European contribution is highest in Southern Brazil (77%), the African highest in Northeast Brazil (27%) and the Native American is the highest in Northern Brazil (32%).[84]

According to another study from 2008, by the University of Brasília (UnB), European ancestry dominates in the whole of Brazil (in all regions), accounting for 65,90% of the heritage of the population, followed by the African contribution (24,80%) and the Native American (9,3%).[85]

According to an autosomal DNA study (from 2003) focused on the composition of the Brazilian population as a whole, "European contribution [...] is highest in the South (81% to 82%), and lowest in the North (68% to 71%). The African component is lowest in the South (11%), while the highest values are found in the Southeast (18%-20%). Extreme values for the Amerindian fraction were found in the South and Southeast (7%-8%) and North (17%-18%)". The researchers were cautious with the results as their samples came from paternity test takers which may have skewed the results partly.[86][87]

São Paulo state, the most populous state in Brazil, with about 40 million people, showed the following composition, according to an autosomal study from 2006: European genes account for 79% of the heritage of the people of São Paulo, 14% are of African origin, and 7% Native American.[88] A more recent study, from 2013, found the following composition in São Paulo state: 61,9% European, 25,5% African and 11,6% Native American.[89]

Several other older studies have suggested that European ancestry is the main component in all Brazilian regions. A study from 1965, "Methods of Analysis of a Hybrid Population" (Human Biology, vol. 37, no. 1), led by the geneticists D. F. Roberts and R. W. Hiorns, found out the average the Northeastern Brazilian to be predominantly European in ancestry (65%), with minor but important African and Native American contributions (25% and 9%).[90] A study from 2002 quoted previous and older studies (28. Salzano F. M. Interciêência. 1997;22:221–227. 29. Santos S. E. B., Guerreiro J. F. Braz J. Genet. 1995;18:311–315. 30. Dornelles C. L, Callegari-Jacques S. M, Robinson W. M., Weimer T. A., Franco M. H. L. P., Hickmann A. C., Geiger C. J., Salzamo F. M. Genet. Mol. Biol. 1999;22:151–161. 31. Krieger H., Morton N. E., Mi M. P, Azevedo E., Freire-Maia A., Yasuda N. Ann. Hum. Genet. 1965;29:113–125. [PubMed]), saying that: "Salzano (28, a study from 1997) calculated for the Northeastern population as a whole, 51% European, 36% African, and 13% Amerindian ancestries whereas in the north, Santos and Guerreiro (29, a study from 1995) obtained 47% European, 12% African, and 41% Amerindian descent, and in the southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul, Dornelles et al. (30, a study from 1999) calculated 82% European, 7% African, and 11% Amerindian ancestries. Krieger et al. (31, a study from 1965) studied a population of Brazilian northeastern origin living in São Paulo with blood groups and electrophoretic markers and showed that whites presented 18% of African and 12% of Amerindian genetic contribution and that blacks presented 28% of European and 5% of Amerindian genetic contribution (31). Of course, all of these Amerindian admixture estimates are subject to the caveat mentioned in the previous paragraph. At any rate, compared with these previous studies, our estimates showed higher levels of bidirectional admixture between Africans and non-Africans."[91]

• 
  Crioulo (Brazilian born) slaves
• 
  Slave women from various African regions wearing European-style hairdressing
• 
  African slaves from Monjolo, Elmina, Mozambique, Benguela e Calava

In 2007 BBC Brasil launched the project Raízes Afro-Brasileiras (Afro-Brazilian Roots), in which they analyzed the genetic ancestry of nine famous Brazilian blacks and "pardos". Three tests were based on analysis of different parts of their DNA: an examination of paternal ancestry, maternal ancestry and the genomic ancestry, allowing to estimate the percentage of African, European and Amerindian genes in the composition of an individual.[32]

Of the nine people analyzed, three had more European ancestry than African, while the other six people had more African ancestry, with varying degrees of European and Amerindian admixture. The African admixture varied from 19.5% in actress Ildi Silva to 99.3% in singer Milton Nascimento. The European admixture varied from 0.4% in Nascimento to 70% in Silva. The Amerindian admixture from 0.3% in Nascimento to 25.4% in football player Obina.

• 
  Sandra de Sá is: 96.7% African, 2.1% European and 1.1% Amerindian
• 
  Seu Jorge is: 85.1% African, 12.9% European and 2% Amerindian
• 
  Djavan is: 65% African, 30.1% European and 4.9% Amerindian
• 
  Obina is: 61.4% African, 25.4% Amerindian and 13.2% European
• 
  Daiane dos Santos is: 40.8% European, 39.7% African and 19.6% Amerindian
• 
  Neguinho da Beija-Flor is: 67.1% European, 31.5% African and 1.4% Amerindian

Zezé Motta is considered one of the most important black actresses in Brazil.[92]^:454

Pretos, along with other non-Europeans, have a low representation in the Brazilian media. Africans / Afro-Brazilians are under-represented in telenovelas, which have the largest audience of Brazilian television. The Brazilian soap operas, as well as throughout Latin America, are accused of under-representing the Black, Mixed and Amerindian population and over-representing white casts (with having preferences to upper-middle-class, blond and blue/green-eyed actors and actresses).[93][94][95][96] Brazil has produced soap operas since the 1960s, but it was only in 1996 that a black actress, Taís Araújo, was the protagonist of a telenovela, playing the role of the famous slave Chica da Silva. In 2002, Araujo was protagonist of another soap, being the only Black actress to have a more prominent role in a TV production of Brazil. Black actors in Brazil are usually required to follow stereotypes and are usually in subordinate and submissive roles, as maids, drivers, servants, bodyguards, and poor favelados. Joel Zito Araújo wrote the book A Negação do Brasil (The Denial of Brazil) which talks about how Brazilian TV hides the Black population. Araújo analyzed Brazilian soap operas from 1964 to 1997 and only 4 black families were represented as being of middle-class. Black women usually appear under strong sexual connotation and sensuality. Black men usually appear as rascals or criminals. Another common stereotype is of the "old mammies". In 1970, in the soap A Cabana do Pai Tomás (based on American novel Uncle Tom's Cabin) a white actor, Sérgio Cardoso, played Thomas, who was a black man in the book. The actor had to paint his body in black to look black. The choice of a White actor to play a black character caused major protests in Brazil. In 1975 the telenovela Gabriela was produced, based on a book by Jorge Amado, who described Gabriela, the main character, as a mulata. But to play Gabriela on television Rede Globo choose Sônia Braga, who is an olive-skinned woman. The producer claimed he "did not find any talented Black actress" for the role of Gabriela. In 2001 Rede Globo produced Porto dos Milagres, also based on a book by Jorge Amado. In the book Amado described a Bahia full of blacks. In the Rede Globo's soap opera, on the other hand, almost all the cast was white. The same situation has been seen in the 2018 telenovela "Segundo Sol", leading to new protests, mainly in social medias. But once again the producer (TV Globo) denied racism, saying "We base our cast selection by talent, not by race".[97]

In the fashion world blacks and "pardos" are also poorly represented. In Brazil there is a clear predominance of models from the South of Brazil, mostly of European descent. Many black models complained of the difficulty of finding work in the fashion world in Brazil.[98] This reflects a Caucasian standard of beauty demanded by the media. To change this trend, the Black Movement of Brazil entered in court against the fashion show, where almost all the models were whites. In a fashion show during São Paulo Fashion Week in January 2008, of the 344 models only eight (2.3% of total) were blacks. A public attorney required the fashion show to contract Black models and demanded that during São Paulo Fashion Week 2009, at least 10% of the models should be "Blacks, Afro-descendants or Indians", under penalty of fine of 250,000 reais.[99]

Black girls during a Candomblé ceremony.

Most blacks are Christians, mainly Catholics.[100] Afro-Brazilian religions such as Candomblé and Umbanda have many followers, but they are open to people of any race, and, indeed, while the proportions of blacks (in the strict sense, i.e., "pretos") are higher among practitioners of these religions than among the population in general, Whites are a majority in Umbanda, and a significant minority (bigger than blacks in the strict sense) in Candomblé.[101] They are concentrated mainly in large urban centers such as Salvador, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Brasília, São Luís. In addition to Candomblé which is closer to the original West African religions, there is also Umbanda which blends Catholic and Kardecist Spiritism beliefs with African beliefs. Candomblé, Batuque, Xango and Tambor de Mina were originally brought by enslaved Africans shipped from Africa to Brazil.[102]

These enslaved Africans would summon their gods, called Orixas, Voduns or Inkices with chants and dances they had brought from Africa. These religions have been persecuted in the past, mainly due to Catholic influence. However, Brazilian government has legalized them. In current practice, Umbanda followers leave offerings of food, candles and flowers in public places for the spirits. The Candomblé terreiros are more hidden from general view, except in famous festivals such as Iemanjá Festival and the Waters of Oxalá in the Northeast. From Bahia northwards there is also different practices such as Catimbo, Jurema with heavy, though not necessarily authentic, indigenous elements.

Since the late 20th century, a large number of negros became followers of Protestant denominations, mainly Neopentecostal churches. Among Brazil's predominant ethnicities, Blacks make up the largest proportion of Pentecostal Protestants, while Whites make up the largest group of non-Pentecostal Protestants.[100] As mentioned, some black Brazilians are Muslims of Sunni sect whose ancestors were called Malê.

Feijoada, a Brazilian dish

The influence of African cuisine in Brazil is expressed in a wide variety of dishes. In the state of Bahia, an exquisite cuisine evolved when cooks improvised on African and traditional Portuguese dishes using locally available ingredients. Typical dishes include Vatapá and Moqueca, both with seafood and dendê palm oil (Portuguese: Azeite de Dendê). This heavy oil extracted from the fruits of an African palm tree is one of the basic ingredients in Bahian or Afro-Brazilian cuisine, adding flavor and bright orange color to foods. There is no equivalent substitute, but it is available in markets specializing in Brazilian or African imports.

Feijoada was introduced from Portugal and has been one of the national dishes of for over 300 years. African slaves built upon its basic ingredients, but substituting more expensive ingredients with cheap ones such as pigs ears, feet and tail, beans and manioc flour. Basically a mixture of black beans, pork and farofa (lightly roasted coarse cassava manioc flour), the dish has been adopted by other cultures, and there are hundreds of ways to make it.

Acarajé is a dish made from peeled black-eyed peas formed into a ball and then deep-fried in dendê (palm oil). It is found in Nigerian and Brazilian cuisine. The dish is traditionally encountered in Brazil's northeastern state of Bahia, especially in the city of Salvador, often as street food, and is also found in most parts of Nigeria, Ghana and the Republic of Benin.

The music of Brazil is a mixture of Portuguese, Amerindian, and African music, making a wide variety of styles. Brazil is well known for the rhythmic liveliness of its music as in its Samba dance music.

Many black Brazilians have been prominent in Brazilian society, particularly in the arts, music and sports.

Many important figures of Brazilian literature have been people of African-descendant, such as Machado de Assis, widely regarded as the greatest writer of Brazilian literature. Some of these individuals include João da Cruz e Souza,[105] symbolist poet, João do Rio, chronicler, Maria Firmina dos Reis, abolitionist and author, José do Patrocínio, journalist, among others.

In popular music, the talents of black Brazilians have found fertile ground for their development. Masters of samba, Pixinguinha,[106] Cartola,[107] Lupicínio Rodrigues,[108] Geraldo Pereira,[109] Wilson Moreira,[110] and of MPB, Milton Nascimento,[111] Jorge Ben Jor,[112] Gilberto Gil,[113]^:37 have built the Brazilian musical identity.

Another field where black Brazilians have excelled is football: Pelé,[113]^:38 Garrincha,[114] right-forward Leônidas da Silva,[114] nicknamed "Black Diamond", are well known historic names of Brazilian football; Ronaldinho,[92]^:585 Romário,[92]^:585 Robinho and many others continue this tradition.

Important athletes in other sports include NBA players, Nenê and Leandro Barbosa, nicknamed "The Brazilian Blur", referring to his speed.[115] João Carlos de Oliveira[116] Jadel Gregório, Nelson Prudêncio,[92]^:545 Adhemar da Silva.[117]

Particularly important among sports is capoeira, itself a creation of Black Brazilians; important "Mestres" (masters) include Mestre Amen Santo, Mestre Bimba,[118] Mestre Cobra Mansa, Mestre João Grande, Mestre João Pequeno, Mestre Moraes, Mestre Pastinha,[119] Mestre Pé de Chumbo.

Since the end of the military dictatorship, the political participation of black Brazilians has increased. The first female senator, Benedita da Silva,[113]^:37 is Black; other important politicians include Senator Paulo Paim,[120] former mayor of São Paulo Celso Pitta,[113]^:37 former governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Alceu Collares,[92]^:197 former governor of Espírito Santo, Albuíno Azeredo.[92]^:84 One of the justices of the Supremo Tribunal Federal, Joaquim Barbosa,[113]^:37 is Black. There is only one Black Justice at the TST (Tribunal Superior do Trabalho) who was also Minister, Carlos Alberto Reis de Paula.

Black Brazilians have also excelled as actors, such as Lázaro Ramos,[92]^:558 Ruth de Souza,[121] Zózimo Bulbul,[122] Milton Gonçalves,[92]^:302 Mussum, Zezé Motta.[92]^:454 and as dancers, like Isa Soares.[123]

• 
  Iza
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  Nenê[124]
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  Sandra de Sá, singer
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  Obina[125]
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  Benedita da Silva[113]^:37
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  Paulo Paim[120]
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  Joaquim Barbosa[113]^:37
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  João da Cruz e Sousa[105]
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  Milton Santos[92]^:605
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  Pelé[113]^:37
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  Ronaldinho[92]^:585
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  Clarissa dos Santos
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  Robinho
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  Gilberto Gil[113]^:37
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  Seu Jorge[126]
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  Taís Araújo
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  Lázaro Ramos[92]^:558
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  Margareth Menezes[92]^:435
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  Anderson Silva[127]
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  Fernanda Garay
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  Gilberto Gil
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  João Cândido Felisberto with sailors and reporters on the last day of the Revolt of the Lash
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  Fabiana Claudino

• Afro-Latin Americans
• Batuque
• Candomblé
• Ethnic groups in Brazil
• Haitian Brazilian
• Kalunga
• Liberated Africans in Nigeria
• Macumba
• Quimbanda
• Racial democracy
• Tambor de Mina
• Umbanda

• Ankerl, Guy. Coexisting Contemporary Civilizations: Arabo-Muslim, Bharati, Chinese, and Western. 2000, Geneva. INUPRESS, ISBN 2-88155-004-5. pp. 187–210.

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