VZCZCXRO9447
PP RUEHRG
DE RUEHSO #0895/01 3101757
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 061757Z NOV 07
FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7653
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 8766
RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 3160
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 2924
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 2485
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ 3544
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0592
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 2186
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 3864
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 8422
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SAO PAULO 000895
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR WHA/BSC, WHA/PDA AND DRL
NSC FOR TOMASULO
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD
USAID FOR LAC/AA
TAGS: PHUM SOCI SCUL KDEM KPAO BR
SUBJECT: BRAZIL: NOT A MULTIRACIAL, MULTICULTURAL PARADISE SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY
Summary -------
1. (SBU) Discrimination against Afro-Brazilians tarnishes Brazil's international reputation as a tolerant and welcoming
country home to hundreds of indigenous groups and immigrants from every corner of the world. In Brazil the issue is
extremely divisive with many claiming that racism does not exist, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Some
Afro-Brazilian activists believe part of the problem is traditional racism against "darker-skinned" people, but place
equal, if not more, blame on internal divisions and a lack of common efforts within the black community. Analysts tell
us that a combination of legislative action and private sector initiatives as well as a change in the national culture
is essential if Brazil is to move past decades of racism. End Summary.
Background ----------
2. (SBU) Brazil is home to between 90 and 100 million descendants of African slaves - over half of the country's total
population. Despite the 1888 abolition of slavery, Afro-Brazilians still face significant economic, political and social
challenges. Blacks are overwhelmingly poor, representing two-thirds of Brazilians below the poverty line, and do not
have access to good education. Afro-Brazilians face serious hurdles entering the formal labor market and securing
high-paying jobs. Blacks earn on average half as much as whites and are twice as likely to be illiterate.
3. (SBU) Discrimination against Brazil's black population is a cruel injustice that remains a powerful reality,
according to Elisa Lucas Rodrigues, President of the Sao Paulo State Council on the Participation and Development of the
Black Community (CPDCNGSP). Rodrigues, a 2005 International Visitor (IV), remarked that a 2003 law that requires public
schools to teach African culture and history is a positive first step; her Council has trained 16,000 teachers in the
subject. Maria Aparecida de Laia, General Coordinator of Sao Paulo's Special Secretariat for Participation and
Partnership's Coordinating Body for Issues of the Black Population (CONE), also hailed the law, highlighting its vital
role in raising the self-confidence of young Afro-Brazilians and allowing them to see that they can achieve more than
basic service jobs. (Note: The law does not cover private schools which are overwhelmingly dominated by richer, white
Brazilians. End Note.)
4. (SBU) CPDCNGSP President Rodrigues expressed support for state and federal universities that are self-implementing
quota systems to ensure greater diversity. According to the Special Secretariat on Racial Equality, over 40 universities
have already adopted such quota systems. These opportunities have helped provide a superior level of education to many
Afro-Brazilians, who for generations were denied a higher degree, CONE Coordinator de Laia said. Senator Paulo Paim of
President Lula's Workers' Party (PT), the only self-declared Afro-Brazilian senator, is leading an effort to require
federal universities to have quotas in place. There is much debate within the Afro-Brazilian community regarding quotas,
however. Denise Aparecida Tobias, a family attorney involved in initiatives supporting the Afro-Brazilian community,
said that some Afro-Brazilians contend that quotas separate blacks even more from whites.
Community Self-Image Improving ------------------------------
5. (SBU) De Laia noted that Afro-Brazilians have achieved major success in a number of academic fields. More
Afro-Brazilians are becoming scholars and researchers, more scholarships are granted to Afro-Brazilians and more
academic papers are being published on Afro-Brazilian issues. Only a few years ago, whites were the principal authors of
research projects on the Afro-Brazilian community, she said, and now blacks are taking the lead. Attorney Tobias claimed
that Afro-Brazilians are beginning to see some hope in media and popular culture. Widely-viewed soap operas no longer
"fear" featuring black actors, and due to Afro-Brazilian athletes'
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success, particularly in soccer - the national obsession - black self-confidence, non-existent for generations, is on
the rise. Moises de Freitas, a researcher on Afro-Brazilian socio-economic development, said Afro-Brazilians are
increasingly more likely to identify their race on surveys, a sign that they are no longer afraid of admitting who they
are instead of trying to classify themselves in another category. Father Jose Enes de Jesus, President of the Institute
of the Black Baptist Father (IBBF), a Catholic organization trying to get Afro-Brazilian youth off the streets, claimed
that in the last fifteen years, Afro-Brazilians have become more conscious of their racial identity and have begun to
demand more rights and more follow-up by authorities on racial crimes.
Government Efforts Needed -------------------------
6. (SBU) In March, Minister of Racial Integration Matilde Ribeiro made a provocative statement in which she asserted
that it is natural for blacks to dislike white people. Many criticized her statement as a racist incitement, prompting
Vice President Jose Alencar to deny the existence of racism in Brazil; however, it helped raise awareness of an often
overlooked issue. CPDCNGSP President Rodrigues expressed disappointment that the Sao Paulo State Government fails to
financially support many agencies dealing with disadvantaged groups, including women, children and senior citizens,
impacting the programs her entity can run. Government agencies handling diversity and discrimination, as well as those
working on education and health, need greater integration to improve the lives of Afro-Brazilians, CONE's de Laia
commented. Federal, state and local offices in large urban areas charged with this portfolio are making progress but
smaller and more rural cities and towns lack basic support for such initiatives. Maria da Penha Guimaraes, IBBF Legal
Coordinator, noted that government initiatives help the poor and disadvantaged in general rather than targeting
Afro-Brazilians, adding that many laws are not enforced, further complicating anti-discrimination efforts. The
government is effective in providing basic food aid to the poor, of whom many are Afro-Brazilians, but does not build an
"infrastructure" for personal growth and development or mechanisms to help improve the community as a whole, she said.
The Private Sector as a Model? ------------------------------
7. (SBU) Researcher de Freitas assisted in a major project on social and racial issues in the workplace which
demonstrated that the private sector may be ahead of government in some anti-discrimination efforts. His findings also
highlighted that challenges remain. Many businesses in Brazil, including even large corporations, are family-owned and
conduct business with other family-operated companies. Black Brazilian families do not have a history of owning large
businesses and therefore have difficulty competing. Because of the nature of family ownership and the fact that the rich
attend the same schools and religious and social organizations, networking is extremely important. Blacks do not belong
to these same networks and therefore face this additional obstacle. According to de Freitas, many businesses are moving
away from hiring based purely on networking, potentially opening the field to more blacks.
Divisions within Afro-Brazilian Community -----------------------------------------
8. (SBU) Contacts repeated that unity is a major challenge for the Afro-Brazilian community in fighting discrimination.
Da Penha of IBBF said Afro-Brazilians are divided based on various "shades of blackness." As she explained it, "darker"
blacks do not consider "lighter" blacks to be "real" Afro-Brazilians and do not cooperate on common causes. Many
"lighter-skinned" Afro-Brazilians also do not rally around the black cause to avoid having society group them with
Afro-Brazilians as a whole, and some Afro-Brazilians do not even recognize themselves as black. De Freitas commented
that black people suffer from prejudice perpetrated not only by non-blacks, but also by "lighter-skinned" blacks, who
are sometimes the most virulent racists because they consider themselves better than
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"darker" blacks because of their lighter skin tone. Rodrigues said that while there is a national movement to address
these issues, it does not get much attention because Brazilians are more concerned about immediate problems such as
their next meal or paycheck. Da Penha said that the Afro-Brazilian rights movement needs mre unity and structure, but
more importantly, blcks must change their mentality and gain confidene to battle racism. Mauricio Pestana, a 2006 IVand
prominent Afro-Brazilian political commentator also called for greater cooperation, saying tha a serious lack of
leadership prevents black Brailians from pressing for more rights. Brazil does not have a Martin Luther King, Jr., he
said, and wthout one, internal fighting and the absence of common effort are impeding progress. In attorny Tobias'
opinion, this lack of a culture of organized activism to promote change is a serious problem. Many blacks do not want to
"fight" because they believe that whites will always have more power. She added that Afro-Brazilians do not want to help
each other because doing so would highlight their "blackness" and make them lose favor among whites.
Other Challenges Remain -----------------------
9. (SBU) CPDCNGSP President Rodrigues lamented the fact that the majority of Afro-Brazilians serve in poorer paying jobs
and are not represented in senior state government offices. She said part of the problem is because power is often
passed down from father to son in Brazil, and it is therefore difficult for blacks to hold leadership positions if
historically they have never had any. CONE's de Laia argued that an overwhelming number of Afro-Brazilian descendants
live in shantytowns and represent the demographic with the lowest education level in Brazil. No matter what successes
Afro-Brazilians have achieved, whites still have an easier time finding jobs and securing a higher salary, adding that
there are no major Afro-Brazilian business executives. Rodrigues also criticized severe police brutality aimed at blacks
in custody, but said the Council is working on this issue through a mandatory diversity training course for all incoming
police officers created in 2005. De Laia said that black youth are particularly prone to problems because they regularly
resort to violence to resolve disputes. She said police often do not pursue the possibility of hate- or race-related
motives in crimes perpetrated against Afro-Brazilians specifically because law enforcement denies or ignores the
existence of racism.
Comment ------
10. (SBU) The plight of Afro-Brazilians is a complicated issue that sheds the myth - advanced in the 1930's by renowned
sociologist Gilberto Freyre - of "racial democracy" as a key component of Brazil's "luso-tropical civilization," warm
and friendly people, beautiful beaches, laid-back music and a carefree lifestyle. Racism is a serious problem that
impacts the lives of millions of Brazilians. It limits their educational and social opportunities, which, in turn,
hinders their entry into the workforce and participation in the mainstream economy. Both the public and private sectors
have an obligation to take serious steps in addressing deficiencies, but the real question is whether Brazilians as a
whole are ready to acknowledge the problem and willing to take action. Doing so would require them to move past decades
of discrimination and change their whole mindset on race and culture. Undoubtedly this will be an issue of growing
importance in Brazil for years to come. End Comment.
11. (U) This cable was cleared by Embassy Brasilia.
WHITE