Race in Brazil is self-determined — and the lines are often quite blurry. The color of one’s skin — to themselves and to others — often depends more on social issues than ethnicity per se. And our social construction in Brazil has crushed the identity of people of color. As our columnist on racial issues Bruno Rico wrote, “black and multiracial people in Brazil do not see themselves as a united ethnic group.”
Our team here at The Brazilian Report recently took a DNA test to allow us to find out about our heritage, where we all come from. And the results say a lot about how Brazilian society is structured.
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On this episode:
- Leonardo Monasterio is a professor at Brazil’s Public School of Administration, where he serves as Data Sciences coordinator. He holds a Ph.D. in Economic Development and is a researcher for the Brazilian Institute of Applied Economics (Ipea).
- Ricardo di Lazzaro is a founding partner of genetics lab Genera — which offers DNA tests that allow us to trace our origins. Genera kindly provided us with the lab tests that were used in this episode.
- This episode was written and produced by reporter Natália Scalzaretto.
Background reading:
- Race matters: Covid-19 is deadlier among black and multiracial patients in Brazil.
- Columnist Bruno Rico explains why Black Lives Matter protests haven’t taken off in Brazil.
- Brazil’s supposed ‘racial democracy’ has a dire problem with online racism.
- What is it like to be a domestic worker in Brazil?
- Beyond “12 Years a Slave”: the story of Luís Gama.
Explaining Brazil is made by:
- Gustavo Ribeiro, editor in chief of The Brazilian Report. He has extensive experience covering Brazilian politics. His work has been featured across Brazilian and French media outlets, including Veja, Época, Folha de S.Paulo, Médiapart, and Radio France Internationale.
- Euan Marshall, editing. Euan is a journalist and translator who has lived in São Paulo, Brazil since 2011. Specializing in Brazilian soccer, politics and the connection between the two, his work has been published in The Telegraph, Al Jazeera, The Independent, among others.
Do you have a suggestion for our next Explaining Brazil podcast? Drop us a line at [email protected]
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