(diss)Affirming Actions in Higher Education: A Comparative Analysis between Brazil and the United States

• In Event: Reclaiming Narratives: Confronting the Erasure of Black Knowledge Systems

Abstract

Affirmative action has served as a critical tool for addressing the educational and socioeconomic disparities resulting from centuries of colonial exploitation. This work presents a comparative analysis of affirmative action policies in Brazil and the United States, specifically examining their impact on Black students' access to higher education institutions – focusing on public institutions. The analysis traces these policies' historical development and application, focusing on how they have evolved to address racial identity and promote equity. In particular, the study highlights Brazil's "quota systems," 12.711/2012, a federal law that allocates spots in public universities for low-income students from public schools. This work considers how these two educational systems have been shaped to maintain the status quo constraining educational opportunities for Black students in both countries, considering the new actions taken lately to disaffirm these actions of inclusion. As a methodology, this case study navigates through self-reflections on Black academics' educational paths and documental analysis of educational policies and political discourses reinforcing social inequalities based on race in both countries.

Authors

• Washington Galvao, University of Minnesota

• Eliane Quintiliano Nascimento, University of Texas at Austin