Straight to the Right: Presidential Elections, Whiteness, and Nationality in the United States and Brazil

• In Event: 2166 - Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 16: Race & Political Movements

Abstract

In 2016, Donald Trump was elected president of the United States. Two years later, Jair Bolsonaro was elected in Brazil. This paper explores the similarities between their elections, based on newspaper, television, and internet reports published in the United States and Brazil between 2014 and 2019. I argue that the success of each candidate reflects the racially hierarchical structure of their societies as well as the strength of the ideology of White supremacy that is necessary for that structure to remain in place despite efforts to dismantle it. I suggest that the results of the presidential elections reflect a fear by Whites that their higher status was being threatened after decades of gains by minorities, women, and the poor in both countries.

Author

• Vânia Penha-Lopes, Bloomfield College