XVII Congress of the Brazilian Studies Association

From Mestiço to White: Refashioning Racial Identity in Contemporary Brazil

• In Event: Brazilian Studies of Whiteness – Part 1: Whiteness and Brazilian Social Thought, Class, Families, and Affect

Abstract

The question of who is Black in Brazil has sparked controversial debate over the past three decades. Less frequently discussed, however, is “who is white?”. Recently, new meanings behind racial categories in census data, Affirmative Action laws, and the fields of Black Feminism and Critical Whiteness Studies have unsettled white Brazilians’ understanding of their own racial identity, up until now hidden by the national discourse of mestiçagem (Sovik 2004; Caldwell 2008). I investigate this unsettling by analyzing the narratives of five, white, women Brazilian researchers who critically recognize their racial identity and privilege. Highlighting how the spaces they occupy are racialized differently, I argue that the process of “becoming white” among Brazilians in all-white social circles differs from those brought up in mixed-raced (Black-white) families. I suggest that whites raised in predominately white families understand themselves as a racial norm from a young age and that their white identity strengthens their ties to family. Conversely, whites raised in predominantly mixed families show more confusion as to their racial identity and muddle through mestiçagem discourse to reach “white,” which can in turn threaten a sense of belonging to their families.

Author

• Laura Rose Brylowski, The University of Texas at Austin