Historical Roots of the "Whitening" of Brazil

Author(s): Sales Augusto dos Santos and Laurence Hallewell

Source: Latin American Perspectives, Vol. 29, No. 1, Brazil: The Hegemonic Process in Political
and Cultural Formation (Jan., 2002), pp. 61-82
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 HistoricalRoots of the "Whitening"of Brazil
by
Sales Augusto dos Santos
Translatedby Laurence Hallewell

It has been estimatedthat,over a 300-yearperiodfrom the second half of

the sixteenthcenturyuntil the first half of the nineteenth,some 3.5-3.6 mil-
lion black slaves were broughtto Brazil from Africa (Goulart, 1950: 272;
Mattoso, 1981: 53). This enormousnumberof black Africans transformed
the racialmakeupof Brazil.Wedo not knowexactly when it happened,butby
the end of the eighteenthcenturythese blacks and theirdescendantsalready
formed the majorityof the Brazilianpopulation(Malheiro, 1976: 30). This
demographiccircumstancepersistedinto the following century.In 1872, the
year of Brazil's first nationalcensus, whites constituted38.1 percentof the
population,while blacks,mulattoes,andIndiansaccountedfor the remaining
61.9 percent.In the second census, carriedout in 1890, the white population,
althoughit had proportionatelyincreasedby 5.9 percentto 44 percent,was
still in the minority,as the otherracialcategoriestogetherstill accountedfor
56 percentof the total (Santos, 1997).
The availablestatistics show that, in the final years of Brazilianslavery,
the slave populationwas concentratedin the southeast,excluding the prov-
ince of EspiritoSanto and the city of Rio de Janeiro.Although the statistics
show that between 1884 and 1887 slave numbers fell sharply, by some
41.69 percent,in every province,the concentrationof the slave populationin
this region-the provincesof Minas Gerais,Rio de Janeiro,and Sao Paulo-
actually increasedduringthe last decade of slavery (Santos, 1997).
Afterthe abolitionof the slave tradein 1850 andwell beforetherewas any
obvious decline in the supply of slaves, theirowners and the rulersof Brazil
"discovered"that the offer of blacks from Africa was not unlimited. This
realizationgave rise to the firstconcernwith the laborsupplyquestion,based
on a probablefutureshortageof hands for agriculturalwork.
Realizing that slave labor was inevitably doomed, the Brazilian ruling
elites began to stress the need to develop free laboras a substitute,although
they meanwhiledid theirutmostto delay the abolitionof slavery.Since slave
Sales Augusto dos Santos is a sociologist at the Universityof Brasilia,specializing in racerela-
tions. Laurence Hallewell, until his retirement, was Latin American librarianat Columbia
University.
LATINAMERICANPERSPECTIVES,Issue 122, Vol. 29 No. 1, January2002 61-82
? 2002 Latin AmericanPerspectives

61

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62 LATINAMERICANPERSPECTIVES

labor was still the principalsource of agriculturalproduction,the planters

soughtto gain time to develop this new type of labor.This explainsthe slow
and gradualprocess of abolition, which requiredthree basic laws: the Free
WombLaw of 1871, the SexagenarianLawof 1885, andthe so-calledGolden
Law of 1888.
In the 1870s, the concernto formulatea manpowerpolicy to "supplyagri-
culture'sneed for field hands"became a definiteitem on the political agenda
of the governmentof the empireand those of severalprovinces,notablythat
of Sao Paulo, where the planterclass was representedamong holdersof the
highestpublicoffices, imperialas well as provincial.Thusit was thatthe cof-
fee growersandthe centralandprovincialgovernmentsdecidedthatthe insti-
tution of free labor would be introducedby means of immigrationfrom
Europe(Kowarick,1987: 100).
Even before 1870 there had been some attemptsto attractimmigrants,
especially Germansand Swiss, with the explicit intentionof counteringthe
disproportionbetween blacks andwhites (Balan, 1974: 117-119). But it was
only from 1867 on thatthe Braziliangovernmentbeganto investmoremark-
edly in its chosen immigrationpolicy, almost doublingits expenditureon it.
Althoughgovernmentexpenditureon immigrationfell appreciablybetween
1870 and 1872, it more than doubled after 1872 (Santos, 1997). The Euro-
peanimmigrants'transportationcosts, paidfor by the Braziliannationalgov-
ernmentfrom 1851 to 1909 and by the governmentof Sao Paulo province
(later, state) from 1881 to 1927 (Santos, 1997), was one obstacle that was
overcome by administrativeaction to make this policy of importingfarm
laborpracticable.Thus the makeupof the free labormarketdepended,even
before the formalabolitionof slavery,on a flow of immigrantsfrom abroad
(Kowarick,1987: 88-89) subsidizedby decisive interventionof the imperial
and provincialgovernments.
The discussion of immigrationpolicy was not, however,confined to the
governmentand the legislature. When the imperial governmentsought to
regularizethe institutionof free labor,it decided on a directconsultationof
the plantersof the southeasternregionthrougha farmingconference,held in
Rio de Janeiroin July 1878 andpresidedoverby the Ministryof Agriculture.
This CongressoAgricola served as an opportunityfor reflectionon the way
opinionwas developingamonga significantpartof the Brazilianrulingclass,
the plantersof the southeast,on the compositionof the ruralworkingclass in
Brazil afterthe expected abolitionof slave labor.
Opinions variednot only as to futuremanagement-workerrelationships
but also as to what racial type should form Brazil's working class, for the
question of race was fundamentalto any definition.Some of the conference
participantsadvocatedthe use of "nationallabor"afterabolition,arguingthat

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 dosSantos/ THE"WHITENING"
OFBRAZIL 63

formerslaves could be used to the extentthattheirlaborcould be madeoblig-

atoryto overcometheirsupposedlyinherentlaziness. Another,no less repre-
sentativecohort of conferenceparticipantsrejectedthe use of formerslaves
because of this oft-repeatedstigma of indolence and insisted that the new
type of workerandfuturecitizen of Brazilhadto be a foreigner.And not even
those who arguedfor immigrationto supply the new free labormarketdid it
without regardto such aspects as the origin, race, and natureof the immi-
grants(amongtheirothercharacteristics).Althoughthe conferencehadbeen
convokedto presentsolutionsto the "manpowershortagecrisis"so muchdis-
cussed by the plantersof the southeasternregion, especially those from Sao
Paulo, it was this question of race that turnedout to be the centralpoint of
discussion.
On July 8, 1878, the CongressoAgricola was openedby Joao VieiraLins
Cansan,ao de Sinimbu,then ministerof agriculture,trade,andpublic works
[andalso primeministerJanuary1878-March 1879], in order(accordingto
his inaugural address) to "safeguardthe fate of large-scale agriculture"
(CongressoAgricola, 1988: 126). Everyprovincethatwas invitedsent dele-
gates, who includednot only landownersbut also importantpoliticans(such
as Campos Salles, later to be presidentof Brazil 1898-1902) both from the
established Conservative and Liberal parties and also from the recently
formedRepublicanparty.Therewere 399 of these delegates,of whom 50 per-
cent came from Rio de Janeiro,25 percentfrom Sao Paulo, 17 percentfrom
Minas Gerais, 3 percent from the city of Rio de Janeiro (the then neutral
municipalityandfuturefederaldistrict),1.5 percentfromEspfritoSanto,and
1 percentfrom places unknown(CongressoAgricola, 1988).
MinisterSinimbu,statingthe consensusamongthe plantersin attendance,
assertedthat a crisis existed in the supply of ruralmanpowerand thatjoint
actionby the imperialgovernmentandthe farmerswas neededto solve it. "To
face the problemhead on, withoutthinkingone instantaboutturningback,to
seek the most effective and suitable means to solve it, rebuildingthe rural
economy on the basis of free labor:this, gentlemen,is ourprincipalmission,
and yours"(CongressoAgricola, 1988: 128).
In this way (CongressoAgricola, 1988: 2),

the objectiveof theconference'sdiscussionsshouldbe to debateeverything

directlyconcernedwith the futureof farming,andespecially to advise the gov-
ernmenton thefollowingpoints:
1. Whatarethemosturgentandimmediateneedsof large-scalefarming?
2. Doesthelaborshortageconstitutea veryimportant
factorin maintain-
ing,improving,ordevelopinglarge-scalefarming?
3. Whatis themosteffectiveandappropriate
way to overcomethis shortage?

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64 LATIN PERSPECTIVES
AMERICAN

4. Canweexpecthome-grown labor,thedescendants of slaves,toprovidea

permanent freelaborforceonlargeplantations?If not,howmayfarmlaborbe
reorganized?
farmingsufferfroma capitalshortage?
5. Doeslarge-scale If so, is thisdue
to anabsolutelackof investmentcapitalin Brazil,oris it dueto a depression in
agriculturalcredit?
6. Howmaythesupplyof agricultural creditbe improved? Shouldspecial
institutionsbe created?Howshouldtheybe funded?
7. Haveimprovements beenintroduced intoBrazilianfarming? Which?Is
thereanurgentneedforothers?Howmaytheybe implemented?

Sinimbuconsideredthe home-grownfarmworkeras unreliable,"lacking

the stimulusof havingto maintaina civilized standardof living,"andunwill-
ing to "workhardandcontinuously"and suggestedthe importationof work-
ers fromAsia as a means of transitiontowardfree labor.This proposalled to
lengthydebateon the racialtype of workerbest suitedfor Brazil, with a con-
siderablenumberof delegates wishing to importonly Europeans.Sinimbu
was not opposed to Europeanimmigrationbut warnedthe delegatesthatthe
intelligence and expertise of the European worker would be expensive.
Besides, the Europeanwould give up paid workat the earliestopportunityto
set up on his own, independence being his real objective (Congresso
Agricola, 1988: 126-129).
On one hand,it is obvious thatthe minister'sapproachwas thatof some-
one calculatinglyand systematicallylooking for the cheapestsolution to the
lack of farmingmanpowerthey so much complainedabout.All indications
arethatthis was also the attitudeof most of those present,since the principal
committeesestablishedby the conference approvedthe minister'sproposal
to importAsians and rejectedthe use of home-grownlabor because of its
reputedlaziness. On the otherhand,it is also clear thatthere was a belief in
the Europeanas "superior"not only to the native Brazilianbut also to any
other non-Europeanworker.In other words, even planterswhose objective
was rationallyto maximize their profits did not reject the idea that Brazil
should be concernedwith the racialcompositionof its population.
Eventhe majorityof those in the ComissaoNomeadapelos Lavradoresdo
Rio de Janeiro,Minas Geraise EspiritoSanto(CommitteeNominatedby the
Farmersof the Provinces of Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, and Espirito
Santo), who approvedthe importof Asians, acceptedthem reluctantly,as a
stopgapsolution-a mere "trial"and "meansof transition"- and not as per-
manentsettlers(CongressoAgricola, 1988: 78):

ordeath.ThenativeBrazilian,
Slavelaborwill be abolishedby emancipation
althoughsome may considerhim as a permanentauxiliary,does not satisfy all
laborneeds. It is thereforeessentialto importfree labor,and, as an experiment

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 / THE"WHITENING"
dosSantos OFBRAZIL 65

andas a meansof transition

towardsettlement races,theChi-
bybetter-quality
nesehiredworkeris a convenientmakeshift.

The Comissao Nomeada pelos Lavradoresde Sao Paulo (Committee

Nominatedby the Farmersof Sao Paulo Province),althoughapprovingthe
proposalto use the laborof "Indiatic"[i.e., South Asian] peoples, was con-
cernedaboutthe race andorigin of futureimmigrants,and again,by all indi-
cations, the use was consideredonly a stopgap,being "a step backwardfor
our civilization."According to the committee (Congresso Agricola, 1988:
76),

The simpleresultof a large-scaleimmigration is notenough.If ourcountry

needsa foreignpopulationto developall its industry,andespeciallythatof
agriculture,whichis ourchiefeconomicactivity,thenitis beyondquestionthat
we carefullyconsiderthe race,origin,character andcustomsof the peoples
thatshallliveinthebosomof theBraziliannation,because,aboveall,we must
reinvigorateourenergyandstimulateworkthroughmoralityandfreedom.

Since Asians had a subservientand immoralcharacterthat would contami-

natethe Brazilianpopulationandscareoff Europeanimmigration,as the Sao
PauloCommitteehadasserted,andso were a racethatcould degradethe Bra-
zilian nation,the Representantesde Lavradoresde Juiz de Forae Paraibado
Sul (Representativesof the Farmersof Juiz de Foraand Paraibado Sul) and
those of the CompanhiaUniao dos Lavradores(Farmers'Union Company)
took a position againstthe immigrationof Asiatics, Africans,and even some
Europeans(CongressoAgricola, 1988: 69):

Immigration,as a simplesourceof moremanpower to fill upthedeficitleftby

theeventualdeathof ourpresentworkers,is doubtlessof greatimportance; but
in thechoiceof immigrants we must,aboveall,considerimproving ourfarm-
ing methodsandourprocessingof farmproducts.Considering the problem
fromthis viewpoint,the originandnatureof settlersmustweighuponthe
choice,andso it is nota matterof indifference
whethertheybe Asians,Afri-
cans,orEuropeans, andevenamongEuropeans selectionis calledfor.

Concernedwith the futureof Brazil, seeking to distancethemselves from

"Africanbarbarism"andfromAsian "coolies"as "athreatto orderandto the
well-being of the farmingcommunity,"these delegates were more preoccu-
pied with the constitutionof the nation than with the easy and immediate
profit that would accompanyAsian immigration.That is, they preferreda
"civilized"futurewith a "vigorousand conqueringrace"to easy profitsand
the possibility of weakeninga Braziliancivilization still underconstruction
throughthe supposedbackwardnessof the black andyellow races. Although

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66 LATINAMERICANPERSPECTIVES

therewere differencesamongthe delegatesas to whichracialtype of workers

Brazilshouldimport,one can neverthelessperceivetwo positionsor opinions
held unanimously:(1) the black andyellow races were inferiorto the whites
and (2) the ideal immigrantswere Europeanwhites (Congresso Agricola,
1988).
These debatestranscendedthe CongressoAgricolaandreachedthe impe-
rial parliament,where federal deputy JoaquimNabuco, the most respected
leader of the abolitionist movement, made explicit in his speeches during
1879 whatin his books is only implicit:the distinctionbetweenthe superior,
white races andthe inferior,black andyellow ones (Nabuco, 1983: 180-183,
188-191) andhis fearthatBrazilwouldremaina countrywith a blackmajor-
ity. He also made clear his rejectionof the desire of some of Brazil's ruling
elites to importAsians, who could Mongolize the nation,degradingthe races
already there, and introducevices that would contaminatethe population
with "thesubservientandimmoralcharacter"of the Asian, discouragingthe
immigrationof Europeanswith their inherentcivilization (1983: 165-166).
Like the participantsin the CongressoAgricola,Nabucowas concernedwith
the origin,race,andcharacterof the peoples thatBrazilwishedto import,and
thereforehe did not wantAsian immigrantseitheras a stopgapor temporarily
as proposedby the conferencedelegates and the membersof the Sociedade
AuxiliadoradaInduistria Nacional(SocietyforAssistingBrazilianIndustry).'
Nabuco's Aryanism was not just anti-Asian.Even though this "intellec-
tual politician"had proposed,in his speech of March 10, 1879, the abolition
of slavery in Brazil and the transformationof the bondsmaninto a peasant
tied to the soil as the solutionto the probablelack of manpowerin agriculture
(Nabuco, 1983: 184), he revealedhis prejudiceagainstAfricanblacks when
he prohibitedtheirpossible spontaneousmigrationto Brazilat the same time
as he lamentedthe [seventeenth-century]expulsionfromPernambucoof the
Dutch, an "adventurousrace"and one "of advancedcivilization."The latter,
he said, had "perhapsdeprivedus of our chance to become a greaternation
than we are, but neitherAfrican nor Mongolian immigrationinspires in me
the same sympathy"(1983: 184-185).
At the same time, despitehis pessimismaboutthe contemporarysituation
and his distastefor the past importationof Africans,Nabuco was explicit in
his desire for Brazil to become white someday,arguingfor the tendencyof
the blacks to vanish throughmiscegenationbecause of their inferiorityand
savagery."As the black man and the white live togetherin the same society
for hundredsof years,the former'sblood will tendto be absorbedinto thatof
the latter,or it will disappearaltogetheras the one racegives up the field to the
other,betterpreparedfor the struggleof life" (Nabuco, 1983: 182).

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 dos Santos/ THE"WHITENING"
OFBRAZIL 67

Fartheron the abolitionistleader,despitealwaysinsistingthatslaverywas

to blame for all the country'sills, revealedone of the real objectives of his
plan to abolish Brazilianslaveryby makingpossible the entry of European
immigrantsinto Brazil. "Freelaborand slave laborcannotcoexist, and nei-
ther can slavery and immigration"(Nabuco, 1983: 183). He believed that
slaverydevaluedthe workerandinhibitedthe movementof Europeanimmi-
grantsto Brazil,which in turnslowed up the processof whiteningthe country
so desired by its ruling elites. Thus, slavery was an evil not just for having
AfricanizedBrazilbut also for having slowed Brazil'sprogressby hindering
the arrivalof civilization and modernitythroughimmigrationfrom Europe
and the resultingwhitening of the population.
Nabuco's scientific reasoning and political actions were based on such
biological criteriaas the races of mankind.The speeches,theses, andpropos-
als of this "socialreformer"regardingthe integrationof the black into a free-
laborsociety afterabolition,as well as the emphasishe gave to nonbiological
factorsin the process of degradingthe blackin OAbolicionismo(1938), give
the impressionthat,to the extentthathe employed"physiologicalreasons"to
show that one race dominatedanotherthrougha process of selection, how-
ever gradual,his claim to be an "intellectualpolitician"was mere rhetoric.
Furthermore,his concern for the futureof Brazilianwhites confrontingthe
"Africanization"of the countryand the supposedlydangerouspossibility of
its "Mongolization"recommendedthe immigrationof Germans,Russians,
and Britons (1983: 191).
Beside the pessimism thatcame out when he thoughtaboutthe black and
yellow races and the hope he expressed when he thought about European
immigration,Nabuco also showed a xenophobiawith regardto Asians and
Africans that seems paradoxicalin someone who declared, "I am more a
spectatorof my times thanof my country:what is in play for me is civiliza-
tion" (Nabuco, 1963: 33). The paradoxis only apparent,for the center or
essence of his universalismis Europe,fromwhich could flow an immigration
bearinghumanand universalvalues (1963: 39):

WeBrazilians
(andthesamecouldbe saidof theothernationsof theAmericas)
belong to the New World as a new, buoyant settlement, and we belong to
Europe,at least in ourupperstrata.For any of us who has the least culture,the
Europeaninfluence predominatesover the American.Ourimaginationcannot
butbe European,thatis, human.It did not cease when Brazilheld its firstmass
butwent on, reformingthe traditionsof the savageswho filled ourshoresat the
time of the Discovery.It continuedinfluencedby all the civilizationsof human-
ity, like thatof the Europeans,with whom we sharethe same basis of language,

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68 LATINAMERICANPERSPECTIVES

religion,art,law,andpoetry,the samecenturiesof accumulated civilization,

and,thus,aslongasthereis arayof culture,thesamehistorical
imagination.

This "socialreformer"expressednotjust his vision of the world,basedon

the desireof omnipresenceandin the whites' certaintyof omnipotence,hope
for Brazil's future,but also its reverse,the fear thatBrazil will be thoughtof
as a nonwhite countryforever-a situationabout to be made worse by the
arrivalof yellow men. He pointed out that the province of Sao Paulo "had
been, in the past few years, concentratingon its soil a foreign population,
importedhurriedlyand indiscriminately,and thereby risking the unhappy
consequencesof a blackimmigrationout of all proportionto the white popu-
lation of the farmingcenters"(Nabuco, 1983: 248).
The discussionof the need to importEuropeansto avoidthe consolidation
of the Africanizationof Brazilor its virtualMongolizationby the imminently
threatenedmigrationfrom Asia was neithernew nor sudden.The question
was raisedin the BrazilianHouse of Deputies not only as a reply to the pro-
posal of the ministerof agriculture,trade,andpublic worksbut also as a con-
sequenceof the debatethathadbeen going on in the provinciallegislatureof
Sao Paulo for the past ten years.2
Consequently,there was, at the end of the nineteenthcentury,before the
formal abolition of slavery, a recurrentdiscussion on the genotypical and
phenotypicalcharacteristicsof the type of workerthat the country would
need after the end of slavery.In this period, the race or races of a country,
accordingto the belief of Brazil'srulingelites, explainedits past andpresent
besides also foretellingits futureas a civilized (or uncivilized)country.Civi-
lization, progress,order,and the guaranteeof security and peace were also
dependenton race, as was the fundamentalstep forwardtowardcreatingan
earthlyparadise.Based on the needto improvethe Brazilianrace,the case for
Europeanimmigrationwas overwhelming.This racistdiscoursenot only was
supportedby argumentsiinfavorof a policy to whiten the Brazilianpopula-
tion butalso determinedthatfree laborwouldbe importedaccordingto racial
criteria.
The hostility of the Brazilian elites toward nonwhites specifically pre-
vented the importingof Asians for Brazilianfarm work, while at the same
time it excludedblacksandmulattoesfromthe marketfor paidlaborthatwas
beginning to flourish even before the formal ending of slavery in Brazil
(Santos, 1997). It was considerednecessary to root out the "social cancer"
and the workforce on which slavery itself depended, for, as the Brazilian
elites saw it, the populationof Africanoriginwould nevercreatea fully civi-
lized Brazil because of its inabilityto overcome such supposeddeficiencies
as vagrancy,lack of energy,passivity,andimmorality.The solutionwouldbe

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 dos Santos / THE "WHITENING"OF BRAZIL 69

to shut the black out-to prevent the growth of the black population and
encouragethe entry of Europeanimmigrants.3By the end of the nineteenth
century the impact on the Brazilian ruling elites of the race factor in the
debatewas so strongthat,despite havingapprovedthe immigrationof Asian
workers at the Congresso Agricola, they came round to a concern for the
whitening of the populationand began to favor the importationof a white
Europeanworkforce.
Thusthe provinceof Sao Pauloadmitted11,870 immigrantsin the 1870s.
In the 1880s this numbergrewtenfold,to 183,505, correspondingto a growth
rate of 1,445.95 percent-an extraordinarynumber compared with the
nationalimmigrationgrowthrate for the period of 150.83 percent.It is cer-
tainly truethatin the 1870s this provincehad alreadyexperiencedan immi-
grationgrowthrateof 606.12 percent,well above the nationalgrowthrateof
84.08 percent.In the 1890s what is now the state of Sao Paulo continuedto
have a very high immigrationgrowth rate: 300.52 percent, well above the
national rate of 171.76 percent. In this decade the country imported
1,211,076 immigrants, of whom over half, 734,985, went to Sao Paulo
(Santos, 1997). The majorityof immigrantswho went to Sao Paulo to work
on the coffee plantationsas free labor were Italianin origin. Italy was the
countrythatexportedmost farmworkersto Brazilin the years 1884 to 1939:
1,412,263. In second place was Portugal,which supplied 1,204,394 in the
same period, most of whom went to the province (later state) of Rio de
Janeiro(Santos, 1997). The majorityof these Portugueseimmigrantswere
illiterate,unmarriedmen, all of whom came to Brazil "attheirown expense,
or that of theirkinfolk,"receiving no financialhelp from the Braziliangov-
ernment (Hahner, 1993: 61-63). There was also immigrationof Britons,
Frenchmen,Belgians, Danes, Dutchmen,Americans,Poles, Russians,Span-
iards, and Japanese,among others.Spaniardswere in thirdplace, contribut-
ing more than 500,000 (Santos, 1997).
With this Europeanimmigration,the ethnic makeup of the city of Sao
Paulochangedrapidly.Between 1872 and 1920, the percentageof foreigners
in the city rose from 7.8 to 35.4. In the same period,its populationrose from
31,385 to 579,093. But when we look into the dataon the color of the state's
population,we see how fundamentalwas the immigrationpolicy adoptedat
the stateandfederallevel in its rapidwhitening(Santos, 1997), althoughat no
time in the nineteenthcentury had blacks made up the largest component
(Lowrie, 1938). In 1797, whites made up 56 percentof the populationof the
provinceof Sao Paulo(Lowrie, 1938: 11-13), falling to 51.8 percentby 1872.
From then on, thanksto the implacablyaggressive policy of seeking Euro-
pean immigrants,their numbersincreasedcontinuously,reaching63.1 per-
cent in 1890, 88 percentin 1940, and 88.8 percentin 1950 (Santos, 1997).

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70 LATINAMERICANPERSPECTIVES

Alreadyby 1890 we can see an inexorableprocessof whiteningat workboth

in this provinceand in the FederalDistrict (the city of Rio de Janeiro).This
process was directly proportionateto Sao Paulo state's immigrationrate:
606.12 percentin the 1870s, 1,445.95 percentin the 1880s, and 300.52 per-
cent in the 1890s-truly phenomenalfigures. In just these three decades,
morethan930,000 immigrantscame to Sio Paulo.In the five decades 1880-
1929, some 2,220,159 immigrantsarrivedin Sao Paulo, a total that was
doubtlessfundamentalin ensuringso profounda changein the racialmakeup
of its population(Santos, 1997).
The effects of this policy are also evident at the national level. Brazil
underwenta radicalchangein its racialcomposition.In contrastto thatof Sao
Paulo, the majorityof the populationof Brazil as a whole was, as we have
seen, made up of Africans and their descendantsfrom the end of the eigh-
teenth century on. Whereas in 1872 whites accounted for 38.1 percent of
Brazil's total populationand blacks, mestizos, and Indians61.9 percent,by
1950 this situationhadbeen reversed;whites were now 62.5 percentandoth-
ers only 37.5 percent.Thus there had been an increasingwhitening of the
Braziliannation,a tendencythatwas alreadynoticeablein 1890 even though
the halfway point in "de-Africanization"was reachedonly in 1940 (Santos,
1997).
To resolve any doubtthatthe immigrationpolicies adoptedby the federal
and Sao Paulo state governmentswere intendedto whiten the nationaland
statepopulations,it seems to me relevantto comparethe numberof Africans
broughtin as slaves from the second half of the sixteenthcenturyto the first
half of the nineteenthwith the numberof mostly Europeanimmigrantsintro-
duced between 1851 and 1937. Althoughin those first threecenturiessome
3.5 to 3.6 million black Africans were imported, in the second period of
less than a century4,793,981 immigrantscame in, of whom 2,417,386 or
50.42 percentcameto Sao Paulo(Santos,1997).In otherwords,in undera cen-
tury of immigrationpolicy subsidizedby the Braziliangovernment,Brazil
importedmoremanpower(of freewhites)thanthat(of blackslaves)importedin
threecenturiesof the slavetrade.
This importationof Europeansat so high a level was possible only because
of the passages paid for by the governmentsof Brazil and the state of Sao
Paulo-that is, it was achievedonly throughdecisive governmentinterven-
tion, which resultedfrom some 20 yearsof discussions,debates,andpropos-
als on the partof the provinciallegislativeassemblyof Sao Paulo,the Brazil-
ian nationalparliament,andthe 1878 CongressoAgricola as to what type of
workershould be employed afterthe abolitionof slavery.
Governmentinterventionin Brazilianimmigrationpolicy was not limited
to the economic aspect of financing the immigrants'passages. An analysis

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 dos Santos / THE "WHITENING"OF BRAZIL 71

restrictedto the economic spherecould create the false impressionthat the

immigrationpolicy of the late nineteenthand early twentiethcenturieshad
the sole objective of supplying manpowerfor an expandingagriculture.It
would not reveal the restrictiveand segregationistaspect of the immigration
legislation, which impeded the entry into Brazil of Africans and Asians
exactly when immigrationwas at its height, in the 1890s.
This was when the Brazilian governmentpublished Decree No. 528 of
June 28, 1890, which sought to "regularize"the entry of immigrants.This
expressed,in law and in practice,the desire to importEuropeans,for it pro-
vided subsidizedpassages only for them (article7) and prohibitedthe entry
of those of the black and yellow races (articles 1, 2, and 3):

ArticleI. Entryin theportsof theRepublicof individualscapableandsuit-

able for workis whollyfree, unlessthey havebeen indictedfor criminal
offensesin theirnativeland,exceptfor nativesof Asia andAfrica,whocan
onlybe admitted with,andsubjectto theprovisionsof, theauthorization
of the
NationalCongress.
ArticleII.Thediplomatic andconsularrepresentatives of theUnitedStates
of Brazilshallimpede,by all meansattheirdisposal,theentryof immigrants
fromthosecontinents,andshallinformtheFederalGovernment immediately
by telegraphof anycasetheyareunableto stop.
ArticleIII.Thepoliceof Brazilianportsshallpreventthelandingof such
individuals,andalsothatof beggarsandtheindigent.

The spiritof this selective, racistpolicy endureduntilthe end of the 1920s,

manifestingitself, for example, in Brazil's prohibitionof a projectedimmi-
grationof African-Americanswho wantedto forma settlementin the stateof
Mato Grosso (Lesser, 1994: 84). But the ban on the entryof U.S. blacks into
Brazilin the 1920s was not limitedto would-besettlers.It also appliedto U.S.
touristsof Africandescent (Lesser, 1994: 90-91), which confirmedthe Bra-
zilian government'sdeterminationto forbidthe entryinto Brazilof anyoneof
African origin. In the 1920s Brazil imported964,087 immigrants,of whom
487,253 went to the stateof Sao Paulo(Santos, 1997). However,the aversion
to blacks and their descendantswas so great that the Braziliangovernment
breachedthe Peace, Friendship,Trade,and NavigationAgreementbetween
Brazilandthe United States4to stopthe entryinto Brazilof a small numberof
African-Americans.
The Brazilianimmigrationpolicy of the late nineteenthand early twenti-
eth centuries cannot be regardedas concerned merely with forming a free
labormarket,since it was capableof banningnot only someonereadyto work
but, as is evident in the case of the African-Americans,even a businessman
with the capital for an agriculturalsettlement.The action of Brazil's ruling

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72 LATINAMERICANPERSPECTIVES

elites was aimednotjust at supplyingplenty of handsfor an expandingagri-

culturebut at creatinga new and differentnation.5
In the 1870-1930 period,racialdiversitywas seen as an evil in itself, espe-
cially if it meantthe presenceof blacks(so definedby raceor color). The feel-
ing, thought,andactionof congressmen,administrators,andplanters,among
others,expressedan objectivethatwent beyondthe need to form a free labor
market-that of whitening the Brazilianpopulation.This implied not just
achievinga white majority-which in factoccurredin 1940 (Santos, 1997)-
but also saying no to blacks.
It was not the political and economic elites alone for whom these were
leading objectives.The intellectualelite sharedthe same ethos.6Theirinter-
pretation,understanding,andexplanationof the country'sproblemsandpro-
posals for solving them were similarlybasedon a racistanalysisin which the
black race was held responsiblefor "the country'sbackwardness,"as Joao
Batistade Lacerdaassertedin the paperhe contributedto the 1911 FirstUni-
versal Racial Conference(Lacerda,1911: 29-30):

Theimportation, on a vastscale,of the blackraceto Brazilhasexerciseda

harmfulinfluenceon thiscountry'sprogress.Fora long whileit has beena
brakeon its materialdevelopmentand has madeit difficultto exploitits
immensenaturalwealth.Thecharacter hassufferedfromthe
of thepopulation
failingsandvicesof thisimported,inferiorrace.

Balancing this, the white race was seen as the guaranteeof a sparkling
futurefor Brazil, the solution to the country'spresentand futureproblems,
since it wouldhelp at one andthe same time to wipe out the blackandindige-
nous populations and reinvigorate the Brazilian race by whitening it
(Lacerda,1911: 30-31):

Inlessthana century,in allprobability,

thepopulationof Brazilwillbe repre-
sented,initsgreaterpart,byindividualsof thewhite,Latinrace,andwithinthe
sameperiod,theblackandtheindigenouswillhavevanishedfromthispartof
theAmericas.... A brilliantfutureis reservedforBrazil,whichwill become
theprincipalplacein SouthAmericawheretheLatinracewill be retempered
andrejuvenated,justastheUnitedStateshasdone,inNorthAmerica,thesame
fortheSaxonrace.

The Brazilianintellectualswere the productsof an erain which racialdif-

ferences were treated as naturalinequalities even by science, which had
establisheda hierarchyamong the races. Science gave legitimacyto the dis-
criminatorypolicies of the country'spolitical and economic leadersbesides
demonstratingthatno viable Braziliannationcould be built with blacks, the

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 dos Santos / THE "WHITENING"OF BRAZIL 73

supposedlyinferiorrace. Braziliansociologists, basing theirideas on deter-

ministtheories7thatexplainedwhy some societies were moredevelopedcul-
turally,politically,andeconomically thanothers,agreedon whiteningas the
way to maketheircountryviable. Thus, they "scientifically"legitimizedthe
ideas of the Brazilianpolitical and economic elites.
At the same time as racist theories were reachingBrazil, Joseph Arthur
Gobineau,one of the theoreticiansof "scientificracism"and an advocateof
the superiorityof the Aryan race, also arrivedthere. He resided in Rio de
Janeirofrom April 1869 to May 1870 as head of the Frenchdiplomaticmis-
sion. He found the countryintolerable,and the only friendhe had while he
was therewas the EmperorPedroII (Raeders,1988). Gobineau'sview of the
Brazilian populationwas decidedly pessimistic. He considered Brazilians
"lazy,""idle,""ugly,""degraded,""deformed,"and, consequently,lacking
any futurebecause unrestrictedmiscegenationwas leadingthem to a decline
withouthope of recovery (quotedin Raeders, 1988: 90):

A whollyhalf-castepopulation,
withvitiateddescent,vitiatedintelligence,
and
fearfullyugly.... No Brazilianis pure-blooded.
Mixedmarriages between
whites,Indians,andblackshaveso increasedthatone has everymixtureof
color,andallthisproduces,fromthelowestclassesto thehighest,a degenera-
tion of the most wretched kind .... The result is deformed physiognomies
which,if theyarenotalwaysrepugnant,
arealwaysunpleasant
to lookupon.

As to the blacks who lived in Brazil, Gobineauconsideredthem as bad as

those of mixedblood or worse:they were "primitivelydepraved"(Gobineau,
quotedby Raeders, 1988: 75, 89-90, 121-124, 163). So greatwas the disen-
chantmentwith the Brazilianpopulationof this Frenchracialtheoristthathe
forecast that "in less than 200 years"its "degeneration"would "lead to the
end of the descendantsof the companions of Costa Cabraland the immi-
grantswho followed him,"for the mixed blood would (he maintained)pro-
duce offspringunableto survive (quotedin Raeders, 1988: 241).
Despite condemningracialmixtures(Gobineau,cited in Poliakov, 1974:
217-221; Ventura,1991: 56-57), the Frenchtheoristconsideredsome mix-
tures "strategic."While the natural "degeneracy"and tendency to self-
destruct of half-breeds could end in their disappearance from Brazil,
Gobineau also offered a glimpse of a possible future whitening of Brazil
throughtheirabsorptionby the Portuguesewhites. The miscegenationof the
Europeanwhite with the Brazilianhalf-castecould lead to the disappearance
of the latter(Gobineau,cited in Raeders, 1988: 123-124):

TheBrazilianpopulation, properlyso called,whenconsideredglobally,is in

realityhalf-caste,or at leastas closelyrelatedto Blacksas to whites,andis

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74 LATIN
AMERICAN
PERSPECTIVES

thereforeequallyfated to disappear,whetherby extinctionor by being

absorbed byPortuguese familieswhosettlehere.Withina definitetimeit will
yieldto theabsolutesupremacy of a typeof newnation,whosebasiswill be
formedbyPortuguese fromtheAzoresandthesouthof Portugal, moreorless
mixedwithGermans, French,andItalians.

Suggestingthe possibility of Brazil'sbecoming a white nation,Gobineau

proposed an alliance of the Brazilianswith the Europeanraces (quoted in
Raeders, 1988: 242):

Butif, insteadof goingoninbreeding [asmulattoes], theBrazilian peoplewere

ableto diluteevenfurthertheharmfulelementsof its presentethniccomposi-
tion,strengthening itselfthroughmoreworthyallianceswithEuropean races,
thedestructive movementobservable in itsprocreationwouldcometo anend,
givingwayto a contrary action.Theracewouldreestablish itself,publichealth
wouldimprove,its moralqualitywouldbereformed andthehappiestchanges
wouldbe introduced intothesocialsituationof thisadmirable country.

However,despite the influence of Europeandeterministtheorieson Bra-

zilian scientific thoughtandthe presenceof an importantracialtheoryin the
Brazil of the end of the nineteenthcentury,the Braziliansocial theoristsof
roughly 1870 to 1930 were not mere "culturalhangers-on and imitative
thinkers,"nor were they "ill preparedto discuss the latest racial doctrines
fromEurope"as ThomasE. Skidmorewould have it (1976: 13). On the con-
trary, intellectuals/academicsredefined those determinist theories, using
them"criticallyandselectively"(Ventura,1991: 60), to createtheir"whiten-
ing theory"8(Schwarcz and Queiroz, 1996: 178), the emergence of which
was made possible, amongotherfactors,by the very contradictionsfound in
the theses of the principal theoreticiansof racial determinism(Seyferth,
1985: 88), such as those of Count Gobineau,just mentioned.
Tobelieve, as does Skidmore(1976), in the general"culturaldependence"
of Braziliansocial theoristsis to underestimatethe capacityof the Brazilian
rulingelites to think aboutnationbuildingwith clear (if relative)autonomy
basedon theirown redefinitionof race.At the same time, it is to overlookthe
original contributionof the local intelligentsiato the solution of Brazilian
problems in that they took as the principalproblem not miscegenation in
itself butthe predominanceof the characteristicsof the blackracein the Bra-
zilian population.If they hadadoptedEuropeandeterministtheoriesdirectly,
they would probablyhave given up the possibility of buildinga nationin the
tropics. They could not be ignorantof the historicalpresence of blacks in
theircountry,even if they soughtto regardonly the whites as of anyvalue,nor
could they deny the high degreeof miscegenationthathad occurredover the

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 dos Santos / THE "WHITENING"OF BRAZIL 75

years.As the Europeantheoriescondemnedall the characteristicsof the Bra-

zilian people, acceptingsuch theoriesin theirpureformor uncriticallywould
have been the same as accepting self-destruction.
The original theoretical model of the Brazilian intellectuals presented
itself in theirpursuitof racialunity for theircountry.Brazil's half-castecon-
dition they saw as a transitoryone that, after some miscegenationwith the
white elements,would be "cleansed"andfinallybecome white, thatis to say,
amongthe superiorraces.Thusthe singularityof the Braziliansocial thinkers
was in their argumentfor racial purificationto secure liberationfrom the
"blackstain,"with the white phenotypeas the ideal to be attained,synony-
mous with a guaranteedfutureor, rather,civilization, progress,modernity,
wealth, peace, and securityfor their country.
This whiteningideal of the Brazilianrulingclasses was not new, nor,con-
traSkidmore(1976: 12-13),9did it come fromthe influenceof Europeanthe-
ories. According to Nilo Odalia, Francisco Adolpho de Varnhagen,in his
Hist6riageral do Brasil, hadalreadysketchedthe idea of the whiteningof the
Brazilianpopulationand the consequentdisappearanceof the populationof
African origin as the solution to Brazil's problems.The arrivalin Brazil of
deterministtheoriesfrom 1870 on only reinforcedwhatwas alreadythe com-
mon opinion among Brazil's rulingelites: the supposedracialsuperiorityof
the white race(Odalia, 1970:128-131). The scientific statusthatLacerdahad
bestowedon whitening(Seyferth,1985: 87; Skidmore,1976: 87) ratifiedand
legitimizedas anthropological"fact"whatwas the social belief of the Brazil-
ian elites in the late nineteenthcenturyand early twentiethcenturies-that
the black and the mestizo would disappearbecause of theirinferiorityto the
white. This racialextinctionwas also forecastby Euclidesda Cunha.Forhim,
the "subraces,""weakerraces,"or "incompetentraces"(blacksandmestizos)
would be wiped out as a "naturalphenomenon"by the strong or superior
races (the whites). This belief is based on the thesis of Gumplowicz'othatthe
race struggleis "themotiveforce of history"(Cunha,1967: 89,93, 143, 170-
171; 1963:3,83,90-91). Cunhahimself reportedhavingbeen influencedalso
by other authors of racial and geographical determinism,such as Taine,
Spencer, Renan, Littre, Buckle, Ratzel, and Darwin (Cunha, 1967; 1966;
1963), taking all the "prickly bits" of their theories "critically" and
"selectively."
Cunhaendorsedthe theses of his teachers,such as the supposedinferiority
of the black, not only in terms of race but also in terms of civilization and
white superiority(Cunha, 1967; 1966; 1963). Often he seems ambivalent.
While sometimeshe appreciatedracialmixing, affirmingthe Brazilianback-
woodsmanto be the "livingrock"of the nation,not a degenerate(1963: 92,
469), at other times he depreciatedand/or condemnedhim because of the

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76 LATINAMERICAN
PERSPECTIVES

inevitabilityof biological laws, which brandthe mixed-bloodas presenting

the stigma of an inferiorrace (1963: 90).

A verydiverseracialmixtureis, in mostcases,prejudicial.
Theconclusionsof
the theoryof evolutionlead to a clear stigma of inferiority,even when a supe-
riorraceis involvedin the mixture.Extrememiscegenationis a stepbackward.
The Indo-European,the black, and the Tupi-Guarani(or Tapuia)express dif-
ferent stages in evolution confrontingone another.Racial crossing not only
obliteratesthe outstandingqualitiesof the firstbutis a stimulusto reawakening
the primitiveattributesof the others.The mestizo,the interracialhyphen,
whosebriefindividualexistencecompressescenturiesof effort,is almost
alwaysunbalanced. And,whetheranamalgam of thewhitewithblacksorIndi-
ansorof boththelatter,themixed-blood is notjustanintermediary buta deca-
dent,lackingboththephysicalenergyof hissavageforebears andtheintellec-
tualheightof hissuperior Incontrast
ancestry. tothefecunditythathemaywell
possess,he revealsextraordinaryinstancesof moralhybridization: his intelli-
gencemaybeflashy,butit is fragile,restless,inconstant,
onemomentdazzling
and the next dying out, the victimof the inevitabilityof biologicallaws,
moldedon thelowerplaneof theless favoredrace.

Cunha's"ambivalence"is a false impression,for it is possible to perceive

a certainlogical coherencebetweenthis quotationandotherof his statements
(1963: 92, 469). For Cunha what is "prejudicial"and thereforeto be con-
demnedis "divergentmixtures"-crossbreeding in which the black element
has been predominant,as has happenedalong Brazil'sAtlanticcoast, in con-
trast to the mixturestypical of the backlandsof the interior.In the coastal
region, race mixturewas a "disturbingcase" in which the mixed-bloodshad
no a definitephysiognomybutshow everyvarietyof skincolor becauseof the
massive presenceof black African blood.
Given his belief in the inequalityof the races of mankind-the genetic
inferiorityof theblackandhis incapacityto become civilized-Cunha saw in
their black descent the principal influence characterizingthe "depressed
half-castes"of the coastal zone, wherethe "primitiveattributes"of the black
persist in the mulatto, destroying the "outstandingqualities"of the white
(1963: 90-91). In the ariduplandsof the Brazilianinterior,the sertdo, there
was hardly any penetrationof black Africans. Interbreedingwas most fre-
quentbetweenthe Europeansettlerandthe Indian,producing"araceof pure
caribocas"with "almostno black admixture"(1963: 76, 83), and this made
up the "vigorousheartwoodof our nationhood,"precisely because it had no
Negroidcharacteristicsbut was insteadmore"defined"and"unchangeable,"
thatis, closer to the white.The isolationof the backwoodsmanhadresultedin
a "well-defined mestizo" different from and superior to the "variform

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 OFBRAZIL
dosSantos/ THE"WHITENING" 77

mestizo of the coast," whose principal ancestry was white Europeanand

black African (1963: 87-89).
By criticizingmiscegenationwhile praisingthe manof the sertao(also the
productof miscegenation)as a strongbeing, free of the exhausteddeformity
of the "neurasthenichalf-breed"of the coast (1963: 90-94), the authorof
Rebellionin the Backlandswas inconsistentor confused. In fact, Cunhawas
tryingto show thatthe agentof civilizationin Brazilwas the white European,
even when his blood was mixed with that of the Indians,the country'sfirst
inhabitants.Blacks, in contrast,were the agents of barbarism.
Cunhabelieved in the genetic andcivilizing superiorityof the white man,
buttherecoveryof a whitepopulationin Brazil,thatis, its whiteningas the way
to solve the country'sproblem,could be achievedonly by way of miscegena-
tion, even thoughthe white would be the common and superiordenominator
of this mixing and the mulatto,the mix of white with black, was a "neuras-
thenic."Pessimistic aboutmulattoesbutwith no otheralternativefor whiten-
ing Brazil, Cunhaproposedthe immigrationof Europeansas the solution to
the country's "racial problem." Brazil lacked an "ethnic integrity" that
would guaranteeits progress,securingto it "the dominantenergies of civi-
lized life" (1967: 168-171). Immigrationcould change the qualities of the
natives,transformingthem into "a new and highertype,"as the English, the
Germans,andthe Frenchhaddone for the United StatesandAustralia(1967:
168-169):

We cannotyet dispense with the more active and suitableEuropeanenergy to

unlockourown. The settlerin this countryis the first,if not the sole, economic
factor,andbytheonlytoocleardistinction
betweenhisindefatigable
dexterity
andourfumblingactivityhe comes into view, transformingthe industrialbiol-
ogy into a most interestingchapterof social psychology.... This immigration
thatwe desire, not now by the mechanicalcompetitionof the workingarmbut
also because we lack the artisticcollaborationand the advancementof other
nations,appearsat the headof ourpolitical structureandof ourincompletehis-
torical formationas a problemthat we cannot ignore, that we do not want to
ignore and must not ignore but must resolve with infinite care.

The explanationfor Brazil's underdevelopmentor its slowness in reach-

ing the stage of civilizationandprogresslay in the ethnicmakeupof its popu-
lation,which neededfor its improvementthe "advancementof othernations"
thatwere more "energetic"or supposedlysuperior-such as the Europeans.
These, by migratingto Brazil, could change its racialmakeup,turningit into
a country with a white majorityand neutralizingthe supposedly negative
influence of the black.

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78 LATINAMERICANPERSPECTIVES

The idea of the immigrationof Europeansto Brazilas a meansto diminish

the "Africanizationof the country"fired the imaginationof Braziliansocial
theoristsat the turnof the century.JoaquimNabuco, affectedby all the criti-
cism he had made of slavery,which he saw as Brazil's "principalproblem"
(Nabuco, 1938: 238), stated at the beginning of O Abolicionismo, "In the
futureonly an operationcan save us-at the cost of our nationalidentity-
thatis, the transfusionof the pureandoxygenatedblood of a freerace"(1938:
6). For Nabuco Brazil had problemsjust as serious as slavery.Perhapsthe
most importantwas the "Africanizationof the country,"which had"saturated
it with black blood" and with its "vices"and which he characterizedas the
"firstrevengeof the Black race"on the country.A second was a virtualprob-
lem: the possible coming to Brazil of Asians (1938: 133-134, 196, 244).
As salvation for the country,to deliver it from the "disgrace"of black
blood and of the probablearrivalof yellow blood, Nabuco arguedfor Euro-
pean immigrationto Brazil, since this would bringinto the countrya blood
without vice, that is, "energeticand wholesome," that could be absorbed
withoutrisk, makingit possible for Brazilto returnto whiteness and,conse-
quently,to its progressas a nation (1938: 244):"

Compareourpresent-dayBrazilof slaverywith the ideal fatherlandwhich we

Abolitionistsuphold:a countrywhereeveryoneis free,where,attractedbythe
freenatureof ourinstitutions
andthelibertyof ourgovernment system,Euro-
peanimmigration intothetropicsa streamof lively,
couldbring,continuously,
energetic,andwholesomeCaucasianblood,whichwe couldabsorbwithout
risk,insteadof thisChinesewavewithwhichlargelandowners wantto vitiate
andcorruptourraceevenmore;a landthatwill workoriginallyandin every
wayto do theworkof mankindandfortheadvancement of SouthAmerica.

For Nabuco, the Brazilianrace question was as importantas slavery-

perhapseven more important,given thathe triedto arguethat slave-owning
Brazil was a racial democracy in that it "never developed color preju-
dice ... therewas a systemof absoluteequalitybetweenmastersandslaves in
Brazil, in spite of slavery"(1938: 19-22, 170-171). The apparentcontradic-
tion in his simultaneouslydeploringthe "retardedmentaldevelopment,""the
barbarousinstincts,"andthe "grosssuperstitions"of the blackrace,carrierof
a blood full of vices (1938: 133-134, 140, 244), has a coherencethatone may
not see at firstglance. This coherencebecomes apparentwith the knowledge
that Nabuco tried to exclude slaves from taking partin the struggle against
slavery. "Abolitionistpropaganda,in effect, was directed not toward the
slaves... butagainstan institutionandnot againstpeople"(1938: 24-25, 30).
He was afraid that the participationof blacks in the process of abolition
would lead Brazilinto an uncontrollablecivil warin which the society of the

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 dos Santos / THE "WHITENING"OF BRAZIL 79

(white) masterswould suffer the most. The struggle against slavery was to
remain limited to Parliament,far from the streets and squaresof the cities
(1938: 26).
The exclusion of slaves from the process of abolition and the pursuitof
Europeanimmigrationwere combined in Nabuco's program.That whites
were a minorityin Brazil was consideredone of the causes of the country's
backwardness,and"theonly way out would be the 'refinementof the race'in
the directionof greaterwhiteness (accordingto Lacerda)or of Aryanization
(accordingto OliveiraViana)"(Seyferth, 1985: 96). The dominantconcern
of Brazil'srulingelites in the nineteenthcenturywas to "builda white nation"
(Odalia, 1977: 134), a concernthatpersistedfor the firstthreedecades of the
presentcenturyin a selective immigationpolicy that discriminatedagainst
blacks andAsians. Europeanimmigrationwas for both Brazil'spolitical and
economic andits intellectualelites one of the most importantinstrumentsfor
whiteningthe country.In the shortterm,this immigrationwould increasethe
numberof white persons. In the long term, racial mixing between blacks,
half-breeds,and whites would, accordingto the "law of attraction"-that is
the law of inevitableinterbreedingamong the races, accordingto Gobineau
himself (Poliakov, 1974: 218)-"purify" those of Africandescent by means
of "naturalselection,"providinga racial cleansing, whiteningthe Brazilian
people, and, as a result, eliminating the "defects"and the "vices" of the
blacks and mestizos in accordancewith the wishes of the Brazilianruling
classes.

NOTES

1. In Sociedade Auxiliadorada InddstriaNacional (Society for Assisting Brazilian In-

dustry)also therewere, in the 1870s, heateddebateson the need to importChineselabor.One of
its members,I. C. Galvao,takingpartin a commission set up by the society, defendedthe impor-
tationof Asians but arguedthat"theChinese were the only people who, in the presentcircum-
stances,could supplythe need for manpoweron the plantationsandotherestablishmentswhere
slave laboris currentlyemployed.... Theirintroductionfor this purposeis notjust useful but an
urgentnecessity.But this commission understandsthis importationsolely and simply as a tem-
porarymeasureto supplyfield labor,andnot as realsettlerswho wouldbecome fixed on the land
as a permanentpartof our society and compete, by fusion with our indigenouspopulationand
with immigrantsfromelsewhere,come to formournation"(Galvao,quotedby Carneiro,1948).
2. Fromthe end of 1870s on, the politicalrepresentativesof the provinceof Sao Paulo,when
discussing the type of worker the province should have once slavery was ended, desired to
"improveour race"by way of "a transfusionof betterblood"throughimmigration.Duringthe
1870s and 1880s, such debatesrecurredin the Assembleia LegislativeProvincialde Sao Paulo
(Legislative Assembly of the Province of Sao Paulo-ALPSP), and thereforeI have used this

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80 LATINAMERICANPERSPECTIVES

province as an "ideal type" for our analysis. See Azevedo (1987) and the Assembly's Anais,
1869-1888.
3. At the nationallevel, this position can be seen fartheron in the Braziliangovernment's
Decree No. 528 of June 28, 1890. At the provincialor state level, takingSao Paulo provinceas
the "idealtype,"we can see this throughthe speech of provincialassemblymanPaulaSouza, in
the ALPSPsession of February15, 1884:"So,it is to the Africanthatwe owe ourpresentrelative
prosperity.Wedo nothaveto be ashamedof this. Weobeyed a historicalnecessity,which the cir-
cumstancesexplained and to some degreejustified. If we owe our relative civilization to the
black, it is to him that we also owe our presentdifficulties.... When we talk aboutthe lack of
manpower,we in Sao Paulo understandthatthe black was a mistakeandcan no longerbe toler-
atedin this provinceif we claim to be a civilized people, if we hope for moralandChristianprog-
ress. We haveclosed the doorandsaid, 'No moreblacksto come in.' When it has been proposed
to let a few in by way of chinksin this prohibition,theAssembly has arisenanddeclared,'No, the
law is absolute:no more blacks may be let in!"' (ALPSP,Anais, 1884: 215-220).
4. This treatywas signed December 12, 1828, and confirmedon severalsubsequentocca-
sions, includingonce in 1873 (Lesser, 1994:86). Accordingto article2 of the treaty,"thecitizens
and subjectsof both countriesmay travelthroughoutthe other,with rightto reside and do busi-
ness.... Therewill be a perfect,fixed, and inviolablepeace andfriendshipbetween [theU.S.A.
and Brazil] in all theirpossessions and territories. . . without distinctionof people or places"
(TPACN,quotedby Lesser, 1994: 86).
5. The yellow races or, more precisely,the Chinese and the Japanesewere authorizedon
October5, 1892, to enterBrazil legally, by Law 97/1892, but the Japanesebegan to migrateto
Brazil only after 1908 (Hahner,1993: 9).
6. WhenI referto the intellectualelites I use, as "idealtypes,"threeBrazilianintellectuals
of the end of the nineteenthcentury:Joao Batistade Lacerda,Euclides da Cunha,andJoaquim
Nabuco. I could also have analyzed, among other importantwriterswith similar ideas, Sylvio
Romero,OliveiraViana,andNina Rodrigues.However,my purposehas been not to conductan
in-depthanalysis of Braziliansocial thoughtat thatperiod but only to registerthat an analysis
based on racial differenceadvancedby a significantsegment of Brazilianthinkerswas funda-
mental in explaining national problems. My choice of these intellectuals is not arbitrary.
Euclides da Cunhaand JoaquimNabuco are "sanctifiednames"(i.e., well-establishedauthori-
ties) who have helped to create"thehistoryof socio-politicalthoughtin Brazil"(Santos, 1967).
The choice of Joao Batistade Lacerdais justified notjust because he was the Braziliandelegate
to the UniversalRacialConferenceheld in Londonin 1911 butalso becausehe was the director
of the NationalMuseumin Rio de Janeiroand an intellectualwith ties to the internationalaca-
demic community.
7. On these theoriesandtheirinfluenceon the Brazilianintelligentsia,see Skidmore(1976)
and Schwarcz(1993).
8. According to GiraldaSeyferth, "Thetheory of racial whitening, inspiredby the ideas
developedin Europeaboutracialdeterminism,was developedin Brazilin the periodbetweenthe
end of the Empire(1889) andthe FirstWorldWar(1914). The chief characteristicof this theory
is its ambiguity:it thoughtof miscegenationat one andthe same time as both an evil to be extir-
patedand a solutionfor the racialquestionin Brazil. The preoccupationwith varioustypes and
degrees of color mixing and theirconsequencesfor the formationof the Braziliannationwas a
constant in the work of various writers (historians,sociologists, anthropologists,etc.), all in
some degree influencedby theoriesthattoday we would label racistbut which, at the time, had
the statusof authenticscience. The conceptof whiteningimplies a series of presuppositionsand
some even contradictoryopinionson the meaningsof the conceptof race:the authorsbelieved in
the inequalityof humanraces, in the incapacityof the black to become civilized, in the genetic

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 dos Santos / THE "WHITENING"OF BRAZIL 81

inferiorityof the nonwhiteraces, includingin this the majorityof mestizos, and,principally,in a

naturaland social selection that would lead to a whiterBrazilianpeople in the not very distant
future.Using the then popularterm eugenics, the Brazilianauthorswho developed this theory
suggested the possibility of cleansing the mixed-bloodpopulationof its Africancharacteristics
after a few generations"(1985: 81).
9. Nilo Odaliawas the firstwriterto makethis criticismof Skidmore."Ifwe call attentionto
the role playedby Varnhagenin the developmentof thethemeof miscegenationandof the idea of
whiteningthe Brazilianpopulation,it is only to demonstratethatit does not seem to us correctto
claim that a clear whiteningidea had arisenonly out of the racialtheories.We believe the con-
trary:that the racial theories arose only to provide a bettertheoreticalframeworkfor a feeling
anda realitythathadlong existed in Braziliansociety.They were introducedonly to reinforcethe
myth of white superiority"(1970: 131).
10. In a February27, 1903, letter to AraripeJunior,Cunha declared, "I am a disciple of
Gumplowicz,wardingoff all the hardangles of thatfierce Anglo-Saxontemperament.And, as I
admit, with him, the irresistibleexpansionof the syngenetic circle of peoples, the idea is quite
consoling that the final absorptionwill take place less throughthe belligerentbrutalityof the
Centaurwhose horsehooves dug out the medieval earth and more throughthe accumulated
energyandexcess of life of thepeople destinedto the democraticconquestof theplanet"(Cunha,
1966: 624). Ludwig von Gumplowicz(1838-1900) was a Polish sociologist and historianwho
attributedsocial evolutionto the struggleor collaborationbetween groups.His writingsinclude
The Race Struggle and Principles of Sociology (1963: 76-84).
11. Nabuco, like Lacerda(1911), believed thatcrossing blacks with whites would not bas-
tardizethe latterbut insteadelevate the former(1938: 141)

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