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Blackness and
Social Mobility in
Brazil
Contemporary Transformations
Doreen J. Gordon
Blackness and Social Mobility in Brazil
“In this original and important contribution to the study of race, gender and class
in Brazil, Doreen Gordon provides a rich ethnography of upwardly mobile Blacks
in the northeastern city of Salvador. Despite the persistent scholarly denial that a
Black middle-class exists, the author provides a necessary corrective to the idea
that money whitens and lays the groundwork for unpacking the gender and class
complexities of the Brazilian racial divide. This book illustrates how Black elites
continue to be shaped by the intellectual and political work of Black social move-
ments and cultural organizations precisely because racial violence structures their
everyday and structural experiences. The author reminds us that even in a majority
Black city and Black country, cultural dominance does not always translate into the
eradication of racial inequality or guarantee full access to citizenship.”
—Professor Keisha-Khan Perry, The Presidential Penn Compact Professor of
Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
“What are the practices, processes, and strategies that underlie black social mobil-
ity in contemporary Brazil? This book provides a broad and rich ethnography of
Afro-Brazilian middle class families in the city of Salvador, northeastern Brazil.
Informed by wide reading and detailed analysis, this work is relevant for all those
interested in debates about race, inequality and social change.”
—Professor Thais Machado-Borges, Associate Professor in Latin American
Studies, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Doreen Joy Gordon
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer
Nature Switzerland AG 2022
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of
reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in
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The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are
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The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information
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Switzerland AG.
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
In memory of Derek, my father
Acknowledgements
This book is based on PhD fieldwork carried out in Salvador in the north-
eastern state of Bahia, Brazil. Anyone who has conducted research in a
foreign country, particularly in a foreign language, knows how important
it is to be able to turn to others, even regarding the simplest of experi-
ences. This journey involved the patience, help, commitment, investment,
and encouragement of many people, to whom I am forever indebted. First
and foremost, I am especially grateful to the Brazilians and their families
who kindly opened their homes and patiently answered my questions.
Many led busy lives, yet sat with me through lengthy interviews and made
efforts to include me in their activities. Some prayed for me and worried
about my welfare in Brazil. I owe a debt of gratitude to these families and
individuals that I will never be able to repay. I hope that I have represented
them in all their complexities and take full responsibility for any
shortcomings.
Second, I am especially grateful for the invaluable guidance provided by
Peter Wade and John Gledhill at the University of Manchester: they were
inspiring supervisors with whom to develop my ideas and often took a
keen interest in my personal welfare. I would also like to thank Peter Fry
and Angela Torresan for providing vital comments on my PhD thesis as
well as the many colleagues and friends who helped along the way and had
faith in my work. Dr Elena Calvo-Gonzalez and Dr Cecilia McCallum at
the Federal University of Bahia provided invaluable practical and personal
support. This research also benefitted from the collaboration and assis-
tance of scholars based in Brazil such as Livio Sansone, Angela Figueiredo,
Elisete da Silva, Jeferson Bacelar, Mariela Hita, and Luciana Duccini. I
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
would like to express special thanks to Isabela Kikuta and Vera Rocha who
provided research assistance in a professional, confidential, and caring
manner. I thank Suzanna Gregory, Kiko Lisboa, Jacqueline Moreno, and
Terrianna Selby for their language translation assistance at different stages
of this project.
This research was made possible through the financial support of the
University of Manchester, the Royal Anthropological Institute, and the
University of the West Indies. Generous conference grants in the initial
dissemination of this research were provided by the University of
Manchester and the University of Oxford. My participation in the Human
Economy programme as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of
Pretoria between 2010 and 2011 also helped me to think critically about
my Brazilian research.
Institutional support was provided by the University of Manchester,
where I completed my dissertation, as well as the University of the West
Indies, Mona, where I have received grants and a Principal’s Award to
help with ongoing research and the writing of this book. I would also like
to mention the assistance of the University of Texas at Austin libraries,
especially the staff of the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection. In
addition, I would like to thank the Jamaican Embassy in Brazil for their
help in facilitating interviews with senior civil servants on return visits to
the country and the Brazilian Embassy in Jamaica for their ongoing sup-
port and advice. I also feel obliged to Palgrave Macmillan for offering me
the opportunity to publish my first monograph, as well as to the anony-
mous reviewers at Palgrave Macmillan for their useful comments on
my work.
Finally, I would also like to express my gratitude to close friends and
family—especially my mother, Barbara, and sister, Haydee, who have pro-
vided me with patient and loving support and encouragement during
these years. Special thanks to David Gauntlett, who supported my efforts
by purchasing a camera for my fieldwork and paying for language lessons.
Summary of the Book
This book examines the emergence of black middle classes in urban Brazil,
after 30 years of black mobilization and against the backdrop of deep eco-
nomic, cultural, and political transformations taking place in recent
decades within the country. One of the consequences of such transforma-
tions is said to be the re-structuring of gender, race, and class relations.
Utilizing qualitative techniques such as ethnography, interviews, life histo-
ries, and focus groups in the Northeast region of the country, the book
explores contemporary race, class, and gender inequalities and their impact
on daily lived experience. It reveals the social dynamics underlying upward
mobility, the diverse modes and experiences of social ascent into the mid-
dle classes, and the everyday negotiations involved in establishing one’s
status in Salvador’s socio-racial hierarchy which are not captured by other,
more “macro” lenses. While some of these patterns and experiences are
not peculiar to black people, this book argues that race shaped the con-
tours and possibilities of social mobility in particular ways. This book is
critical reading for specialists in the fields of inequality, race, gender, and
class relations.
ix
Contents
7 Keeping Up Appearances219
8 Conclusion245
Appendix251
Index261
xi
List of Figures
xiii
xiv List of Figures
xv
List of Tables
xvii
Prologue
xix
xx PROLOGUE
United States, as the world watched the violent storming of the Capitol
Building in Washington DC on January 6, 2021, by supporters of
President Trump. In more recent months, social protests have spread
across major cities and towns in Colombia as citizens (especially young
people) make legitimate claims relating to social inequalities, structural
racism, and exclusion—conditions which have been exacerbated by the
pandemic.1 However, these protests have been met with state repression
and the undemocratic blocking of the entry into Colombia of interna-
tional commissions and observers from the Inter-American Commission
on Human Rights.2 As Angela Davis, the political activist, philosopher,
professor, and author, recently stated, this is an extraordinary moment for
tackling racial injustice.3 What are the lessons to be learnt from historical
tragedies in global history that are/were related to racial and ethnic hier-
archizing and discrimination (such as the Holocaust, the Atlantic Slave
Trade, Apartheid, and the Rwandan Genocide)? How can these lessons be
applied to anti-racist organizing today?
The global community has made some strides in tackling racism and
racial discrimination. This includes the observance, on March 21, of
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, to com-
memorate March 21, 1960, when police opened fire and killed 69 people
at a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa, against Apartheid
pass laws. Other global efforts include the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights (1948); the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples (2007); and three world conferences to combat rac-
ism and racial discrimination held in Geneva in 1978 and 1983 and
Durban in 2001. Yet continued vigilance is required. Recently, a global
1
BBC News, “Why Colombia’s Protests are unlikely to fizzle out.” May 31, 2021.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-56986821. Accessed June 14, 2021.
2
Organization of American States, “IACHR requests authorization to conduct a Working
Visit to Colombia in the Wake of Alleged Human Rights Violations During Social Protests.”
Organization of American States Media Center, May 14, 2021. http://www.oas.org/en/
IACHR/jsForm/?File=/en/iachr/media_center/PReleases/2021/125.asp. Accessed June
14, 2021.
Borda, Sandra. “Why Colombia has erupted in Protest.” Open Democracy. https://www.
opendemocracy.net/en/democraciaabierta/colombia-protest-why-erupted-en/. Accessed
June 14, 2021.
3
Angela Davis quote cited in an article by Tonya Morley and Allison Hagan writing in
“Here and Now,” a news publication of Boston’s NPR news station, WBUR (public radio).
https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2020/06/19/angela-davis-protests-anti-racism.
Accessed June 16, 2021.
PROLOGUE xxi
call was made for concrete action for the elimination of racism, racial dis-
crimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance as well as the compre-
hensive implementation of and follow up to the Durban Declaration and
Programme of Action. While the resolution was adopted by the UN
General Assembly on December 31, 2020, the vote summary is of some
concern. Jamaica, Barbados, Brazil, Belize, Mexico, and Rwanda voted
“yes”—however, powerful and influential countries such as Canada, the
Netherlands, Israel, the United Kingdom, and the United States voted
“no.” Sweden, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, and Portugal abstained
from voting.4
More recently, the United Nations Human Rights Council has urged
global action including reparations to “make amends” for racism against
people of African descent. This is based on a study carried out by the
United Nations in the wake of George Floyd’s death. In June 2020, the
UN Human Rights Council adopted unanimously a resolution brought
by African nations that condemned discrimination and violent policing
and requested a report on systemic racism.5 Based on discussions with
more than 300 experts and people of African descent, nations were
strongly encouraged to take action to end racial injustice. The report sites
concern related to racial injustice in about sixty countries including the
United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Brazil, and Colombia. Furthermore,
the use of racial profiling and excessive police force was found to be sys-
temic in much of North America, Europe, and Latin America. The report
concludes that in order to achieve racial justice, countries should make
amends for centuries of violence and discrimination, including through
formal acknowledgement and apologies, truth-telling processes, educa-
tional reforms, memorialization, and reparations in various forms.6
4
See United Nations Digital Library: A Global Call for Concrete Action for the Elimination
of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance. https://digitalli-
brary.un.org/record/3896183?ln=en. Accessed June 16, 2021.
5
Sammy Westfall, “UN Human Rights Chief Calls for Reparations to Address Systemic
Racism around the World.” The Washington Post, June 28, 2021. https://www.washington-
post.com/world/2021/06/28/united-nations-systemic-racism-report/. Accessed July
30, 2021.
6
BBC News, “UN Human Rights Chief Calls for Reparations Over Racism.” June 28,
2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57646933. Accessed July 30, 2021.
xxii PROLOGUE
7
United Nations International Decade for the People of African Descent 2015–2024.
https://www.un.org/en/events/africandescentdecade/index.shtml. Accessed July 30, 2021.
8
World Bank Report on Afro-Descendants in Latin America (2018). http://documents1.
worldbank.org/curated/en/896461533724334115/pdf/129298-7-8-2018-17-29-37-
AfrodescendantsinLatinAmerica.pdf. Accessed July 30, 2021.
9
Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicilios (2013), Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e
Estatística. https://biblioteca.ibge.gov.br/visualizacao/livros/liv94414.pdf. Accessed
September 27, 2020.
10
World Bank Report on Afro-Descendants in Latin America (2018). http://documents1.
worldbank.org/curated/en/896461533724334115/pdf/129298-7-8-2018-17-29-37-
AfrodescendantsinLatinAmerica.pdf. Accessed September 27, 2020.
11
Os Negros nos Mercados de Trabalho Metropolitanos. 2013. Departamento Intersindical de
Estatística e Estudos Socioeconômicos. https://www.dieese.org.br/analiseped/2013/2013
pednegrosmet.pdf. Accessed September 27, 2020.
PROLOGUE xxiii
12
Rooted in different strands of scientific racism and eugenics thinking at the time, late
nineteenth- and early twentieth-century elites in Latin America promoted policies of “whit-
ening” for their obviously non-white populations. This included encouraging European emi-
gration to Brazil and ascribing a higher value to European cultural practices amongst others.
Their hope was that black Brazilians would have children with white Europeans and their
descendants, producing generations of lighter-skinned Brazilians. This idea of “whitening”
was understood to be positively aligned with the aim of creating a modern, civilized Brazil,
thereby eliminating the threat of degeneration and backwardness which were thought to be
the result of a high degree of racial mixture in the population.
xxiv PROLOGUE
13
A quilombo is a settlement that was formed by enslaved people and others escaping bond-
age and oppression in colonial Brazil. The name of this particular maroon settlement was
called Quilombo dos Palmares, which was located in the Northeast of Brazil in the modern-
day state of Alagoas.
14
See Rafael Lima, “How Brazil’s Anti-Racism Agency became a part of the Problem” in The
Brazilian Report published on July 6, 2020. https://brazilian.report/society/2020/07/06/
brazil-anti-racism-agency-became-part-of-the-problem/?fbclid=IwAR2bv4INGsUMA-RK-
DZRE4tMdMltuys0_M6eqgSojWo288_iKNh9xjZ2qMM. Accessed July 9, 2020.
15
Tom Phillips, “Black Official recorded calling Black Rights Movement Scum,” The
Guardian, June 3, 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/03/brazil-
sergio-camargo-black-rights-movement-scum-recording. Accessed September 27, 2020.
16
Two historically important centres of African research in Brazil are the Center for Afro-
Oriental Studies in Salvador and the Center for Afro-Asian Studies in Rio de Janeiro. The
former was founded in 1959 at the Federal University of Bahia. The latter was originally
PROLOGUE xxv
established at Itamaraty under the Jânio Quadros Presidency and later moved to Cândido
Mendes University. Both centres represented a desire for greater exchanges between Brazil
and African countries, especially under the Lula Presidency. However, recent shifts in foreign
policy have seriously undermined these efforts.
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Author: H. P. S. Greene
Language: English
Tommy flew badly that morning. He was all in, his head ached and,
besides, he was worrying about that interview with Major Herman
Krause. And then he had to practise landings—nervous work at best
in an unfamiliar ship. Finally he blew a tire and was bawled out
unmercifully by the instructor.
Luckily it was on his tenth and last trip, and he breathed a sigh of
relief when the lecture was over and he could go. He went to the
barracks and policed up. Shave, shine, but no shampoo. There was
hardly enough water for drinking and shaving, and that was brought
many miles in tank wagons. Bathing was something one went
without at Issy—and felt not much the worse unless the scabbies set
in.
Once militarily clean, Tommy dragged himself to headquarters,
entirely ruining the new shine so painfully acquired. He entered the
presence of the adjutant feeling like a whipped schoolboy. He
saluted and stood at attention.
“Sir, Lieutenant Lang to speak to the commanding officer.”
The adjutant kept on writing for about five minutes at a desk
stacked with piles of reports. Then he looked up savagely and spoke
with a slight accent:
“What? Oh, yes. What for?”
“About the Paris Express.”
“Go right in. He’s waiting.”
Tommy went in and stood with trembling knees before the C. O.
He was a large florid man with beetling brows and his manner was
not encouraging.
“You? Well? What about it?”
Tommy explained as well as he could, stressing his innocence.
He thought his plea must have softened an executioner, but Major
Krause was uncompromising in attitude and words.
“Young man,” he said, “you are a disgrace, sir! A disgrace to the
United States Army!” Tommy thought he had heard those words
before. “We have been having considerable trouble with the guard.
Those cadets are the worst disciplined body of men I ever saw.”
Again a familiar note.
“As for you—you seem to have trouble keeping awake. A
permanent assignment as commander of the guard ought to give
you beneficial practise at it. Of course, after keeping awake all night,
you will need to sleep in the day-time. You are therefore relieved
from flying duty. Report at guard mount this evening and every
evening until further orders. That will do.”
Tommy saluted and went out, his heart sinking. There were only
three known ways of getting out of Issy-la-Boue. The first was to
break your neck. The second was to fly so well that you were
graduated. The third was to fly so poorly that you were sent to
Blooey for reclassification, probably as an armament officer. Which
was generally considered the lowest form of life so far discovered in
the air service.
All these methods were dependent on flying. Once a man was
taken off flying duty, it took an act of Congress to get him away from
the place.
The little man wended his way back to the barracks. His
comrades were sitting on their bunks, and he poured his tale of woe
into their receptive ears. Being beyond words, they accorded him
silent sympathy. Finally Fat spoke:
“Well, I’m lucky to be out of it. Say, did you hear the news? Brock
was washed out on the fifteens this morning.”
“That makes seven in a week,” said Tommy after a pause. “How’d
it happen?”
“Same old thing. Wings came off.”
A bugle called. Most of the flying lieutenants went outside and,
joining others from near-by barracks, formed in line. A few
commands, and they were in one of the rivers of mud which served
as roads at the field. Presently they were halted behind three long
two-wheeled pushcarts; each cart bore a long box covered with an
American flag. The mourners stood in the mud for half an hour
waiting, and then a dispirited looking band appeared. Its bass drum
echoed boom-boom-boom-boom-boom, and the procession started.
Through the gate of the camp it went, and out on to the main
road, while the drum kept up its sad, hollow sound. Yard after yard,
rod after rod, until the cortège had walked two miles. Then it turned
into a young but flourishing cemetery, with red, raw mounds in
orderly lines.
The men were formed around three fresh graves. A pale-faced Y.
M. C. A. man stumbled through the burial service. A red-faced Knight
of Columbus did likewise. A Frenchman flew over and dropped some
dessicated roses. Then they all marched away again; only the boxes
and a small burial party remained behind.
The band struggled with its one tune, a lively quickstep, according
to regulations. Two old peasants drew their cart to one side of the
road to let them pass.
“Comme ils sont trists, les ’tits Americains!” said the woman.
“Quelle musique!” answered her spouse.
Tommy was there at the appointed time. At the far end a crowd was
gathered. Men were perched as closely as possible on the double-
deck bunks. In their midst Bacchanalian rites were in progress.
“Doc,” a stout man with a red, satyr-like countenance, was beating a
huge bowl of eggs. Before him within easy reach and frequently
applied, was an assorted row of bottles. Tommy read some of the
labels—Cherry Brandy, Martell, D. O. M., Absinthe.
“My God,” he muttered to himself, “everything but nitroglycerine.”
The party was undoubtedly a success. There were songs and
dances and stories. Finally it got to the speechmaking stage. An
interruption in the form of a volley of shots was welcome to every
one except the current performer. A trampling of feet, and then more
shots followed. A voice at the other end of the barrack shouted
“Attention!” as Major Krause stumbled in. He had evidently been
running, but he tried to stalk around in a dignified manner.
Somebody whispered—
“Those damn cadets have been shooting off their guns and
raising hell again, and he’s been trying to catch them.”
The major approached the end of the barrack where the party
had been in progress. He sniffed suspiciously, but the punch-bowl
had been shoved under a bunk and the bottles into boots, and there
was no evidence in sight. Finally he asked—
“Are there any guns in this barrack?”
“No,” Tommy spoke up. “I know, because I was trying to borrow
one this afternoon to mount guard with.”
A partially suppressed titter rose and fell again. The C. O.
wheeled around furiously.
“So it’s you again, is it?” he thundered. “Carousing in here while
your superiors attend to your duties. Get out to your guard and put a
stop to that indiscriminate shooting. I swear if I see you again tonight
I’ll prefer charges and have you broke!”
Tommy stumbled out into the darkness and headed in what he
thought was the direction of the guardhouse. His head was buzzing
painfully. A volley of shots sounded somewhere in front of him. He
felt vaguely that he ought to do something about it, and ran in that
direction, only to fall over the guy-rope of a hangar and fall heavily.
More shots behind him. He got up and staggered on. Suddenly there
was a flash and a report right before him. Then a voice yelled—
“Halt.”
“Commander of the guard,” bawled Tommy.
A dark figure loomed up vaguely in the murk. He struck a match
and saw a grinning cadet working the bolt of his rifle and waving the
muzzle around dangerously. Suddenly it exploded and Tommy felt
mud splatter over him.
“I thought I saw something moving and halted it, and it wouldn’t
halt, so I fired, but I don’t understand this gun very well, sir,” said the
cadet, still working at the bolt.
The commander of the guard turned and fled. He was getting
dizzier every minute. Finally he tripped over another guy-rope and
fell, to rise no more.
When he woke, it was with the consciousness of having been
annoyed for a long time by a rasping noise which was still going on.
He tried to pull himself together and think. He could vaguely discern
the bulk of a hangar. There was a queer, unexplained rasping. Filed
wires—Wings coming off—Funerals—
The noise stopped, and presently a dark figure crept out through
the hangar door and started to steal away. Tommy drew the little
automatic from its holster and fired. The next thing he realized was
that there were flashlights and men everywhere. The sergeant of the
guard. Major Krause. Calls for explanation. Tommy tried to explain. A
voice said—
“You fool, you’ve shot the adjutant!” Strong hands seized him and
hustled him away.
THE END
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