Inequality in Brazil
Elida Waggoner
Democracy and Exclusion Brazil LAS 6936Professor Reiter
The story of Brazil's social inequalities is one that deals with constant change, suffering,
violence, disenfranchisement, and perpetual injustice. Do the stories of the past still ring true today?
How far has Brazil come in its struggle to balance opportunities for all races? From Pedro I to Dilma
Rousseff all leaders promise improvements that many fall gravely short of fulfilling. Some social
programs have performed better than others. Still, the majority of Brazilians on the unequal scale
would argue that more needs to be done to improve the living standards of the poor and disadvantaged.
Brazil has worked hard to eradicate the system of patronage that plagued and corrupted its
political systems of the past. Under military rule Brazil cleaned up its act and almost eradicated
patronage. Democracy promised representation, greater suffrage, and elected leaders, with it patronage
slithered its way back into the limelight. Democracy requires equality to work, without it democracy
does not exist and you have a system of oligarchy with a few fighting to maintain dominance.
Brazil inches closer to a true democracy every day. Many social programs have been put in
place to bring greater opportunities to those who need it most. Local governments have created
wonderful cities and created vast opportunities for the poor to earn honest wages. The question
remains, will this be enough to significantly lift a desperate stratus of the population into greater
socioeconomic standing. In Brazil there exists the illusion of equality, the reality is that blacks lag
behind whites in healthcare, education, and income.
Historical Racial Relations
Brazil and its history of slavery are closely married. Without slavery it is questionable whether
Brazil would be the country that it is today. For a nation that was built on the backs of slaves, it is a sad
state of affairs that the very people who built the nation do not reap the rewards of their labors but
rather a small group of elite thrived and continue to thrive with the help of the excluded. Blacks largely
make up the poor class in Brazil. Blackness is measured on a scale from dark to light with the darkest
members of society being the poorest.
Brazil was claimed in 1500 by the Portuguese, soon thereafter slavery became an integral
component of life. Slave populations grew to encompass a third of the population by the 19th century.
Slavery was abolished in Portugal in 1776 but it was much too important in Brazil to abolish slavery so
soon in the countries history. Brazil's economy greatly utilized slaves for domestic work, sugar
plantations, coffee plantations, cattle and other hard labors. Brazil formally seceded from Portugal in
1820, and ended slavery in 1888 almost one hundred years after mainland Portugal.
In 1808 slavery came to a halt in England.1 Despite international pressures by the mid 1800s
Brazil continued the importation of slaves past the social expiration date. Unlike England whose slave
economy changed, Brazil's agriculturally focused infant economy still would hinge greatly on slaves.
Several practices continue the spirit of slavery to the present day. The use of Agregados perpetuated
slavery in the past, while the racial roots of slavery can be seen in modern day Brazil by racial wage
disparities and occupations.
Agregados could be family or someone who depended greatly on a land owner to survive, but
mainly Agregados represent an enslaved class of the extremely poor and likely black who sold their
political liberty in order to survive.2 Freedom was for the privileged few who were rich and white and
were rarely threatened of losing it. Blacks were threatened with incarceration if they were
unemployed, and the only jobs made available to them were the same jobs they historically held.
Blacks lacked the education to secure employment in other occupations. The promise of land
grants never materialized. Faced with little prospects they turned to familiar work in agriculture, hard
labor, and domestic work to survive. The end of slavery only changed their employer. The economics
of their freedom enslaved blacks for future generations.
Regional Racial Demographics
Location is given as one of the reasons for inequality rather than race. 44.5 percent of black live
in northeastern Brazil. This area is characterized by poverty stricken areas and underdeveloped
industry. The majority of whites live in Southeastern Brazil. This area is more developed and offers
more opportunities to its residents. Not only is the south more developed it also receives most of the
financial resources the country has. The government chooses to invest heavily in urban infrastructure
while the north sparingly gets money for its programs.
Location inequality can be attributed to patterns of development since the nations beginning.
Economically driven changes occurred because of the success of coffee plantations in the south, the
discovery of gold in the south and central areas of Brazil, and sugar crop decline in part due to other
forms of sweeteners being developed in the industrial world such as high fructose corn syrup.
Racism is evident when you consider the racial recruiting that replaced black labor in the south
with white European immigrants. Late nineteenth century Brazilians believed that great civilization
could only be obtained through white people.3
By white washing the population Brazil could progress
and become a great nation. When location is viewed in this context its evident that the racial makeup
by location is racist in its nature.4
Colonial Brazil was also heavily influenced by the United States. Brazil, looked toward the
United States with admiration.5 In the Wealth of Nations Adam Smith believed that the inferior races
would not reproduce and become prosperous. He believed that over time whites would dominate and
black numbers would be reduced. Smith specifically states:
Every species of animals naturally multiplies in proportion to the means of their subsistence,
and no species can ever multiply beyond it. But in civilized society it is only among the inferior
ranks of people that the scantiness of subsistence can set limits to the further multiplication of
the human species; and it can do so in no other way than by destroying a great part of the
children which their fruitful marriages produce.
Feeling blacks were inferior Brazil aided the eventual decline of blacks by also encouraging European
immigration, and mixing.6
The Beginnings of Change
Racial inequality was officially attacked in 1990 when then president Cardosa denounced
discrimination. Some of the things that Cardosa did to promote equality was that he required public
schools to acknowledge and teach Afro-Brazilian history. A topic that previously was taboo, and
seldom talked about let alone studied. Most Brazilians went so far as erase black family members from
their family trees. Cardosa also created the role of state secretariatto to promote racial equality.
Cardosa's quota initiatives were met with fierce critiques who argued that quotas would create
racial discord. Brazil is no stranger to denying racial inequality, and racism. A study was published
indicating that 6% of university students were black. This number appeared to correlate with the
number of blacks in Brazil, in reality 45% of Brazilians were of African Ancestry at the time of the
study and only 6% were considered preto leaving pardos out of the equation. The university figures
included both classifications. Lula also further tried to promote equality with his ending hunger
initiatives In response, the official statistics agency published a study indicating that 40% of Brazilians
were overweight.7
Education
World-wide there has been an increase demand and enrollment for institution of higher
education. By 1991 global enrollment was at 65 million a sharp increase from the 1960s. This trend
continues to the present with no indicators of slowing down. More recently demand for education has
increased in Brazil from 1.5 million in 1992 to 3.8 million in 2003.8 To understand education in Brazil
one must first understand who is attending private and public institution at different levels of schooling.
In Brazil public universities do not require tuition, students can attend free of charge. Since cost does
not act as a regulator on who attends, the University system has put in place entrance examinations to
determine who enrolls. Entrance based on merit appears to be a fair qualifier for entrance until you
factor in early education.
Inequality can also be seen by the funding between rural or municipality schools and urban state
run schools. Rural schools get much less money than urban schools. The disparity is so great that
schools must call upon parent volunteers for upkeep and maintenance of schools. The grades are
usually combined with 1 or 2 teachers teaching 4 school grades in the same year. In addition, there is
less administrative staff to support the schools. Further compounding the problems, the teachers are
less trained in rural schools. In most state schools the teachers have graduated high school, while in
rural schools this qualification is rare. The teachers who are more qualified aspire working for state run
schools. Teachers receive greater wages in state run school than in municipal run schools.9
Students who attend public school below the university level are ill prepared to pass the
rigorous entrance examinations required of them to gain entry. In a society with clear demarcation
between black and white socioeconomically. Blacks dominating the poorer class also dominate public
school matriculation. The white dominated upper class can afford early private education for their
children, and insure their students are prepared to pass the entrance exams for public universities. 10
Parents can also purchase additional courses that focus on taking the entrance exam solely.
Competition for matriculation is intense, only 9 percent of applicants secure entrance. Blacks
are underrepresented in the applicants that secure entry to public universities. Another factor that
excludes blacks are the fees associated with taking these exams. Naturally the ultra-poor struggle to
pay these fees, and retaking these exams might not be an option for most. White upper class students
would have the luxury of multiple repeated attempts.
Under the Cardosa administration a push for privatization was initiated by the recommendations
of the World Bank. With this push more private institutions opened, and existing ones expanded their
programs and enrollment. Due to early educational inequality the population segment that can afford to
pay less is overrepresented in these institutions. The government has responded by increasing loans for
students, while this does increase the education of blacks this does not increase equal opportunity for
students.
Gross misuse of quota programs by students who can claim little African ancestry is another
factor that greatly exasperates the fairness of university admissions. Most families have the previously
and often forgotten member that was black in their family tree. The quota systems have given these
family members a new birth and emergence back into the familial linage. The students attempt to
gain entry as blacks to ease their entrance.
Committees have been enacted to authorize and legitimize the racial self assessments of student
applicants. The problem with racially categorizing students is that race is very subjective. In some
instances siblings were split racially by these committees ruling one sibling white and other black.
Further calling attention to the unfairness inherit in the system are two identical twins who were ruled
separate races.
President Cardoso initiated a public discussion on Affirmative Action in 1996, at the same time
conceding racial discrimination in Brazil. 11 Cardoso underlined the necessity for a Brazilian-styled
solution to racism in the country. Universities in Brazil began enacting affirmative action policies in
2001, placing quotas on admissions that required a certain number of black or indigenous students to be
accepted each year. The purpose of affirmative action is to reduce inequality in Brazil by allowing
some disadvantaged students an opportunity to attend a university. The largest group of
disenfranchised and disadvantaged people in Brazil are Afro-Brazilians.
There are two primary considerations toward the suitability of an applicant for affirmative
action, which are race and class. Universities apply different weight to these considerations, which
affects the make-up of the beneficiaries of affirmative action at that university. The current federal
proposal for affirmative action dictates that half of all students accepted to a university have attended
public rather than private school. This creates a pool of applicants hailing from the disadvantaged
classes of Brazil.
Within this applicant pool, a number of Afro-Brazilians proportionate to the number of Afro-
Brazilians in the local state must be accepted. Although this is the most common approach used by
universities, it is not the only one used. Six universities currently accept only Afro-Brazilians from
public schools into the affirmative action program, entirely eliminating white Brazilians that attended
public school. Seven universities elect to create a pool utilizing either race or class, allowing white
public school students as well as black private school students to compete for affirmative action slots.
Another approach, used by three universities, is to award seats at the school based on entry
examinations, but to allocate additional points toward the score based on the race and class of the
applicant.
In 2010, fifty-one Brazilian public universities had affirmative action programs. Of these fifty-
one universities, six attempt to affirm the black identity of applicants. Four of these universities
depend on brief interviews with a candidate, one depends on photos of near relatives such as a parent or
grand-parent to prove their black ancestry, and one depends on official documents that affirm
blackness.
The remaining forty-five universities have implemented other measurements to determine the
applicants suitability for affirmative action. These measures include family income and public school
attendance. These institutions have not attempted to determine the accuracy of the applicants stated
ethnicity. Each of these identity verification techniques attempts to ensure that beneficiaries of
affirmative action will aide the overall goal of reducing inequality. The programs aim to ensure that
people likely to be prejudiced during their lifetime have additional opportunities to overcome racism,
prejudice, and inequality.
Health Care
Similar to education Brazil's healthcare system is characterized by inequalities. Two main
systems are in place that provide care one run by the pubic sector and the other by the private sector.
The rich can afford the higher fees of private care while the poor seek their care in the cheaper public
sector. Privatization is one of the forces that is reforming healthcare. Private facilities are much more
efficient keeping the total cost of care for a facility lower per patients, and at the same time providing
better care to patients.
Beginning in 1988 Brazil set out to reorganize its healthcare. Previously care was divided by
function. Sick patients sought cures from facilities managed by the Instituto Naional de Assistencia
Medica Previdencia Social. While preventative focused care was managed by the state health
secretaries. Under the new system currently underway local governments manage the facilities, the
health secretaries manage the care, and the federal health ministry is responsible for all care. 12
Politics unfortunately is very closely intertwined with the new system. Fear abound of political
favoritism, and stalemates between political parties that dominate different regions. Corruption has
also plagued the system historically so these fears are legitimate. Funding is provided unequally to
different regions with the North, poor, and mostly black receiving less funding that white dominated
southern areas. Proximity of care is another factor that contributes to inequality. The rich urban areas
benefit from state of the art facilities exhibiting all the bells and whistles. In favelas the healthcare
facilities are ill equipped and the staff is under-trained. Many times there are no healthcare facilities
nearby.
Poor Brazilians many time forgo treatment from a healthcare center and simply receive their
healthcare by purchasing medicine from nearby pharmacies. Even still the poor still pay a larger
portion of their wages on healthcare. The rich spend much more money overall but the the percentage
of their income spent on healthcare is relatively small comparatively. Medical schools are training
mostly specialists which mainly find work in urban areas while primary care doctors can not find work
and as a result trained doctors avoid practicing in this area. Further exasperating the situation, public
sector doctors receive smaller wages than private sector doctors, and end up having to supplement their
income with other employment.
Primary care in rural areas is carried out by under-trained workers who receive some training
from different agencies. These workers usually are already acting as midwives. In the Northern area of
Ceara 4000 of these women have been recruited to obtain health training as health agents. Compared
to other countries of equal development, Brazil suffers from higher mortality rates for children under 5
years of age. These programs have helped to reduce infant mortality by 32%.13
One program that has helped improve the primary care crisis in Porto Alegre in Rio Grande do
Sul, is the Link Programme. This program seeks to increase communication between health facilities,
and train additional primary care personnel. It has developed a program where students receive up to 3
years of health training. The program has sought to address areas of the community that can improve
by better health measures such as sanitation and immunizations. In 1986 immunization were at 60% of
the population. The figure increased to 90% by 1991.14 The hope foundation is working on similar
programs for villages near the Amazon.
Brazil is a freshwater rich nation hosting a large majority of our planets freshwater reserves.
Yet in Salvador many favelas lack clean drinking water, standing in sharp contrast to the clean water
the urban rich enjoy. Water is a basic necessity and its quality can have profound health impacts on the
community. Gamboa de Baixo was a community that struggled to secure clean water for its citizens.
Their land and water supply was being contaminated by raw sewage. The leak ran through the middle
of the community. 15
Income
Afro-Brazilians are at a distinct disadvantage in the labor market in Brazil. Black Brazilians
live primarily in an impoverished region of the country that has lagged behind the more industrialized
regions. Their ability to relocate for more opportunities is diminished by the state of education in the
poorer regions. The government has not provided sufficient opportunities for Afro-Brazilian
advancement, and in the past actively worked against them even after slavery was abolished. Even for
Afro-Brazilians that overcome some of the many hurdles placed in their path, wages remain
disproportionate in favor of their white co-workers.
The boom and bust cycle of Brazil's historical economic growth left a large black population
abandoned in the Northeast after the price of sugar on the global market collapsed, while expansion
took place in the Southeast as coffee and gold resources were developed or exploited and benefited
whites predominately. This racial grouping still exists, with a 1999 census placing 44.5 percent of
blacks in the poverty-stricken Northeast, and 52 percent of the white population residing in the
wealthier Southeast. Sao Paulo represents the wealth of the Southeast region, contributing greatly to
the region's production of 56.2 percent of the nations GDP. The Northeast region, epitomized by the
state of Bahia, produce a meager 15.9 percent of the GDP. 16
The distinct difference between the northeast and southeast is primarily one of race rather than
class. Between 1820 and 1930, the government of Brazil encouraged European immigration into the
southeast region in an acknowledged effort to whiten the population. During this time, between 4.5
and 5 million white Europeans immigrated to the country, and at least 3.5 million of these immigrants
established a permanent residency. This is roughly equal to the 3.6 million African slaves brought to
the country during the three hundred years prior to abolition.
All of the growth and expansion that accompanied this rapid immigration wave was centered in
the southeast. Additionally, whites that do reside in the poorer northeast are still 5 times more likely to
complete twelve years of education than their black neighbors, and professional or skilled jobs in the
region are far more likely to be filled by white candidates. Wage disparity between whites and blacks
in the northeast is also greater than it is in the southeast.
Afro-Brazilians in general make far less money than whites. In the state of Bahia in 1991, Afro-
Brazilians that identified themselves as pardo or preto made 44.02 percent and 35.53 percent of their
white counterparts respectively. Even blacks that have relocated to the wealthier southeast region
cannot find significantly better wages, with pardo and preto Afro-Brazilians making just 58.91 and
57.47 of their white counterparts respectively in Sao Paulo. Due to the disparity in education and work
experience, blacks are unable to meet the skill requirements of higher paying jobs in Sao Paulo.
Therefore, black employment continues to center around agriculture, construction, and domestic
service, all of which rank among the lowest paying sectors in the country. The lack of opportunity
prevents most blacks from leaving the poor northeast region, and as a result the self-identified pardo
workforce in the impoverished area fell only 6.2 percent between 1890 and 1991, while the preto
workforce fell only 7.9 percent during the same time period. 17
Race discrimination can also be measured by the government benefits provided to the citizens
of Brazil. While both black and white men had access to social security in roughly equal numbers in
1991, white women had a clear advantage over black women. In Sao Paulo, white women were 8.8
percentage points more likely to have access to social security than a black woman who self-identified
as pardo, and 9.1 percentage points more likely than a black woman who self-identified as preto. In the
state of Bahia the difference was even more distinct with white women 11.5 percentage points more
likely to have access to social security than pardo women, and 13.9 percentage points more likely than
preto women. 18
Human Development 1980-2010
The UNDP or United Nations Development Programme has been collecting data to generate
human development reports. The program was developed as an alternative way of viewing a countries
progress. Traditionally GDP was used to analyze how a country ranks against other countries. Not all
countries are equal in how they govern, so naturally this number was not sufficient to determine the
actual impact GDP has on the population.
GDP stands for gross domestic product, it is an economic term that indicates the value of all the
goods and services that a country has produced for a year. Dividing GDP by the population results in
GDP per capital can be more reliable than GDP alone to determine how the economy is performing.
But again this number doesn't indicate how well the government is doing to distribute wealth among a
populace and how well the population is enjoying the nations success. The United Nations
Development Programme has filled the gaps with its human development reports which look at how
countries are performing against living standards.
The human development reports include five main categories: life expectancy, average amount
of education, the expected years of schooling, GNI pc 2008, and HDI. GNI pc is a measure of a
nations income per person, and HDI is a measure of human development index. HDI figures are
calculated by analyzing health, education, and income. HDI is measured via a gradient of zero to one.
A country that is rated as zero would represent a country who's quality of life was worse than a country
who had a rating of 1 being the best. 19
HDI figures for Brazil have shown a steady increase since 2000. In that year HDI was 0.649,
the latest figure reported was 0.699 in 2010. In figure 1 you can see how Brazil compares to other
countries in the region, the world, and to high human development countries. Brazilians enjoy a life
expectancy of 73.5 years which is only 5 years behind the United States who had a life expectancy of
78.5 years in 2011. In 1980 life expectancy was 62.46 years. Brazil has had a dramatic increase in life
expectancy since 1980.
Fig. 1. Source: UNDP (1980-2012)
More Brazilians are on average staying in school longer. But the racial disparities have
remained consistent between blacks and whites. As more blacks complete middle school, more whites
complete high-school and attend college. This data is consistent with increasing schooling figures for
adults who are over 25. In 1980 the average amount of time adults attended school was 2.57 years in
2010 the figure jumped to 7.18 years of school. This translates to an average annual increase of 54
extra days per year. GNI per capita also grew from $7,929 in 1980 to $10,607 in 2010. As a result of
the steady increase in health, education, and income HDI reflects the growth Brazil has undergone.
From 1997 to 1999 HDI per racial group was researched. The study shows that Human
development is improving for both Brazilians of African descent and for Whites. For Afro-Brazilian
the improvement was 0.013 and for Whites the improvement was 0.006. While overall table 1 shows a
closing of the gap between Afro-Brazilians and White-Brazilians the difference between the two shows
the inequality that characterizes Brazilian society. In 1999 blacks had an HDI of 0.691 and whites had
an HDI of 0.805.20
Table 1
Source: UNDP (1997-1999)
GINI Index
Another useful figure for determining the inequality of a society is the GINI Index. This index
measures how much a country deviates from a perfectly equal society. Again this index is measured
from zero to one. The more equal a society is the closer to zero the country is ranked. High number in
this instance are equivalent to a society that is more unequal income wise, in other words there is a
large income disparity. In 1980 Brazil had a GINI coefficient of 0.575 by 2010 Brazils coefficient
decreased to 0.54 as can be seen in figure 2.
Fig. 2. Source: Trading Economies (2012)
Conclusion
Brazil as a country has pulled together and is aggressively working to reduce inequality and
improve quality of life. Historically corruption and Brazil have gone hand in hand. Today Brazil
struggles with regional inequalities between rural and urban regions. It struggles with the inequalities
between the poor who are usually black and the rich who are usually white. Every part of society is
plagued by inequality the healthcare industry faces the same inequalities that favor the rich urban
white. Brazil's educational systems are set up to give whites an advantage. Blacks face a struggle
trying to compete against whites. They are disadvantaged during early education, and they are
disadvantaged financially. Fees, tuition, and preparation courses make higher education impossible for
some blacks.
Brazil is working to remedy these disparities between the races. Recent data shows that
inequality is very much a part of Brazilian society. There have been some improvements but this isn't
enough to lift blacks out of their socioeconomic realities. Much of the efforts have worked to improve
living standards and well-being in the country across all races. However, racial inequalities though
shrinking remain deeply ingrained in the social fabric of Brazil. Black routinely receive inferior
healthcare, inferior education, and inferior wages.
Future Research
Equality is fundamental to democracy, without it a democracy cannot exist. A society that
suffers from extreme inequality is a society that breeds violence. It is not by coincidence that societies
with the most socioeconomic inequality problems are also the most violent. This violence has its roots
in feelings of inadequacy and disdain. The greater the gap between classes, the larger the disdain a
society will feel. These feelings will materialize into more violence and discord. I hypothesis that
violence in Brazil is in large part due to inequality.
To begin to attack the problem of violence in Brazil and Latin America for that matter,
inequality between the classes must be addressed first. Many of the social programs being put in place
are helping society as a whole but they are failing to significantly reduce the racial gap in equality.
One of the most important avenues for change is to eliminate the slave/servant class. Minimum wages
need to be erected and a strong middle class needs to be created.
It has been reported that Brazil still is suffering from rapidly growing violence, yet the GINI
coefficient seems to be decreasing. Future inquiries could look at violence verses the GINI coefficient
perhaps during smaller time frames. To see what impact if any it has on violence in favelas. Further a
comparison between middle eastern countries of similar development might prove useful in reducing
violence, and it could provide an alternative to the clash of civilization theory.
Waggoner 18
Notes
1. Leslie Bethell, The Abolition of the Brazilian Slave Trade (New York: Cambridge, 1970), ix.
2. Richard Graham, Patronage and Politics in Nineteenth-Century Brazil (Stanford: Stanford, 1990), 17.
3. Kia Lilly Caldwell, Negras in Brazil Re-envisioning Black Women, Citizenship, and the Politics of Identity (New Brunswick: Rutgers, 1971), 30.
4. Peggy A. Lovell, “Race, Gender and Regional Labor Market Inequalities in Brazil,” Review of Social Economy 58, no. 3 (2000): 278-285.
5. Graham, Patronage, 159.
6. Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations (New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1723-1790), 1909-14.
7. Mala Htun, “Playing Brazil's Race Card,” Foreign Policy 151(2005): 86-87.
8. Tristan McCowan, “Expansion without Equity: An Analysis of Current Policy on Access to Higher Education in Brazil,” Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education and Educational Planning 53, No.5 (2007): 579-598.
9. Claudia Fonseca, “The Impact of Primary School Administration on Students Parents in Rural Brazil,” Anthropology &Education Quarterly 13, No. 1 (1982): 29-45.
10. McCowan, Expansion, 585.
11. Seth Racusen,“Affirmative Action and Identity,” Brazil's New Racial Politics, no. 6 (2010): 89-122.
12. Andy Haines, “Health Care In Brazil,” BMJ: British Medical Journal 306, No. 6876 (1993): 503-506.
13. Haines, Health Care, 505.
14. Haines, Health Care, 505
15. Keisha-Khan Y. Perry, “Racialized History and Urban Politics: Black Women's Wisdom in Grassrots Struggles,” Brazil's New Racial Politics, no. 8 (2010): 149
16. Lovell, Labor Market, 279.
17. Lovell, Labor Market, 279.
18. Lovell, Labor Market, 283.
Waggoner 19
19. “Human Development Reports.” United Nations Development Programme, 2011, http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2010/chapters/ .
20. Marcelo Paixao, “Waiting for the Sun: An Account of the (Precarious) Social Situation of the African Descendant Population in Contemporary Brazil,” Journal of Black Studies 34(2004): 743-765.
Waggoner 20
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Appendix 1: Concepts and Definitions
Agregado – An adult dependent that lived on a rich landowners land in return for political votes.
Although the Agregado could be a family member usually this class of people were black, poor, and
dependent on the landlord for survival. Sometimes these persons would be required to perform labor
for the landowners and other times they were given a small plot of land to work for their own
subsistence.
Black Brazilians – A group of people who were brought over from Africa for the purpose of slavery.
Class – Generally there are three main groups of classes: lower, middle and upper. These classes can
be later broken down into subclasses such as upper middle class. For the purposes of this research
paper only three will be used since in Brazil the distance between classes is significant.
Equity – Equal opportunity for all socioeconomic strata to obtain education in equal quality institutions
compensating for disadvantage.
Favela – A makeshift town located on the outskirts of cities in Brazil. These towns are built from crafty
materials such as plywood, cardboard, and reclaimed materials.
Racism – The inferior treatment of a group of people based on their skin color, or nation of origin.
Racial Inequality – Unequal lifestyle opportunities that arise as a result of race.
Poor – A group of people who make less than half of the minimum wage (Reiter 2009).
Socioeconomic Status – The position of a group of people that measures lifestyle factors such as
profession, income, community standing and education as it relates to other citizens in a country.
Shantytown – Another word for favela.
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