Good Music & Brazil's Situational Racial Democracy

When we met with black movement activist Carlos Alberto Medeiros, he discussed how racism was situational here in Brazil. Mr. Medeiros described how in one instance he can be X’s “brother”, but in an entirely different context where X is upset, X would call him the equivalent of the n-word in Brazil. Everything in Brazil seems to contain this type of complexity, even the idea of racial democracy.

Before I arrived in Brazil, I wrote off the racial democracy idea as a myth. Tonight, I attended a very diverse music showcase at an apartment. Not only was there a fusion of different types of music from Samba to hippie hoppie (hip-hop), there were people of all races in a very comforting environment. I have to admit that it felt like a racial democracy. It was much more fluid than a room full of different races in the U.S. where there would be preconceived notions, judging, and an occasional private conversation discussing “what is so and so doing here?” Furthermore, it seemed more natural. Everyone was very welcoming and not once did I get the sense that anyone served as a “token”. The music made it even more fluid because everyone was singing along to the same songs, and it was a wonderful feeling even though I didn’t understand a word anyone was saying! Here, music seemed to bring people together in an incredible way.

Juxtapose this social experience with my experience with AfroReggae. AfroReggae goes into the worst favelas in Brazil and uses cultural activities (including music) to take kids from crime and give them new opportunities, helping to transform these communities. I was told that a white person from a favela has a better chance of getting a job than a black person because most employers won’t ask the white person for his/her zip code. Favelas do not have zip codes, so of course the black person, following the extra scrutiny, will be denied the job due to an inability to provide a zip code.

Overall, I think Brazil has both situational racism and situational racial democracy. It just so happens that the situational racism negatively impacts many lives in ways that situational racial democracy can’t fix.