Afro-Brazilians

Currently, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) uses five race or color categories in the census: branca (white), parda (brown/mixed), preta (black), amarela (yellow, ethnic East Asian) and indígena (indigenous). In the 1940 census, all individuals who did not identify as "white", "black" or "yellow" were subsequently aggregated into the category "pardo". In other words, people who identified as pardo, moreno, mulato, caboclo, indigenous, among others, were classified as "pardos". In subsequent censuses, pardo was formalized as its own category, while Indigenous peoples gained a separate category only in 1991. Pardo literally translates to brown, but it can also refer to racial mixture. Activists and scholars associated with the Brazilian Black movement argue that the inclusion of this category in the census distorts Brazil's demographic depiction. They contend that the ideological privileging of whiteness in Brazilian society leads many Brazilians to 'deny their blackness' and 'lighten' themselves on the census by choosing the pardo category. Critics also claim that this distinction encourages Brazilians to separate the Afro-descendant population based on physical appearance, hindering the development of a unified Black identity in Brazil. Many black movement actors prefer the term negro, defining it as the sum of individuals who self-classify as brown (pardo) and black (preto) in the census. Many scholars and social scientists have also combined the brown and black categories in their studies, using terms such as Afro-descendente, Afro-Brazilian, or negro. The fusion of pretos and pardos into negros tends to be validated by the mainstream media, official bodies such as the Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPEA), ministries, government departments, and international organizations. However, not all people who identify as pardos are of African descent, especially in Northern Brazil, and identify with Blackness. Sociologist Demétrio Magnoli considers classifying all pretos and pardos as Blacks as an assault on the racial vision of Brazilians. Sociologist Simon Schwartzman points out that to "substitute negro for preto, suppressing the pardo alternative would mean to impose unto Brazil a vision of the racial issue as a dichotomy, similar to that of the United States, which would not be true." Members of the black movement in Brazil seek to define their racial identity in political and socioeconomic terms; pardos are grouped with blacks based on shared realities of racial discrimination rather than merely as a result of having "a drop of black blood." Research by Hasenbalg and Silva (1983) indicates that sociological racism is the primary factor uniting blacks and pardos. Two IBGE surveys, the 1976 National Household Sample Survey (PNAD) and the July 1998 Monthly Employment Survey (PME), have been analyzed to assess how Brazilians think of themselves in racial terms. The results of these surveys show that a great number of racial terms are in use in Brazil, but most of these terms are used by small numbers of people. Edward Telles notes that 95% of the population used only six different terms (branco, moreno, pardo, moreno-claro, preto and negro). Petruccelli shows that the seven most common responses (the above plus amarela) sum up 97% of responses, and the 10 most common (the previous plus mulata, clara, and morena-escura – dark brunette) make 99%. This is a poor scientific indication of ancestry, because only a few genes are responsible for someone's skin color: a person who is considered White may have more African ancestry than a person who is considered Black, and vice versa. But, as race is a social construct, these classifications relate to how people are perceived and perceive themselves in society. In Brazil, class and economic status also affect how individuals are perceived. In Brazil, it is possible for two siblings of different colors to be classified as people of different races. Children who are born to a black mother and a European father would be classified as black if their features read more as African, and classified as white if their features appeared more European. The Brazilian emphasis on physical appearance rather than ancestry is evident from a large survey in which less than 10% of Brazilian black individuals cited Africa as one of their origins when allowed to provide multiple responses. In the 1976 PNAD, none of these terms was used even once. Lighter-skinned mulattoes (who obviously were descendants of some Europeans) were easily integrated into the white population. Through years of integration and racial assimilation, a white Brazilian population has developed with more historic African ancestry, as well as a black population with European ancestry. In the United States, the efforts to enforce white supremacy resulted in southern states adopting a one-drop rule at the turn of the 20th century, so that people with any known African ancestry were automatically classified as Black, regardless of skin color. In the 21st century, many Black Americans have some degree of European ancestry, while few white Americans have African ancestry. ==History==

Slavery The first Spaniards and Portuguese explorers in the Americas initially enslaved Amerindian populations. In the case of the Portuguese, the weakness of the political systems of the Tupi-Guarani Amerindian groups they conquered on the Brazilian coastline, and the inexperience of these Amerindians with systematic peasant labor, made them easy to exploit through non-coercive labor arrangements. Historians estimate that about 30,000 Amerindians under the rule of the Portuguese died in a smallpox epidemic in the 1560s. The Iberian conquerors could not attract sufficient settlers from their own countries to the colonies and, after 1570, they began increasingly to bring enslaved people who had been kidnapped in Africa as a primary labor force. Brazilian slavery included a diverse range of labor roles. For example, gold mining in Brazil began to grow around 1690 in interior regions of Brazil, such as the modern-day region of Minas Gerais. Slaves in Brazil also worked on sugar plantations, such as those found in the Captaincy of Pernambuco. Other products of slave labor in Brazil during that era in Brazilian history included tobacco, textiles, and cachaça, which were often vital items traded in exchange for slaves on the African continent. The nature of the work that slaves did had a direct effect on aspects of slaves' lives, such as life expectancy and family formation. An example from an early inventory of African slaves (1569–71) from the plantation of Sergipe do Conde in Bahia shows that he owned nineteen males and one female. These uneven gender-ratios combined with the high mortality rate related to the physical duress that working in a mine or on a sugar plantation (for example) could have on a slave's body. The effect was often that many New World slave economies, including Brazil, relied on a constant importation of new slaves to replace those who had died. With Brazil's proximity to Africa, it was easy for the Portuguese to continue transporting Africans to Brazil when enslaved people ran away or died. Not all Africans and their descendants were enslaved; some were free and others were able to buy their freedom by earning money for their services. , 1826 , c. 1822 In Africa, about 40% of Blacks died on the route between the areas of capture and the African coast. Another 15% died in the ships crossing the Atlantic Ocean between Africa and Brazil. From the Atlantic coast, the journey could take from 33 to 43 days. From Mozambique it could take as many as 76 days. Once in Brazil, from 10 to 12% of the slaves also died in the places where they were taken to be bought by their future masters. In consequence, only 45% of the Africans captured in Africa to become slaves in Brazil survived. Darcy Ribeiro estimated that, in this process, some 12 million Africans were captured to be brought to Brazil, even though the majority of them died before becoming slaves in the country. The African slaves in Brazil were known to have suffered various types of physical violence. Lashes on the back were the most common repressive measure. About 40 lashes per day were common and they prevented the mutilation of slaves. Other slaves from the Bight of Benin belonged to the Fon people and other neighboring ethnic groups such as the Ewe, Aja, and Mina. Bantu people were mostly brought from present-day Angola and the Congo, most belonging to the Bakongo or Ambundu ethnic groups. Bantu slaves were also taken from coastal Mozambique, who were largely Makua people. They were sent in large scale to Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais. The Yoruba and other peoples from the Bight of Benin (such as the Fon, Ewe, Aja, and Mina) were sent, as far as Northeastern Brazil, particularly Bahia. Despite the large influx of Islamic slaves, most of the slaves in Brazil were brought from the Bantu regions of the Atlantic coast of Africa where today Congo and Angola are located, and also from Mozambique. According to Petrônio Domingues, by 1887, the slave struggles pointed to a real possibility of widespread insurrection. On 23 October, in São Paulo, for instance, there were violent confrontations between the police and rioting Blacks, who chanted "long live freedom" and "death to the slaveowners". The president of the province, Rodrigues Alves, reported the situation as following: :The massive flight of slaves from several fazendas threatens, in some places in the province, public order, alarming the proprietaries and the productive classes. Political elites in Brazil actively promoted European immigration to "whiten" the population, banning African and Asian immigration in 1891. To incentivize European immigration, the federal government subsidized travel to Brazil until 1927. European and white Brazilian workers were favored in factory jobs over Brazilians of African descent, who were often relegated to domestic and plantation labor. Afro-Brazilians established their own social and cultural institutions to support each other. In Salvador, they founded religious brotherhoods like Rosário às Portas do Carmo (1888–1938). The Sociedade Protectora dos Desvalidos, created in 1832, was an early mutual aid society for Afro-Brazilians. There were also religiously affiliated groups led by Afro-Brazilian women, such as the Irmãndade de Boa Morte in Bahia. Facing exclusion from white social clubs, Afro-Brazilians formed their own organizations, including the Luvas Pretas in 1904 and the Palmares Civic Center in 1927, which served as a library and meeting place. ==Demographics==

Before abolition, the growth of the black population was mainly due to the acquisition of new slaves from Africa. In Brazil, the black population had a negative growth. This was due to the low life expectancy of the slaves, which was around seven years. It was also because of the imbalance between the number of men and women. The vast majority of slaves were men, black women being a minority. Historian Manolo Florentino refutes the idea that a large part of the Brazilian people is a result of the forced relationship between the rich Portuguese colonizer and the Amerindian or African slaves. According to him, most of the Portuguese settlers in Brazil were poor adventurers from Northern Portugal who immigrated to Brazil alone. Most of them were men (the proportion was eight or nine men for each woman) and then it was natural that they had relationships with the Amerindian or Black women. According to him the mixture of races in Brazil, more than a sexual domination of the rich Portuguese master over the poor slaves, was a mixture between the poor Portuguese settlers with the Amerindian and Black women. The Brazilian population of more evident black physiognomy is more strongly present along the coast, due to the high concentration of slaves working on sugar cane plantations. Another region that had a strong presence of Africans was the mining areas in the center of Brazil. Freyre wrote that the states with strongest African presence were Bahia and Minas Gerais, but that there is no region in Brazil where the black people have not penetrated. Many blacks fled to the hinterland of Brazil, including the Northern region, and met Amerindian and Mameluco populations. Many of these acculturated blacks were accepted in these communities and taught them the Portuguese language and the European culture. In these areas the blacks were "agents for transmitting European culture" to those isolated communities in Brazil. Many blacks mixed with the Amerindian and caboclo women. Geographic distribution By region and state The Northeast region has the highest proportion of self-identified Black Brazilians, comprising 13.0% of its population. It is followed by the Southeast at 10.6%, the Central-West at 9.1%, the North at 8.8%, and the South at 5.0%. In absolute numbers, the Southeast has the largest self-identified Black population, with 9,003,372 individuals, while the Northeast has 7,127,018. Together, the Southeast and Northeast account for 78.08% of Black Brazilians. The North ranks third with 1,530,418 Black Brazilians, followed by the South with 1,505,526, and the Central-West with 1,490,124. Quilombos The quilombola population in Brazil is 1,327,802 people, or 0.65% of the total population. The Northeast Region has 5,386 quilombola localities, 64% of the total. Bahia accounts for 29.90% of the quilombola population, followed by Maranhão, with 20.26%. Together, the two states are home to 50.16% of the country's quilombola population. ==Genetic studies==

The research analysed the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which is present in all human beings and passed down with only minor mutations through the maternal line. The other is the Y chromosome, which is present only in males and is passed down with only minor mutations through the paternal line. Both can show from what part of the world a matrilineal or patrilineal ancestor of a person came from, but one can have in mind that they are only a fraction of the human genome, and reading ancestry from Y chromosome and mtDNA only tells 1/23rd the story, since humans have 23 chromosome pairs in the cellular DNA. Analysing the Y chromosome, which comes from male ancestors through the paternal line, it was concluded that half (50%) of Brazilian "negros" Y chromosomes come from Europe, 48% come from Africa and 1.6% come from Native Americans. Analysing their mitochondrial DNA, that comes from female ancestors though maternal line, 85% of them come from Africa, 12.5% come from Native Americans and 2.5% come from Europe. The high level of European ancestry in African Brazilians through paternal line exists because, for much of Brazil's history, there were more Caucasian males than Caucasian females. So inter-racial relationships between Caucasian males and African or Native American females were widespread. " (1895), by Galician painter Modesto Brocos showing a Brazilian family each generation becoming "whiter". Over 75% of Caucasians from North and Northeastern Brazil would have over 10% African genes, according to this particular study. Even in Southeastern and Southern Brazil, regions which received large waves of European immigration beginning in the 1820s and growing strongly in the late 19th century, 49% of the Caucasian population would have over 10% African genes, according to that study. Thus, 86% of Brazilians would have at least 10% of genes that came from Africa. The researchers however, were cautious about their conclusions: "Obviously these estimates were made by extrapolation of experimental results with relatively small samples and, therefore, their confidence limits are very ample". An autosomal study from 2011, also led by Sérgio Pena, but with nearly 1000 samples this time, from all over the country, shows that in most Brazilian regions most Brazilians "whites" are less than 10% African in ancestry, and it also shows that the "pardos" are predominantly European in ancestry, the European ancestry being therefore the main component in the Brazilian population, in spite of a very high degree of African ancestry and significant Native American contribution. Other autosomal studies show a European predominance in the Brazilian population. A 1981 study of blood polymorphisms examined 1,000 people from Porto Alegre in Southern Brazil and 760 from Natal in Northeastern Brazil. It found that people identified as White in Porto Alegre had 8% African ancestry, while those in Natal had a mix of 58% White, 25% Black, and 17% Amerindian ancestry. The study also showed that individuals identified as White or Pardo in Natal have a dominant European ancestry, while those identified as White in Porto Alegre have an overwhelming majority of European ancestry. According to an autosomal DNA genetic study from 2011, both "whites" and "pardos" from Fortaleza have a predominant degree of European ancestry (>70%), with minor but important African and Native American contributions. "Whites" and "pardos" from Belém and Ilhéus also were found to be predominantly European in ancestry, with minor Native American and African contributions. According to another autosomal DNA study, those who identified as Whites in Rio de Janeiro turned out to have 86.4% – and self identified pardos 68.1% – European ancestry on average (autosomal). Pretos were found out to have on average 41.8% European ancestry. public health personnel and health students. Brazilian homogeneity is, therefore, greater within regions than between them: A 2015 autosomal genetic study, which also analyzed data of 25 studies of 38 different Brazilian populations, concluded that: European ancestry accounts for 62% of the heritage of the population, followed by the African (21%) and the Native American (17%). The European contribution is highest in Southern Brazil (77%), the African contribution is the highest in Northeast Brazil (27%) and the Native American contribution is the highest in Northern Brazil (32%). According to another study from 2008, by the University of Brasília, European ancestry dominates in the whole of Brazil in all regions, accounting for 65,90% of the heritage of the population, followed by the African contribution (24,80%) and the Native American (9,3%). According to an autosomal DNA study (from 2003) focused on the composition of the Brazilian population as a whole, "European contribution [...] is highest in the South (81% to 82%), and lowest in the North (68% to 71%). The African component is lowest in the South (11%), while the highest values are found in the Southeast (18%–20%). Extreme values for the Amerindian fraction were found in the South and Southeast (7%–8%) and North (17%–18%)". The researchers were cautious with the results as their samples came from paternity test takers which may have skewed the results partly. Several other older studies have suggested that European ancestry is the main component in all Brazilian regions. Salzano (1997) reported 51% European, 36% African, and 13% Amerindian ancestry for the Northeastern population. Santos and Guerreiro (1995) found 47% European, 12% African, and 41% Amerindian ancestry in the north. In the southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul, Dornelles et al. (1999) calculated 82% European, 7% African, and 11% Amerindian ancestries. Krieger et al. (1965) studied a Northeastern Brazilian population living in São Paulo and found that whites had 18% African and 12% Amerindian genetic contribution, while blacks had 28% European and 5% Amerindian genetic contribution. These Amerindian estimates, like others, have limitations. Compared to earlier studies, the 2002 study findings showed higher levels of bidirectional admixture between Africans and non-Africans. In 2007 BBC Brasil launched the project Raízes Afro-Brasileiras (Afro-Brazilian Roots), in which they analyzed the genetic ancestry of nine famous Brazilian blacks and "pardos". Three tests were based on analysis of different parts of their DNA: an examination of paternal ancestry, maternal ancestry and the genomic ancestry, allowing to estimate the percentage of African, European and Amerindian genes in the composition of an individual. Of the nine people analyzed, three had more European ancestry than African, while the other six people had more African ancestry, with varying degrees of European and Amerindian admixture. The African admixture varied from 19.5% in actress to 99.3% in singer Milton Nascimento. The European admixture varied from 0.4% in Nascimento to 70% in Silva. The Amerindian admixture ranges from 0.3% in Nascimento to 25.4% in football player Obina. ==Media==

was the first black protagonist of a Brazilian telenovela Afro-Brazilians, along with other non-European groups, are significantly underrepresented in Brazilian media. They have a low presence in telenovelas, which are the most-watched programs on Brazilian television. The Brazilian soap operas, as well as throughout Latin America, are accused of under-representing the Black, Mixed and Amerindian population and over-representing whites. Brazil has produced telenovelas since the 1960s, but it was only in 1996 that a black actress, Taís Araújo, was the protagonist of a telenovela, playing the role of the famous slave Chica da Silva. In 2002, Araújo was the protagonist of another telenovela, being the only Black actress to have a more prominent role in a TV production of Brazil. Black actors in Brazil are usually required to follow stereotypes and are usually in subordinate and submissive roles, as maids, drivers, servants, bodyguards, and poor favelados. Joel Zito Araújo wrote the book A Negação do Brasil (The Denial of Brazil) which talks about how Brazilian TV hides the Black population. Araújo analyzed Brazilian telenovelas from 1964 to 1997 and only 4 black families were represented as being of middle-class. Black women usually appear under strong sexual connotation and sensuality. Black men usually appear as rascals or criminals. Another common stereotype is of the "old mammies". In 1970, in the telenovela A Cabana do Pai Tomás (based on American novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin), a white actor, Sérgio Cardoso, played Thomas, who was a black man in the book. The actor had to paint his body black to look black. The choice of a White actor to play a black character caused major protests in Brazil. In 1975 the telenovela Gabriela was produced, based on a book by Jorge Amado, who described Gabriela, the main character, as a mulata. But to play Gabriela on television Rede Globo chose Sônia Braga, who is an olive-skinned woman. The producer claimed he "did not find any talented Black actress" for the role of Gabriela. In 2001, Rede Globo produced Porto dos Milagres'', also based on a book by Jorge Amado. In the book, Amado described a Bahia full of blacks. In Rede Globo's soap opera, on the other hand, almost all the cast was white. The same situation has been seen in the 2018 telenovela Segundo Sol, leading to new protests, mainly on social media. But once again TV Globo denied racism, saying "We base our cast selection by talent, not by race". In 2018, a survey conducted by UOL reported that Black actors represented approximately 7.98% of those employed in the drama departments of Brazil's three major television networks. The data considered the soap operas that were either airing or in production at Globo, Record, and SBT. In the fashion world, Afro-Brazilians are also poorly represented. In Brazil, there is a clear predominance of models from the South of Brazil, mostly of European descent. Many black models complained of the difficulty of finding work in the fashion world in Brazil. This reflects a Caucasian standard of beauty demanded by the media. To change this trend, the Black Movement of Brazil entered in court against the fashion show, where almost all the models were whites. In a fashion show during São Paulo Fashion Week in January 2008, of the 344 models only eight (2.3% of total) were blacks. A public attorney required the fashion show to contract Black models and demanded that during São Paulo Fashion Week 2009, at least 10% of the models should be "Blacks, Afro-descendants or Indians", under penalty of fine of 250,000 reais. == Culture ==

Carnival in Brazil is the traditional combination of a Roman Catholic festival with the lively celebrations of people of African ancestry. It evolved principally in urban coastal areas, notably in the former plantation zones along the coast between Recife and Rio de Janeiro. Salvador's Carnival is less highly commercialized and has a stronger African component. Religion Most Black Brazilian people are Christians, mainly Catholics. Afro-Brazilian religions such as Candomblé and Umbanda have many followers. Although these religions have a higher proportion of Black practitioners, Whites also make up a significant portion, particularly in Umbanda. These religions are mainly practiced in large urban centers such as Salvador, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Brasília, São Luís. Candomblé is closer to the original West African religions, and Umbanda blends Catholic and Kardecist Spiritism beliefs with African beliefs. Candomblé, Batuque, Xango and Tambor de Mina were introduced to Brazil by enslaved Africans. These enslaved Africans would summon their gods, called Orixas, Voduns or Inkices with chants and dances they had brought from Africa. These religions have been persecuted in the past, mainly due to Catholic influence. However, the Brazilian government has legalized them. In current practice, Umbanda followers leave offerings of food, candles and flowers in public places for the spirits. The Candomblé terreiros are more hidden from general view, except in famous festivals such as Iemanjá Festival and the Waters of Oxalá in the Northeast. From Bahia northwards there is also different practices such as Catimbo, Jurema with heavy, though not necessarily authentic, indigenous elements. Some Afro Brazilians can be considered Yoruba Brazilians. Since the late 20th century, a large number of Afro-Brazilians became followers of Protestant denominations, mainly Neopentecostal churches. Among Brazil's predominant ethnicities, Blacks make up the largest proportion of Pentecostal Protestants, while Whites make up the largest group of non-Pentecostal Protestants. Although African-derived religions are historically associated with Black populations and have a higher proportion of Black practitioners compared to other religious traditions, 42.9% of their adherents are white, while the remainder are brown (33.2%) and Black (23.2%). Cuisine The influence of African cuisine in Brazil is expressed in a wide variety of dishes. In the northeastern state of Bahia, an exquisite cuisine evolved when cooks improvised on African and traditional Portuguese dishes using locally available ingredients. Typical dishes include Vatapá and Moqueca, both with seafood and dendê palm oil (). This heavy oil extracted from the fruits of an African palm tree is one of the basic ingredients in Bahian or Afro-Brazilian cuisine, adding flavor and bright orange color to foods. There is no equivalent substitute, but it is available in markets specializing in Brazilian or African imports. Acarajé is a dish made from peeled black-eyed peas formed into a ball and then deep-fried in dendê (palm oil). It is found in Nigerian and Brazilian cuisine. The dish is traditionally encountered in Bahia, especially in the city of Salvador, often as street food, and is also found in most parts of Nigeria, Ghana and Benin. Sports and dances Similar to other countries with large populations of African descent, there are many Black Brazilian footballers. Capoeira is a martial art developed initially by enslaved Africans who came predominantly from Angola or Mozambique to Brazil, starting in the colonial period. Appeared in Quilombo dos Palmares, located in the Captaincy of Pernambuco. Documents, legends and literature of Brazil record this practice, especially in the port of Salvador. Despite being reprimanded, Africans continued to practice this martial art on the pretext that it was just a dance. Until the present, Capoeira confuses dance and fight, and is an important part of the culture of Brazil. It is marked by deft, tricky movements often played on the ground or completely inverted. It also has a strong acrobatic component in some versions and is always played with music. Recently, the sport has been popularized by Capoeira performed in various computer games and movies, and Capoeira music has been featured in modern pop music. Music The music of Brazil is a mixture of Portuguese, Amerindian, and African music, making a wide variety of styles. Brazil is well known for the rhythmic liveliness of its music as in its Samba dance music. ==Notable people==

Many Afro-Brazilians have been prominent in Brazilian society, especially in the arts, music and sports. Many important figures in Brazilian literature have been of African descent, such as Machado de Assis, widely regarded as the greatest writer of Brazilian literature. Some of these individuals include Cruz e Sousa, symbolist poet, João do Rio, chronicler, Maria Firmina dos Reis, abolitionist and author, José do Patrocínio, journalist, among others. In popular music, the talents of Afro-Brazilians have found fertile ground for their development. Masters of samba, Pixinguinha, Cartola, Lupicínio Rodrigues, Geraldo Pereira, Wilson Moreira, and of MPB, Milton Nascimento, Jorge Ben Jor, Gilberto Gil, Garrincha, right-forward Leônidas da Silva, João Carlos de Oliveira Jadel Gregório, Nelson Prudêncio, Adhemar da Silva. Particularly important among sports is capoeira, itself a creation of Black Brazilians; important "Mestres" (masters) include Mestre Amen Santo, Mestre Bimba, Mestre Cobra Mansa, Mestre João Grande, Mestre João Pequeno, Mestre Moraes, Mestre Pastinha, Mestre Pé de Chumbo. Since the end of the 1980s, the political participation of Afro-Brazilians has increased. Some important politicians include former mayor of São Paulo Celso Pitta, Afro-Brazilians have also excelled as actors, such as Lázaro Ramos, Lourdes de Oliveira, Zózimo Bulbul, Milton Gonçalves, ==See also==