Multiracial versus Collective Black Categories

Abstract

Nutzungsbedingungen EDWARD E. TELLES University of California, Los AngelesABSTRACT Current census debates in Brazil surrounding Brazilian race categories center on two contrasting proposals: the adoption of the multiracial moreno term vs. the use of the collective black classification negro. Those proposing the former base their argument on the right to self-classify according to one's own sense of identity. Proponents of the negro category contend that it would be most efficient for redressing racial discrimination. We examine the meaning and saliency of these categories and explore the possible consequences of their adoption. Using national survey data, we demonstrate how education, age, color, sex and local racial composition structure the choices of moreno and negro over official census terms. Findings include a negative correlation between education and the choice of moreno, while the opposite is true for negro. In addition, an age effect on both categories suggests a popular shift in racial labeling away from official census terms. We note that similar issues structure current census debates in the USA.

How States Make Race: New Evidence from Brazil

“…The average expected propensity for those with an elementary education level who self-identify as preto to also identify as preto in the open-format question is 34 percent; however, it falls to just 7 percent for those with a college education. This negative education effect for pretos may reflect the broader preference for the term negro among more educated government classification pretos in Brazil, which is consistent with prior research (Bailey and Telles 2006). The effect of age on dimension alignment also operates differently across government classification categories.…”

Stratification by Skin Color in Contemporary Mexico

“…They prefer the category moreno , instead of the intermediate category pardo used in the Brazilian census, because the former is more commonly used in everyday life. By contrast, Telles (1995, 2004) argues that the term moreno is too ambiguous to be analytically useful (see also Bailey and Telles 2006). Activists have proposed a third classification system in which individuals are categorized as either black or white without any intermediate categories.…”

“…In the case of African Americans in the United States, socioeconomic differences are found along skin color gradations between two poles (black and white) that are at least partly defined by somatic differences. In the Brazilian case, multiple categories are recognized between the two somatic poles, even if the boundaries between the different categories are extremely blurred and there are competing classification systems (Bailey and Telles 2006; Harris et al 1993; Telles 1995). What makes the Mexican case interesting is that socioeconomic differences may exist along a skin color continuum, even though the two socially recognized categories ( indígenas and mestizos ) are not defined on somatic grounds, as discussed in the previous section.…”

O gênero no comportamento suicida: Uma leitura epidemiológica dos dados do Distrito Federal

“…No critério de apresentação de dados, cabe ressaltar que a despeito de o Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatísticas (IBGE) utilizar a distinção entre pretos e pardos na divulgação de seus censos demográficos, o Movimento Negro afirma ser mais representativo a junção desses dois grupos em um, o de negros. Isso se deve ao fato de a cor parda estar comumente associada a uma ausência de identidade racial, pois quem se autorrefere dessa cor ainda se encontra incerto sobre sua classificação racial e, possivelmente, pode estar vinculada ao ideal da branquitude (Bailey & Telles, 2006;Silva & Leão, 2012). No caso dos registros de óbitos, por não se tratar de uma autodeclaração, é possível haver uma tendência ao embranquecimento do morto, por parte dos profissionais de saúde.…”