Radd Representation and Politics: Black Members The National Congress, 1983-999
Radd Representation and Politics: Black Members The National Congress, 1983-999
97
98
40: 4
99
(from the 1530s to 18881, even though it was intertwined with socioeconomic inequality, regional diversity, and ideological differences. Racial
representation is significant because at a general level, the vast majority of
Brazils rulers in the twentieth century have been white or relatively lightskinned while the majority of the poor and marginalized have been black
or of a darker complexion (Toledo 1989; Nascimento 1978). This political
reality, especially following more than three centuries of black enslavement, warrants empirical investigation and theoretical reflection.
The remainder of this essay is divided into four sections. A brief
overview of Brazilian politics shows that the racial question, especially the
elite concern with the role of blacks in the country, has been present
throughout the twentieth century. Second, an analysis of political and
racial representation highlights the strong underrepresentation of African
Brazilians in Congress. A third section examines black political activity in
Congress, drawing on personal interviews with several black representatives. The conclusion discusses the need for additional research on the
question of race, representation, and politics in Brazil and throughout Latin
America.
RACIALVIEWS,
REGIME
CHANGE,
AND Pmm Pouncs
After the abolition of slavery, Brazilian national politics can be divided into
five basic periods: the early republican period of constitutional oligarchy,
1889-1930; the Brazilian Revolution and first regime of GetCilio Vargas,
193045; the period of competitive politics, 1945-64; the period of military
authoritarianism, 1964-85; and finally the period of (re)democratization,
1985 to the present. One of the remarkable consistencies over this more
than one-hundred-year history is the elitist nature of Brazilian politics. As
Senator Benedita da Silva notes in the epigraph (Silva et al. 1997,61) and
throughout her autobiography, most Brazilian leaders have come from
white, wealthy, male, privileged sectors of the society (see also Lamounier
1989; Conniff and McCann 1989; Roett 1992) while many poor and black
Brazilians have been prevented from participating in politics through
literacy requirements for the franchise and other elite control mechanisms
(Leal 1986; Love 1970).
Political elites over the years have held racially explicit views. In the
first period, the dominant elite view can be described as overtly racist
(Skidmore 1993b; Schwarcz 1993). There was even widespread concern
that Brazils population was too black or too dark. This view contributed
to a malign neglect of the recently freedpopulation and a motivation to
import lighterand betterimmigrant workers. Thus embrunquecimento,
or whitening, became unofficial policy for those who believed in white
superiority and black inferiority.This policy was explicit in the state of SPo
Paulo, whch received most of the countrys European immigrants during
100
40:4
that period (Andrews 1991, 54-89). Blacks were seen as physically and
intellectually inferior to whites (Nascimento 1978).
By the 1930s, the countrys racial and ethnic composition had
changed dramatically. The proportion of blacks had decreased and the
percentage of whites had increased. The European (especiallyPortuguese,
Italian, and German) influence was strongest in the southeastern and
southern regions. During this period, whitening as an ideology was
formally challenged by part of the Brazilian elite. Many politicians and
intellectuals were repulsed by one of the ultimate expressions of white
supremacy, HitlersNazi Germany. In dramatic fashion, the elite reversed
itself: Gilbert0 Freyre and other intellectuals began to argue that Brazilians
were a people of mixed blood and that this was the key to their allegedly
harmonious race relations.
Freyres major book, Cum grunde e senzulu (The Masters and the
Slaves), exploring slavery and miscegenation, appeared in 1933; in 1934
Freyre organized an Afro-Brazilian congress to examine the contributions
of blacks to Brazilian society. The elite began to take pride in comparing
the Brazilian racial situation and the racial segregation in the United States.
Brazil, however, soon entered one of its most repressive periods, the
Estudo Novo (New State), which lasted from 1937 to 1945. Ironically, while
Brazilian white elites were celebrating harmonious race relations, the most
prominent black political group of the postslavery period, the Black
Brazilian Front (Frente Negra Brasileira), was banned, as were all other
political parties. The banning serves as a strong example of how a formally
nonracial policy (that is, elimination of political opposition) can have
explicit racial consequences (the disorganization of a black political
movement) (Femandes 1969, 1978; Leite and Cuti 1992).
The third political period (1945-64) was characterized by competitive politics and the notion of racial democracy. For the first time in its
history, Brazil had national parties with mass participation (Santos 1986,
1987). It was an optimistic time politically and racially. Freyre and others
continued to promote the notion that Brazil was unique in its solution of
the racial problem with racial mixing, fluidity of racial identity, and no
explicit racial division or segregation. To confirm that racial discrimination
was intolerable in Brazil, the Congress passed the Afonso Arinos Law in
1951.This law punished overt acts of racial discrimination, such as denying
someone a hotel room because of race. The government continued to
argue that all Brazilians had equal access to channels of social advancement (Skidmore 1993b, 212-13).
At the same time, black intellectuals and politicianswere having great
difficulty getting their concerns heard and black candidates elected to
office. The most notable achievement may have been the work of the
Teatro Experimental do Negro (Black Experimental Theater), a forum for
black cultural and political expression (Nascimento and Nascimento 1994,
101
102
40: 4
BLACK
MEMBERS
OF CONGRESS IN THE 1980s AND 1990s
Before the 1980s, very few blacks were leaders in national parties or had
been elected to the Congress. Adalberto Camargo from SPo Paulo and
Alceu Collares from Rio Grande do Sul are two rare examples of black
federal deputies from the 1970s. The emergence of the black movement
in the 1970s contributed directly to the rise of the current group of black
politicians. During this time, African Brazilian political activists, scholars,
students, and workers actively fought for space in Brazilian politics. This
activity occurred at the same time that new political parties were
organizing, political exiles were returning to the country, and some
traditionally minded white leaders were beginning to pay more attention
to blacks as voters, interest groups, and competitors (Gonzalez 1985;
Mitchell 1985; Fontaine 1985a, 1985b).
Before examining black representation in the Congress, an overview
of the Brazilian political system is required. Since the 1982 elections, Brazil
has once again had a competitive, multiparty political system. Since 1985,
when Jose Sarney became the first civilian president in 21 years, the
country has maintained a civilian presidential system of government. The
1988 Constitution outlines Brazils current formal institutional structure.
Members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected from each state to
four-year terms using an open-list system of proportional representation.
The entire state serves as the electoral district; Brazil does not have a system
of intrastate legislative districts, which, in the United States, have been so
important to the election of blacks to the House of Representatives(Swain
1993;Lublin 1997).The total number of deputies (currently 513) should be
proportional to the population, with no state having fewer than 8 or more
than 70 deputies. Each state also elects, by plurality vote, 3 federal senators,
who serve eight-year terms. Brazil has 27 states (including the federal
district) and therefore 81 senators.
Most analyses of political representation in Brazil focus on the
historical and contemporary overrepresentation of small states and the
underrepresentation of large states, especially SPo Paulo, in the Chamber
103
104
40: 4
Party
Status
1. Benedita da Silva
Rio de Janeiro
PT
2. Marina Silva
Acre
PT
3. Abdias do Nascimento
Rio de Janeiro
PDT
Suplente
1. Abdias do Nascimento
4 7tb-49th (198.3-1995)
Rio de Janeiro
PDT
Suplente
1. Nelson Carneiro
Rio de Janeiro
PMDB
Federal Deputy
State
Party
1. Eraldo Trindade
Amap5
PPB
2. Chico Vigilante
Distrito Federal
PT
3. Salatiel Carvalho
Pernambuco
PPB
4. Agnaldo Timoteio
5. Carlos Santana
6. Paulo Paim
Rio de Janeiro
PPB
PT
7. Luiz Albert0
8. Paulo Rocha
Bahia
Par5
PT
PT
Sup1e nte
9. Wagner Nascimento
Minas Gerais
PPB
Suplente
Bahia
PC do B
Distrito Federal
PPB
SPo Paulo
PT
Cear5
PC do B
MaranhQo
PT
Acre
PMDB
1. Eraldo Trindade
Amap5
PFL
2. Lourival Freitas
Amapii
PT
3. Chico Vigilante
4. Benedito Domingos
5. Aloizo Santos
Distrito Federal
PT
Distrito Federal
PP
Espirito Santo
PMDB
status
Rio de Janeiro
Suplente
6. Wagner do Nascimento
Minas Gerais
PTB
7. Salatiel Carvalho
Pernambuco
PP
8. Benedita da Silva
9. Carlos Santana
10. Ruben Bento
11. Paul0 Paim
12. Antonio de Jesus
13. Ricardo Moraes
14. Edmundo Galdino
15. Paulo Rocha
16. Haroldo Lima
48th Legislature (1987-1991)
Rio de Janeiro
PT
Rio de Janeiro
PT
Roraima
PFL
105
PMDB
Amazonas
PT
Tocantins
PSDB
Pari
PT
Bahia
PC d o B
1. Eraldo Trindade
AmapP
PFL
2. Milton Barbosa
Bahia
PMDB
3. Miraldo Gomes
4. Antonio de Jesus
5. Benedita da Silva
Bahia
PMDB
Goiis
PMDB
Rio de Janeiro
PT
Rio de Janeiro
PDT
7. Edmilson Valentim
8. Paulo Paim
9. Edmundo Galdino
10. Haroldo Lima
47th Legislature (198.31987)
1. Agnaldo Timoteo
Rio de Janeiro
PC do B
Suplente
Tocatins
PSDB
Bahia
PC do B
Rio de Janeiro
PDT
2. Abdias do Nascimento
Rio de Janeiro
PDT
Suplente
Rio de Janeiro
PDT
PMDB
Suplente
Bahia
Note: The term suplenterefers to an elected official who was not originallyvoted high
enough on the partyslist to take office but who eventually assumes office because
of the resignation, removal, or death of the party representative.
Sources: Deputados brasileiros: repertorio biografico 1984-1995.This official document, published by the Chamber of Deputies for every legislature, contains basic
biographical information and a photo of each deputy. For 1991-95: list of black
deputies from Deputy Benedita da Silvas congressional office; Aragio and
Fleischer 1991. For 1995-99: list of black members of Congress from Deputy Paulo
Paims congressional office; Folha de Sdo Paul0 1996. Generally: Numerous social
scientists, staff members of the Congress, and black political activists were
consulted. This was not a formal survey.
106
40: 4
Percent
black
population
Percent
black
deputies
76.00
77.20
78.66
77.98
66.33
12.50
12.50
0.00
5.88
0.00
0.00
63.50
64.70
78.66
72.10
66.33
0.00
5.13
77.98
5.56
0.00
4.00
0.00
71.57
74.00
65.80
73.13
63.17
62.64
77.98
64.39
73.23
0.00
0.00
64.39
73.23
52.37
52.21
58.33
25.00
0.00
0.00
27.37
52.21
58.33
44.36
74.83
0.00
0.00
44.36
74.83
23.03
9.89
0.00
0.00
23.03
9.89
12.70
3.23
9.47
51.78
48.30
0.00
1.89
4.35
1.43
51.78
46.41
39.98
23.97
59.57
71.75
79.13
70.35
78.69
63.17
66.64
44.33
25.40
Difference
4.55
59.57
107
108
40: 4
THEBLACK
EXPERIENCE
IN CONGRESS
The activities of blacks in the Brazilian Congress were constrained by the
transition to political democracy in the 1980s and 1990s. In the 1982
elections, the military regime allowed multiparty elections for the first time
since 1965.Despite authoritarian manipulation of the electoral process, the
opposition gained control of the Chamber of Deputies under the leadership of Ulysses GuimarHes (PMDB-SHo Paulo). But a military officer,
GeneralJoHoFigueiredo,was still president, and the new promilitary party,
the PDS, controlled the Senate. Thereafter, the dilemma for opposition
leaders in Congress was how to continue and deepen the democratization
process without provoking the military into abandoning the transition and
reverting to brutal authoritarianism (Fleischer 1988). The situation of
blacks in Congress was even worse during this period because they tended
to belong to political parties (that is, the PT and PDT) that were in radical,
not moderate, opposition to conservativemilitary rule. Therefore they had
to be careful in their speechmaking, presentation of legislation, and
investigation of problems.
The nature of racial representation in Congress has inhibited the
passage of legislation targeted to the black population and the creation of
a united black front among their representatives. Black representatives are
small in number not only in relation to the total congressionalmembership
but also in their own parties. This has been the case in every legislative
session since the early 1980s.Moreover,the heavy representation of blacks
in the PT has isolated them from the congressional leadership. In Brazilian
terms, the PT is a radical leftist opposition party (Mainwaring 1995, 37982; Keck 1992).
109
110
40: 4
111
State
Bahia
Rio de Janeiro
Bahia
GoiPs
Bahia
Rio Grande do Sul
Rio de Janeiro
AmapP
Rio de Janeiro
Party
PMDB
PDT
PMDB
PMDB
PC do B
PT
PT
PFL
PC d o B
D I M rating
3.75
10.00
5.75
3.25
10.00
10.00
10.00
7.75
10.00
112
40: 4
CONCLUSIONS
This article argues that black members of Congress are engaged in
significant political activity. They have proposed legislation to outlaw and
severely penalize acts of racism and racial discrimination, to introduce
African and African Brazilian history into the public schools, to institute
affirmative action programs, and to give reparations to descendants of
slaves, among many other race-specific projects. These leaders have also
used the National Congress to educate the public on the Afro-Brazilian
condition. For example, some speeches by Abdias do Nascimento have
been essentially lectures on black history and the relationshipbetween that
history and blacks contemporary predicament.
113
Several factors, however, have made these efforts more difficult. First,
African Brazilians are dramatically underrepresented in Congress in
relation to their proportion of the Brazilian population. In a sense, they
have much work to do, but few workers. Second, the most active black
leaders are members of the PT and PDT, small, leftist political parties. They
therefore are not generally part of the congressional leadership and have
great difficulty gaining majority support for their proposals. Third, efforts
to unite and form a black caucus have been inconclusive because of
ideological and partisan diversity. Deputy Chico Vigilante argues that there
is also a hesitancy among some black representatives to accept their
blackness; that is, their racial identity as blacks and their political
responsibility as privileged blacks to work to improve the situation of the
black masses.
Scholars, especially political scientists, should address these issues.
Because of their descriptive underrepresentation in the legislative branch,
blacks are clearly at a great disadvantage in the distribution of political
power and economic resources in Brazil. The ongoing research of Oliveira
(19911, GuimarPes (19951, Prandi (19961, Reichmann (19951, and many
Afro-Brazilianintellectuals and activists linked to universities, think tanks,
and political movements will expand the understanding of basic questions
related to race, representation, and politics in Brazil.
In this regard, the following research questions require investigation.
Are blacks also underrepresented in elective office at the state and local
levels?Why have Rio de Janeiro and the PT sent more black politicians to
Congress than other states and political parties, respectively? Do Rio de
Janeiro and the PT have a similar record of electing black politicians at the
state and local levels? Why have the black members of Congress almost
always been men rather than women?
The role of blacks in politics also needs to be examined from a crossnational perspective. Winant (1994) and Skidmore (1993a) have asked
whether or not the United States and Brazil are more similar than different
in their race relations. Skidmore notes that scholars have traditionally
emphasized the biracial, black-whte dimension of U.S. race relations. At
the same time, social scientists have historically highlighted the multiracial,
black-white-mulatto aspects of Brazilian race relations. Skidmore concludes that the United States may be growing increasingly multiracial while
Brazil shows signs of increasing biracialism. Skidmore calls for additional
research on racial inequality, discrimination, and identity.
Scholars should also study and compare racial politics in these two
countries; for example, the role blacks have played in congressional,
presidential, and judical politics in the twentieth century. While three
recent works (Minority Rights Group 1995;Moore et al. 1995;Walters 1993)
have provided important new information on black political activity, more
comparative analyses are needed of the black political situation in Latin
114
40: 4
NOTES
For early discussions and research on this topic, I thank Professor Gil Shidlo.
For comments on earlier versions of this article, I thank Professors Luiza Bairros,
Kim Butler, Ken Conca, Rosana Heringer, Bolivar Lamounier, Rebecca Reichmann,
Eric Uslaner, Ernest Wilson, and colleagues from the Brazilian Studies Association.
The University of Maryland at College Park provided critical support for research
in Brazil through its Committee on Africa and Africa in the Americas and General
Research Board. Special thanks to Pam Burke and Wen-Heng Chao for research
assistance.
1. Wade notes, To talk about blacks,indians,and racein Latin America,
or indeed anywhere else, is in itself problematic. It is generally accepted that races
are social constructions, categorical definitions based on a discourse about physical
appearance or ancestry. This is not a universalizing definition good for all places
and times because what is to count as relevant physical difference or relevant
ancestry is far from self-evident (1993, 3).
2. It should be noted that Lamounier has written on race, class, and politics
in Brazil (1968). He has also engaged in comparative research on Brazilian and
South African politics (personal communication, November 22, 1997).
3. Founded in October 1944,TEN became the countrys most important black
theater group in the postwar period. Its performances challenged Brazilian racial
stereotypes and gave working-class and poor blacks in Rio de Janeiro a positive
self-image. In addition, TENS founder, Abdias do Nascimento, regularly battled
Brazils white elites in the media.
4. Zumbi was the last African-Brazilian leader of Palmares, the major
quilombo (maroon society) during the Portuguese colonial era. Palmares was
situated in the Serra da Barriga in Northeastern Brazil from 1595 to 1696; Zumbi
died defending it (Nascimento and Nascimento 1994, 178).
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