Abstract

COLO, André. Race and affirmative action:: The implementation of quotas for "Black" students in a Brazilian University. Antipod. Rev. Antropol. Arqueol. [online]. 2013, n.16, pp.113-134. ISSN 1900-5407.

In 2003, some Brazilian public universities began to reserve a percentage of their posts (quotas) to "black" students, allowing them to be accepted with lower scores at the admission exam. These type of policies became common during the last decade as a way to fight against social inequalities, but have also become the object of public disagreement due to its potentially "racializing" character. The present article engages with the racial-quota debate, using some ethnographic data collected at the University of the State of Rio de Janeiro between 2007 and 2008. The author defends these measures as a way to diversify what have been traditionally-elite university spaces and as a way to increase chances of social mobility for lower-class students. These facts should be considered within a debate on affirmative action, without necessarily implying that racial quotas should be the best and only solution to address racial inequalities in Brazilian education.

Keywords : Brazil; race; affirmative action; university education; ethnography.

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