The Study of Racialism

MixedAsian · New User Joined: 18 Nov 2007 {Posts: 12 } Location: Miami

I wanan study for a year in Brazil. I'm half chinese, half irish, ppl say I look more Asian, but u can tell that I'm mixed.

Are Asians considered "white" or "black"

Are they assimilated? Do they speak good Portugees? Do they only hang out with other Asians in ChinaTown?

Are they well represented in the media?

What are the stereo types of Asian- Brazilians? Do they differ from American stereo types?

G-Man · Moderator Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 2613 }

Sao Paulo, Brazil has the largest population of Japanese descendants outside of Japan. There are more there than there are in the U.S. They do have there own district in Sao Paulo called the Liberdade district.

How are they treated? Not sure. I do know, however, that they are one of the more successful ethnic groups in the country.

Interestingly, for a place where race mixing is common, they seem to me to be less taken with intermarriage than their U.S. counterparts.

punjabtrini · Mentor Joined: 04 Sep 2007 {Posts: 253 } Location: USA

MA,

When you begin to travel, you will realize that the American USA version of ethnicity is very different from other places in the world.

1. Asians are Asians.
2. Asians are not European
3. Asians are not African
4. Many indigena groups (native South American tribes) appear Asian by phenotype along with many of the mestizos (who form a large part of the population) so you may fit it depending on how you associate and how you dress!

As G-man noted, there are many descendants of Japanese in Brazil and your surname will give an indication of how you may be accepted!
You use the word assilimated but by whose standards?
Asians in Latin AMerica tend to be like the other groups and it is only in America that there is a ghettoization of 'minorities'. Even the favelas of Rio have all people represented so have fun!

BillyMadison79 · Experienced User Joined: 01 Mar 2007 {Posts: 133 }

There is a Yellow racial category in the IBGE Brazilian census, so Asians are neither considered Black, Pardo, or White.

BillyMadison79 · Experienced User Joined: 01 Mar 2007 {Posts: 133 }

In Sao Paulo discrimination against Japs is rare. Most victims of discrimination in Sao Paulo are either migrants from Brazil's Northeast or Homosexuals.

William · Posted: Sat 29 Dec 2007 02:07 Post subject:

BillyMadison79 · Experienced User Joined: 01 Mar 2007 {Posts: 133 }

A Mcdonalds in Sao Paulo's predominantly Japanese neighborhood of Liberdade.

gs56ca · Regular User Joined: 26 Jan 2008 {Posts: 69 }

most likely you'll be treated well, asians in other nations are treated ok

msmochachina · Regular User Joined: 03 Mar 2008 {Posts: 58 }

Most of the time...in Brazil...

You're either Black or White.

A relative of mine who's lived there all her life once said
"If it's not Black, then it is White".
I'm part Asian too although I tend to "pass" for Mexican-American or Native.
Don't take offense when if people call you "Chinito", especially in the Spanish-speaking parts of Brazil.
I have only been there a few times when I was younger.
I just recall seeing so many people of different races and it was so hard to tell what person was classified as what race.

However, I have been taught that even in Brazil, the darker you are, the more likely you will face discrimination.
As you already know, Brazil is a diverse country. so I don't think you have much to worry about.

Bischoff · Mentor Joined: 20 Jan 2008 {Posts: 395 }

There are no Spanish speaking parts of Brazil. Portuguese is the official language of all of the 26 states plus the federal district.

William · Posted: Mon 10 Mar 2008 00:39 Post subject:

Bischoff · Mentor Joined: 20 Jan 2008 {Posts: 395 }

Most Brazilians with Spanish ancestry no longer speak the language of their ancestors because most became culturally assimilated. Most people in Brazil who speak Spanish fluently are recent immigrants from poorer neighboring Peru and Bolivia who come to look for work because the economy in those 2 countries is in very bad shape.

William · Posted: Mon 10 Mar 2008 02:18 Post subject:

Bischoff · Mentor Joined: 20 Jan 2008 {Posts: 395 }

I did not grow up speaking fluent Italian in the household, I only know a couple of words of Italian here and there. Linguistically I would say most Brazilians of German and Italian descent are assimilated. But culturally a large percentage still maintain many aspects of Italian and German culture like celebrating Oktoberfest and Festa Da Uva for example. The predominantly Italian borough in Sao Paulo where I grew up in which is called Mooca most people I knew were either fully Italian or if they were of multiple ancestries they identified more with their Italian roots. But most people I knew who lived outside of the borough are of multiple ancestries with many not having a single drop of Italian ancestry at all. It's true that the more centuries one's ancestors have lived in Brazil, the less likely that those types of Brazilians would strongly identify with their Portuguese roots.