Brazil: Country of Diversity

If you thought the USA was a melting pot, please come to Brazil. The country is one eccentric mix of races from all continents: mostly African, lots of Europeans but also native American and Asians. It is almost impossible to perceive a face that could not be Brazilian. Although over the centuries the various races have mixed and today manifest themselves in all shapes and colors, unfortunately social integration has progressed rather slowly. Yes, the days of slavery are over (well, in most places, but that is a topic for a different discussion), but the class structure based on ethnic background remains almost perfectly in tact. Sadly, the state with the most blacks (Bahia) is also the poorest and offers the worst education and public health.

Although it has the largest back population of any country outside of Africa (roughly 50% of its 200 million population is back), Brazil likes to portray itself as a white country (good luck finding a colored person on TV, in politics or in top management). The country continues to be run by whites, like 500 years ago. There are clever schemes in place (or racist, depending on your perspective) to keep it that way. Take education for instance: most Brazilians will agree that primary public education is poor, so those with money send their children to private schools. Public universities, on the other hand, are excellent but an entrance exam is required; logically largely high scoring white from private schools pass the tough hurdle.

Brazil is a country extremely rich in resources: natural and human, but to progress to a modern country it has to face its legacy of racism and confront burning issues like: poor public education, public health, unequal opportunities and prevalent violence.