In Mexico and Peru, Professor Gates explores the almost unknown history…
Black in Latin America, Ep. 03 Brazil: A Racial Paradise?
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
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In Brazil, Professor Gates goes behind the façade of Carnival to discover how this “rainbow nation” is waking up to its legacy as the world’s largest slave economy.
Series Description
Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. travels to places in Latin America where Africa has touched the continent with lasting cultural results to explore what happens when African and Hispanic worlds meet.
Citation
Main credits
Pollack, Ricardo (film director)
Pollack, Ricardo (film producer)
Gates, Henry Louis (host)
Gates, Henry Louis (screenwriter)
Other credits
Camera, Graham Smith; editor, Joe Carey; music, Miguel d'Oliveira.
Distributor subjects
History; Latin American Studies; South America; Race + Ethnicity; Afro-Latin; Religion + Spirituality; Migration StudiesKeywords
00:00:01.134 --> 00:00:03.370
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00:00:03.436 --> 00:00:05.405
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00:00:06.005 --> 00:00:08.875
Announcer: BRAZIL HAS LONG BEEN
TOUTED AS A RACIAL DEMOCRACY.
00:00:08.942 --> 00:00:11.978
Translator: I'M VERY
PROUD TO BE BLACK
IN BRAZIL.
00:00:12.045 --> 00:00:15.215
IT IS ONE OF THE MOST
DIVERSE COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD.
00:00:15.281 --> 00:00:17.784
Henry Louis Gates:
THERE ARE OVER 100 CATEGORIES
00:00:17.851 --> 00:00:21.521
THAT PEOPLE USE
THEMSELVES TO DESCRIBE
WHAT COLOR THEY ARE.
00:00:21.588 --> 00:00:22.789
PUT YOUR HANDS
JOINED.
00:00:22.856 --> 00:00:24.190
YOU'RE ALL
DIFFERENT COLORS.
00:00:24.257 --> 00:00:25.725
Announcer:
BUT IS EVERYONE EQUAL?
00:00:25.792 --> 00:00:27.660
Translator: WE HAVE TO LIVE
IN A RACIAL DEMOCRACY
00:00:27.727 --> 00:00:29.329
THAT DOESN'T EXIST.
00:00:29.396 --> 00:00:31.197
THERE IS NO EQUALITY.
00:00:31.264 --> 00:00:33.466
"BRAZIL: A RACIAL PARADISE?"
00:00:33.533 --> 00:00:36.202
"BLACK IN LATIN AMERICA."
00:00:36.269 --> 00:00:39.205
CAPTIONING MADE POSSIBLE BY
FRIENDS OF NCI
00:00:51.451 --> 00:00:53.686
[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]
00:00:55.755 --> 00:00:59.526
Gates: DURING CARNAVAL
IN SPLENDID EXCESS,
00:00:59.592 --> 00:01:03.730
BRAZIL CELEBRATES
ITS MULTICULTURAL ROOTS,
00:01:03.797 --> 00:01:11.037
BUT IN SALVADOR DA BAHIA,
BRAZIL'S AFRICAN HERITAGE
COMES TO THE FORE.
00:01:11.104 --> 00:01:13.540
ECHOING ANCIENT
AFRICAN RITUALS,
00:01:13.606 --> 00:01:16.910
THE MÃE-DE-SANTO,
THE MOTHER OF THE SPIRITS,
00:01:16.976 --> 00:01:19.145
THROWS POPCORN TO THE CROWD,
00:01:19.212 --> 00:01:22.248
SYMBOLIZING OFFERINGS
TO THE YORUBA GODS
00:01:22.315 --> 00:01:24.851
TO ENSURE A PEACEFUL CARNAVAL.
00:01:27.854 --> 00:01:33.560
INCREDIBLY, 4.8 MILLION SLAVES
ARRIVED HERE FROM AFRICA,
00:01:33.626 --> 00:01:38.331
AND A MILLION AND A HALF
LANDED HERE IN BAHIA.
00:01:40.700 --> 00:01:42.402
I'VE DREAMED
ABOUT COMING TO BAHIA,
00:01:42.469 --> 00:01:43.470
I'VE READ ABOUT BAHIA,
00:01:43.536 --> 00:01:45.205
I'VE FANTASIZED
ABOUT BAHIA,
00:01:45.271 --> 00:01:47.574
BUT THE MOST ASTONISHING
THING TO ME,
00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:52.145
HAVING COMING TO BAHIA,
IS HOW VERY CLOSE TO AFRICA
00:01:52.212 --> 00:01:53.880
THIS ALL IS.
00:01:53.947 --> 00:01:56.349
NOTHING, NO MATTER
WHAT I'VE READ,
00:01:56.416 --> 00:02:01.955
PREPARED ME FOR THIS SENSE
OF IMMEDIACY AND INTIMACY
WITH THE AFRICAN CONTINENT.
00:02:02.021 --> 00:02:06.559
THE SLAVES WHO CAME
TO SOUTH AMERICA
DID NOT SALE ALONE.
00:02:06.626 --> 00:02:09.128
THEY BROUGHT THEIR RELIGION,
THEY BROUGHT THEIR GODS,
00:02:09.195 --> 00:02:10.830
AND THEY BROUGHT THEIR MUSIC.
00:02:10.897 --> 00:02:12.899
[DRUMS PLAYING]
00:02:15.001 --> 00:02:20.006
TODAY, MORE THAN 75 MILLION
PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT
LIVE IN BRAZIL,
00:02:20.073 --> 00:02:25.011
MAKING IT THE SECOND LARGEST
BLACK POPULATION IN THE WORLD.
00:02:25.078 --> 00:02:27.780
I'M HERE TO LEARN THEIR STORY.
00:02:41.828 --> 00:02:46.499
SALVADOR IS BRAZIL'S
THIRD LARGEST CITY
AND ITS BLACKEST.
00:02:52.739 --> 00:02:55.241
SO THERE'S NO BETTER PLACE
TO BEGIN MY JOURNEY.
00:02:59.679 --> 00:03:02.415
BRAZIL IS A STUDY
IN CONTRADICTIONS.
00:03:02.482 --> 00:03:04.851
ON THE ONE HAND,
IT WAS THE LAST COUNTRY
00:03:04.918 --> 00:03:08.388
IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE
TO ABOLISH SLAVERY,
00:03:08.454 --> 00:03:11.124
BUT ON THE OTHER HAND,
IT WAS ALSO THE FIRST TO CLAIM
00:03:11.190 --> 00:03:13.326
THAT IT WAS FREE OF RACISM,
00:03:13.393 --> 00:03:17.130
PROUDLY DECLARING ITSELF
TO BE A RACIAL DEMOCRACY.
00:03:21.668 --> 00:03:24.504
IT'S A HYBRID NATION,
AND ITS PEOPLE ARE DESCENDED
00:03:24.571 --> 00:03:27.340
FROM AFRICANS, EUROPEANS,
00:03:27.407 --> 00:03:30.009
AND THE ORIGINAL
INDIGENOUS INHABITANTS.
00:03:35.181 --> 00:03:39.752
IN THE UNITED STATES,
A PERSON WITH ANY
AFRICAN ANCESTRY
00:03:39.819 --> 00:03:41.988
IS LEGALLY DEFINED AS BLACK.
00:03:42.055 --> 00:03:43.456
HEY, MY BROTHER.
HOW YOU DOING?
00:03:43.523 --> 00:03:45.291
COME HERE.
I WANT TO ASK
YOU SOMETHING.
00:03:45.358 --> 00:03:48.928
IN BRAZIL, RACIAL CATEGORIES
ARE ON STEROIDS.
00:03:48.995 --> 00:03:52.498
HERE, MY COLOR IS
IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER.
00:03:52.565 --> 00:03:54.534
SO IF I LIVED
IN BRAZIL,
00:03:54.601 --> 00:03:56.102
WHAT COLOR
WOULD I BE?
00:04:03.910 --> 00:04:07.680
I KNOW. SO...WHAT?
WHAT?
00:04:07.747 --> 00:04:09.215
MORENA?
MORENA.
00:04:09.282 --> 00:04:10.583
TAKE A GOOD LOOK.
00:04:21.227 --> 00:04:23.796
OK. WHAT COLOR
ARE YOU?
00:04:23.863 --> 00:04:25.398
NEGRA?
WHAT COLOR ARE YOU?
00:04:28.401 --> 00:04:29.602
NEGRA, ALSO.
00:04:31.037 --> 00:04:32.271
BUT WAIT A MINUTE,
WAIT A MINUTE,
WAIT A MINUTE.
00:04:32.338 --> 00:04:33.606
LOOK, LOOK.
GIVE ME YOUR HAND.
00:04:33.673 --> 00:04:34.874
LOOK, LOOK.
NO, NO, NO.
00:04:34.941 --> 00:04:37.210
PUT YOUR HANDS
JOINED.
00:04:37.276 --> 00:04:39.379
YOU'RE ALL
DIFFERENT COLORS.
00:04:39.445 --> 00:04:41.247
SO YOU CAN'T ALL
BE NEGRA.
00:04:49.589 --> 00:04:50.890
AH, OK.
NOW YOU'RE TALKING.
00:04:50.957 --> 00:04:53.326
AND THE GOOD THING
IS WE'RE ALL BLACK.
00:04:55.895 --> 00:04:59.999
THERE ARE OVER 100 CATEGORIES
THAT PEOPLE USE THEMSELVES
00:05:00.066 --> 00:05:02.435
TO DESCRIBE
WHAT COLOR THEY ARE.
00:05:02.502 --> 00:05:05.471
WHEN I ASK THEM
WHAT THEIR COLOR IS,
WHAT THEIR RACE IS,
00:05:05.538 --> 00:05:08.808
THEY DESCRIBE IT IN THE WAY
THAT YOU WOULD DESCRIBE
00:05:08.875 --> 00:05:11.144
THE COLORS IN THE RAINBOW.
00:05:11.210 --> 00:05:13.146
SO IT'S A GREAT LEARNING
EXPERIENCE FOR ME,
00:05:13.212 --> 00:05:17.784
PARTICULARLY AS AN AMERICAN,
WHERE RACE IS WEIGHTED
00:05:17.850 --> 00:05:19.986
IN A DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT WAY.
00:05:26.192 --> 00:05:28.661
BRAZIL'S LONG HERITAGE
OF RACIAL MIXING
00:05:28.728 --> 00:05:31.264
HAS ITS ROOTS DEEP
IN SLAVERY.
00:05:36.436 --> 00:05:41.474
ABOUT 500 YEARS AGO,
THE PORTUGUESE IMPORTED
SUGAR TO BRAZIL.
00:05:41.541 --> 00:05:43.776
THEY ALSO IMPORTED
AFRICAN SLAVES
00:05:43.843 --> 00:05:47.113
TO WORK WHAT BECAME THE LARGEST
SUGAR PLANTATION ECONOMY
00:05:47.180 --> 00:05:48.981
IN THE ENTIRE WORLD.
00:05:52.952 --> 00:05:56.422
ALMOST HALF OF ALL THE AFRICANS
BROUGHT TO THE NEW WORLD
00:05:56.489 --> 00:06:02.695
BETWEEN 1502 AND 1867
CAME HERE TO BRAZIL.
00:06:07.233 --> 00:06:09.168
ALMOST 5 MILLION PEOPLE.
00:06:13.106 --> 00:06:18.778
WHY DID SO MANY MORE SLAVES
COME HERE THAN ANYWHERE ELSE
IN THE AMERICAS?
00:06:18.845 --> 00:06:23.416
JOÃO REIS, PROFESSOR
OF HISTORY AT BAHIA'S
FEDERAL UNIVERSITY,
00:06:23.483 --> 00:06:26.586
IS AN EXPERT ON THE HISTORY
OF BRAZILIAN SLAVERY.
00:06:26.652 --> 00:06:30.490
10 TIMES MORE AFRICANS
CAME TO BRAZIL
00:06:30.556 --> 00:06:32.492
THAN CAME
TO THE UNITED SATES
00:06:32.558 --> 00:06:33.893
IN THE ENTIRE HISTORY
OF THE SLAVE TRADE.
00:06:33.960 --> 00:06:35.595
THAT'S CORRECT.
00:06:35.661 --> 00:06:37.096
WHY?
00:06:37.163 --> 00:06:39.999
WELL, IT'S SIMPLE.
00:06:40.066 --> 00:06:44.437
THE PORTUGUESE,
THEY CONTROLLED A LOT
OF THE PORTS
00:06:44.504 --> 00:06:46.706
WHERE THE SLAVE TRADE
HAPPENED,
00:06:46.773 --> 00:06:53.713
AND ALSO THE VOYAGES
WERE SHORTER
00:06:53.780 --> 00:06:56.349
THAN GOING
TO THE CARIBBEAN
AND THEN TO THE U.S.
00:06:56.415 --> 00:06:59.152
ALL THESE FACTORS
COMBINED RESULT
00:06:59.218 --> 00:07:01.621
IN A VERY INTENSE
SLAVE TRADE.
00:07:01.687 --> 00:07:04.724
Gates, voice-over:
PORTUGUESE PLANTERS COULD
EASILY AND CHEAPLY OBTAIN
00:07:04.791 --> 00:07:06.793
AFRICAN SLAVES,
AND THEY NEEDED
00:07:06.859 --> 00:07:08.861
LARGE NUMBERS OF THESE SLAVES
00:07:08.928 --> 00:07:12.665
TO SATISFY THE WORLD'S
GROWING CRAVING FOR SUGAR.
00:07:12.732 --> 00:07:15.902
EASY ACCESS AND BRUTAL
WORKING CONDITIONS
00:07:15.968 --> 00:07:19.372
CREATED A DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT
SLAVE ECONOMY HERE
00:07:19.438 --> 00:07:22.441
THAN THE ONE THAT EVOLVED
IN THE UNITED STATES.
00:07:22.508 --> 00:07:27.246
Reis: THE AMERICAN PLANTERS
DID NOT HAVE THIS EASY ACCESS
00:07:27.313 --> 00:07:31.150
TO THE SOURCES
OF SLAVE PRODUCTION
IN AFRICA.
00:07:31.217 --> 00:07:34.187
BECAUSE OF THIS,
THEY WERE MATERIALLY
BETTER TREATED
00:07:34.253 --> 00:07:36.689
THAN THEY WERE IN BRAZIL.
00:07:36.756 --> 00:07:40.893
THEY WERE BETTER HOUSED,
BETTER CLOTHED,
BETTER FED,
00:07:40.960 --> 00:07:44.363
AND THE INSTITUTION
OF SLAVERY WAS
PROMOTED THERE.
00:07:44.430 --> 00:07:49.335
NOTHING OF THIS SORT
HAPPENED IN BRAZIL.
00:07:49.402 --> 00:07:53.406
WELL, IN BRAZIL,
YOU COULD REPLACE
THE AFRICANS.
00:07:53.472 --> 00:07:55.041
EXACTLY.
00:07:55.107 --> 00:07:56.809
AND IT WAS CHEAPER
TO REPLACE THEM
00:07:56.876 --> 00:07:57.977
THAN TO
PERPETUATE THEM.
00:07:58.044 --> 00:07:59.178
EXACTLY.
00:08:04.083 --> 00:08:07.220
Gates: I KNEW HOW BARBARIC
SLAVERY WAS IN THE U.S.,
00:08:07.286 --> 00:08:10.056
BUT IT WAS EVEN WORSE
IN BRAZIL.
00:08:12.892 --> 00:08:16.195
FOR THE PORTUGUESE,
SLAVERY MEANT ENORMOUS WEALTH,
00:08:16.262 --> 00:08:22.201
AND SALVADOR BECAME ONE
OF THE GRANDEST CITIES
IN THE ENTIRE NEW WORLD.
00:08:22.268 --> 00:08:26.672
THE PRIDE OF SALVADOR
WAS THE CHURCH
OF SÃO FRANCISCO CONVENT,
00:08:26.739 --> 00:08:33.145
ONE OF THE FINEST EXAMPLES
OF BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
IN BRAZIL.
00:08:33.212 --> 00:08:36.449
CONSTRUCTION OF THE CHURCH
BEGAN IN 1708
00:08:36.515 --> 00:08:41.087
WITH THE LABOR OF SLAVES
AND FREE BLACKS.
00:08:41.153 --> 00:08:45.591
ONE TON OF SOLID GOLD LEAF
WAS USED TO COVER
00:08:45.658 --> 00:08:48.060
THE SCULPTURES
OF SAINTS AND ANGELS
00:08:48.127 --> 00:08:50.630
THAT ADORN
ITS SPLENDID INTERIOR.
00:08:54.700 --> 00:08:59.405
SUCH AN ASTONISHINGLY
OPULENT WAY TO WORSHIP GOD,
00:08:59.472 --> 00:09:04.677
AN OPULENCE BUILT
ON THE PROFITS OF SUGAR,
00:09:04.744 --> 00:09:08.714
RESTING ON THE BACKS
OF AFRICAN SLAVES.
00:09:14.954 --> 00:09:20.960
[CAPOEIRA MUSIC PLAYING]
00:09:21.027 --> 00:09:22.662
[MAN SPEAKS PORTUGUESE]
00:09:26.632 --> 00:09:29.635
Gates: WHILE FORCIBLY
CONSTRUCTING THEIR
MASTERS' CULTURE,
00:09:29.702 --> 00:09:36.075
THE AFRICAN SLAVES CREATIVELY
NURTURED THEIR OWN.
00:09:36.142 --> 00:09:38.511
I'VE COME TO VALE DAS PEDRINHAS,
00:09:38.577 --> 00:09:42.348
THE HOME OF ONE OF THE CITY'S
BEST-KNOWN CAPOEIRA SCHOOLS.
00:09:42.415 --> 00:09:44.350
[SINGING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
00:09:48.821 --> 00:09:52.458
CAPOEIRA, PART MARTIAL ART,
PART DANCE,
00:09:52.525 --> 00:09:55.962
IS ONE OF THE MOST ELEGANT WAYS
IN WHICH THE SLAVES CREATED
00:09:56.028 --> 00:09:57.930
A NEW CULTURE IN THE CITIES,
00:09:57.997 --> 00:10:05.237
TRANSFORMING AFRICAN FORMS
AS THEY ADJUSTED TO SLAVERY.
00:10:05.304 --> 00:10:10.242
NICE.
00:10:10.309 --> 00:10:12.745
I'M MEETING
WITH MASTER BOA GENTE,
00:10:12.812 --> 00:10:16.382
ONE OF THE MOST RESPECT
CAPOEIRA MASTERS IN BRAZIL.
00:10:16.449 --> 00:10:18.417
HE TRAINED THIS TROUPE.
00:10:18.484 --> 00:10:20.286
HELLO, MASTER.
00:10:20.353 --> 00:10:23.389
BOA GENTE RUNS
A COMMUNITY RADIO STATION,
00:10:23.456 --> 00:10:26.158
AND TODAY, I'M A GUEST
ON HIS SHOW.
00:10:26.225 --> 00:10:28.394
I AM A PROFESSOR
OF AFRICAN
00:10:28.461 --> 00:10:30.396
AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN
CULTURE,
00:10:30.463 --> 00:10:33.699
AND I LOVE
BLACK CULTURE
ALL OVER THE WORLD
00:10:33.766 --> 00:10:35.334
AND STUDY IT,
AND I WANTED TO
00:10:35.401 --> 00:10:38.037
COME TO A COUNTRY
WHERE EVERYONE
LOOKED LIKE ME,
00:10:38.104 --> 00:10:40.106
AND WHEN I CAME,
THEY SAID,
00:10:40.172 --> 00:10:41.974
"YOU HAVE TO MEET
ONE PERSON."
00:10:42.041 --> 00:10:44.877
THEY SAID,
"MASTER BOA GENTE."
00:10:44.944 --> 00:10:48.180
Translator:
OH. HOW WONDERFUL!
00:10:48.247 --> 00:10:51.550
BECAUSE YOU
ARE THE MAN!
00:10:51.617 --> 00:10:54.020
[WOMAN SPEAKS PORTUGUESE]
00:10:54.086 --> 00:10:58.257
YOU, TOO.
YOU ARE THE MAN, ALSO.
00:10:58.324 --> 00:11:00.626
Gates, voice-over:
MASTER BOA GENTE USES CAPOEIRA
00:11:00.693 --> 00:11:02.995
TO KEEP YOUNG PEOPLE
OFF THE STREETS
00:11:03.062 --> 00:11:07.633
HERE IN ONE OF SALVADOR'S
POOREST AND MOST VIOLENT
NEIGHBORHOODS,
00:11:07.700 --> 00:11:11.337
AND HE'S PROUD
OF ITS AFRICAN ROOTS.
00:11:11.404 --> 00:11:15.408
WHAT ROLE DID
CAPOEIRA PLAY
AMONG THE SLAVES?
00:11:15.474 --> 00:11:20.046
WHY DID THE SLAVES
DEVELOP CAPOEIRA?
00:11:20.112 --> 00:11:23.182
Translator: THE SLAVE OWNERS
DIDN'T WANT BLACK PEOPLE
00:11:23.249 --> 00:11:26.485
TO ORGANIZE THEMSELVES.
00:11:26.552 --> 00:11:30.256
IN THE COFFEE PLANTATION,
IN THE SUGAR PLANTATION,
00:11:30.322 --> 00:11:34.527
WEAPONS WERE NOT ALLOWED,
BUT THE BLACK PEOPLE
WERE TORTURED
00:11:34.593 --> 00:11:37.096
AND NEEDED A WAY
TO DEFEND THEMSELVES.
00:11:41.033 --> 00:11:45.337
AND THEY DISCOVERED
IN CAPOEIRA A WAY
TO STRENGTHEN
00:11:45.404 --> 00:11:47.106
AND DEFEND THEMSELVES.
00:11:50.843 --> 00:11:56.482
[SINGING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
00:11:56.549 --> 00:11:58.317
Gates, voice-over:
CAPOEIRA WAS A FORM OF TRAINING
00:11:58.384 --> 00:11:59.985
DESIGNED FOR SELF-DEFENSE.
00:12:00.052 --> 00:12:01.921
[SINGING CONTINUES]
00:12:05.057 --> 00:12:07.526
IF THE SLAVES WERE CAUGHT
PRACTICING A MARTIAL ART,
00:12:07.593 --> 00:12:10.296
THEY COULD BE PUNISHED.
00:12:10.362 --> 00:12:13.999
CAPOEIRA ALLOWED THEM
TO DISGUISE THEIR TRAINING
AS A DANCE.
00:12:22.374 --> 00:12:24.143
Translator: THEY WOULD
BE THERE TRAINING.
00:12:24.210 --> 00:12:25.845
Gente:
BAH! DAH! DAH!
00:12:25.911 --> 00:12:27.279
OH.
00:12:27.346 --> 00:12:29.949
Translator:
AND THEN THEY'D HEAR
THE CAVALRY COMING.
00:12:30.015 --> 00:12:31.484
Gente:
BACA-DA, BACA-DA, BACA-DA.
00:12:34.320 --> 00:12:36.555
Transator: BUT THERE
WOULD BE A LOOKOUT,
00:12:36.622 --> 00:12:40.159
A CAPOEIRISTA HIDDEN,
WATCHING,
00:12:40.226 --> 00:12:42.828
AND WHEN HE SAW THEM,
HE'D START PLAYING
00:12:42.895 --> 00:12:45.064
TO THE SOUND
OF THE OF THE CAVALRY.
00:12:45.131 --> 00:12:50.302
Gente: DUN-CHICKA, DUN-CHICKA,
DUN-CHICKA, DUN-CHICKA,
DUN, DUN, DUN, DUN.
00:12:50.369 --> 00:12:53.472
Translator: SO WHEN
THEY SAW THE CAVALRY,
00:12:53.539 --> 00:12:55.608
SUDDENLY EVERYTHING
WOULD CHANGE
00:12:55.674 --> 00:12:58.777
FROM A FIGHT TO A DANCE.
00:12:58.844 --> 00:13:00.946
SO THE CAVALRY
WOULD TURN UP,
00:13:01.013 --> 00:13:04.917
AND THEY WOULD SEE
ALL THE BLACK PEOPLE
DOING THEIR SAMBA.
00:13:04.984 --> 00:13:07.486
SO THEY WOULD PRETEND?
HA HA HA!
00:13:07.553 --> 00:13:12.491
AND THE CAVALRY WOULD SAY,
"OH, THE BLACKS ARE
PLAYING AROUND.
00:13:12.558 --> 00:13:17.429
THEY ARE DANCING,"
AND THEY'D START CLAPPING.
00:13:17.496 --> 00:13:20.432
SO THIS WAS A WAY
TO TRICK THE CAVALRY,
00:13:20.499 --> 00:13:23.969
AND WHEN
THE CAVALRY LEFT,
THEY'D CARRY ON.
00:13:38.250 --> 00:13:43.522
Gates, voice-over:
IT'S DIFFICULT TO BELIEVE
THAT THIS MAN IS 65 YEARS OLD
00:13:43.589 --> 00:13:45.624
Gates: WOW!
HA HA!
00:13:45.691 --> 00:13:49.628
HA HA HA!
YOU'RE THE MAN. HA HA!
00:13:49.695 --> 00:13:51.630
I NEED YOU--
I NEED YOU TO COME TO BOSTON
00:13:51.697 --> 00:13:54.300
AND PROTECT ME.
HA HA HA!
00:13:54.366 --> 00:13:55.501
HE'LL PROTECT ME.
00:13:55.568 --> 00:13:57.269
SIM, SIM, SIM.
00:13:57.336 --> 00:13:58.837
OBRIDGADO.
00:13:58.904 --> 00:14:04.176
WELCOME
TO VALE DAS PEDRINHAS,
SALVADOR BAHIA, BRAZIL.
00:14:04.243 --> 00:14:05.477
THANK YOU.
00:14:14.086 --> 00:14:17.923
[DRUMMING]
00:14:17.990 --> 00:14:20.059
Gates: YOU CAN FEEL
THE PRESENCE OF AFRICA
00:14:20.125 --> 00:14:23.429
AROUND EVERY CORNER
IN SALVADOR
00:14:23.495 --> 00:14:26.432
AND SEE IT WRITTEN RIGHT
ON THE PEOPLE'S FACES.
00:14:30.636 --> 00:14:33.839
THIS IS CANDOMBLÉ,
A RELIGION INVENTED IN BRAZIL
00:14:33.906 --> 00:14:36.809
BUT BASED ON THE GODS
THAT THE SLAVES BROUGHT
WITH THEM
00:14:36.875 --> 00:14:40.779
FROM ANGOLA, NIGERIA,
AND DAHOMEY.
00:14:40.846 --> 00:14:42.881
[SINGING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
00:14:46.585 --> 00:14:50.256
I'M JUST UP THE STREET
FROM MASTER BOA GENTE'S
CAPOEIRA SCHOOL,
00:14:50.322 --> 00:14:51.957
STILL IN THE FAVELA,
00:14:52.024 --> 00:14:54.493
BUT I FEEL LIKE I COULD BE
IN AN AFRICAN CITY.
00:15:00.099 --> 00:15:02.034
[MAN SINGING
IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
00:15:06.572 --> 00:15:10.943
FATHER JOÃO RUNS THIS TEMPLE,
ONE OF MORE THAN 1,100 DEVOTED
00:15:11.010 --> 00:15:13.379
TO CANDOMBLÉ IN SALVADOR.
00:15:13.445 --> 00:15:18.050
I LIKE THE FACT THAT
YOU ARE KEEPING
AFRICAN GODS ALIVE.
00:15:18.117 --> 00:15:20.919
IS THIS IMPORTANT
TO YOU?
00:15:20.986 --> 00:15:22.588
Translator: IT IS
VERY IMPORTANT TO ME.
00:15:22.655 --> 00:15:25.491
I WAS BORN
INTO A RELIGIOUS FAMILY.
00:15:25.557 --> 00:15:28.560
MY MOTHER WAS
VERY RELIGIOUS.
00:15:28.627 --> 00:15:32.998
WHEN I WAS 7 YEARS OLD,
THE SPIRIT BECAME
A PART OF ME.
00:15:33.065 --> 00:15:35.868
AT 14, IT CAME
TO ME AGAIN,
00:15:35.934 --> 00:15:40.072
AND BY THE AGE OF 16,
I WAS IN CHARGE
OF A TEMPLE.
00:15:40.139 --> 00:15:42.374
I'M NOW 49 YEARS OLD.
00:15:42.441 --> 00:15:44.276
I NEVER THINK
ABOUT STOPPING.
00:15:44.343 --> 00:15:47.379
I JUST THINK ABOUT
EVOLVING AND GROWING.
00:15:47.446 --> 00:15:49.782
I HAVE THE SONS
OF THE TEMPLE HERE.
00:15:49.848 --> 00:15:52.818
WE RAISE THEM,
SO IF TOMORROW,
I'M NOT HERE,
00:15:52.885 --> 00:15:54.453
THEY CAN CONTINUE
THE RELIGION,
00:15:54.520 --> 00:15:57.990
WHICH IS RICH AND TRUE.
00:15:58.057 --> 00:15:59.992
[SINGING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
00:16:04.163 --> 00:16:05.497
Gates, voice-over: IN MANY WAYS,
THE STORY OF CANDOMBLÉ
00:16:05.564 --> 00:16:12.404
IS THE STORY OF THE MIXING
OF CULTURES IN BRAZIL.
00:16:12.471 --> 00:16:14.573
SLAVES FROM
DIFFERENT ETHNIC GROUPS
00:16:14.640 --> 00:16:16.875
AND DIFFERENT PARTS
OF AFRICA FUSED
00:16:16.942 --> 00:16:20.346
THEIR DIFFERENT RELIGIONS
AND THE YORUBA GODS
00:16:20.412 --> 00:16:23.248
INTO A COMPELLING NEW BLEND.
00:16:23.315 --> 00:16:26.618
THEY EVEN INCORPORATED ELEMENTS
OF CATHOLICISM TO CREATE
00:16:26.685 --> 00:16:31.590
A NEW RELIGION, CANDOMBLÉ,
00:16:31.657 --> 00:16:34.960
AND IT'S THIS MIXING
OF CULTURES AND ETHNICITIES
00:16:35.027 --> 00:16:37.196
THAT SO DEFINES BRAZIL.
00:16:40.666 --> 00:16:43.369
LOOKING AT THE PEOPLE
ON THE STREETS OF SALVADOR,
00:16:43.435 --> 00:16:45.971
I DON'T THINK I'VE
EVER BEEN ANYWHERE
00:16:46.038 --> 00:16:50.175
WITH SO MANY BROWN FACES,
00:16:50.242 --> 00:16:53.178
AND THE REASONS FOR THIS
GO BACK TO THE VERY BEGINNINGS
00:16:53.245 --> 00:16:55.614
OF THE SLAVE TRADE.
00:16:55.681 --> 00:16:59.284
Reis: PEOPLE WHO CAME
TO COLONIZE BRAZIL
WERE ADVENTUROUS.
00:16:59.351 --> 00:17:01.086
YOU KNOW, BACHELORS
OR PEOPLE WHO LEFT
00:17:01.153 --> 00:17:03.589
THEIR FAMILIES
IN PORTUGAL
00:17:03.655 --> 00:17:06.125
WOULDN'T DREAM
OF GOING BACK THERE,
00:17:06.191 --> 00:17:10.129
AND SO THERE WAS
A VERY IMPORTANT SHORTAGE
00:17:10.195 --> 00:17:12.898
OF WHITE WOMEN,
PORTUGUESE WOMEN.
00:17:12.965 --> 00:17:19.304
THAT PRODUCED
A VERY LARGE MIXED RACE
POPULATION.
00:17:25.077 --> 00:17:31.350
RACE IS NOT OFTEN
AN OBSTACLE TO SEX.
00:17:31.417 --> 00:17:34.686
MARRIAGE IS,
A STABLE RELATIONSHIP IS,
00:17:34.753 --> 00:17:37.990
HAVING CHILDREN
AND BUILDING A FAMILY IS,
00:17:38.056 --> 00:17:39.458
BUT SEX...
00:17:43.562 --> 00:17:45.697
AND I THINK
THAT'S EVERYWHERE,
NOT ONLY BRAZIL.
00:17:45.764 --> 00:17:48.867
SEX--IN OTHER WORDS,
SEX IS COLOR BLIND.
00:17:48.934 --> 00:17:51.904
THAT'S TRUE.
YEAH, EXACTLY.
00:17:56.775 --> 00:17:59.545
Gates: I'M HEADING FOR
THE MOUNTAINS OF MINAS GERAIS
00:17:59.611 --> 00:18:04.583
IN BRAZIL'S INTERIOR
TO FIND OUT HOW ALL THIS
RACIAL MIXING BEGAN.
00:18:11.590 --> 00:18:14.393
IN THE HIGH SIERRA LIES
THE PERFECTLY PRESERVED
00:18:14.460 --> 00:18:17.362
COLONIAL TOWN OF DIAMANTINA,
00:18:17.429 --> 00:18:20.365
BUILT IN THE 1700s
TO SERVICE SOME OF BRAZIL'S
00:18:20.432 --> 00:18:24.470
RICHEST DIAMOND MINDS,
LOCATED JUST OUTSIDE OF TOWN.
00:18:29.508 --> 00:18:32.511
WHILE SLAVERY
IN THE 16th AND 17th CENTURIES
00:18:32.578 --> 00:18:35.848
WAS ALL ABOUT SUGAR,
IN THE 18th CENTURY,
00:18:35.914 --> 00:18:39.284
IT WAS MAINLY ABOUT GOLD
AND DIAMOND MINING.
00:18:42.955 --> 00:18:45.991
LIFE FOR THE SLAVES HERE
WAS A WORLD AWAY FROM THAT
00:18:46.058 --> 00:18:50.863
OF THEIR SISTERS AND BROTHERS
DOWN ON THE SUGAR PLANTATIONS.
00:18:50.929 --> 00:18:55.167
IN DIAMANTINA, BLACKS AND WHITES
LIVED SIDE BY SIDE.
00:18:55.234 --> 00:18:59.605
Woman: THIS TOWN WAS BUILT
AROUND 1710.
00:18:59.671 --> 00:19:01.974
Gates, voice-over:
PROFESSOR JUNIA FURTADO
HAS WRITTEN
00:19:02.040 --> 00:19:05.878
A DEFINITIVE HISTORY OF SLAVERY
IN DIAMANTINA.
00:19:05.944 --> 00:19:07.946
WHO WOULD HAVE
LIVED UP HERE?
00:19:08.013 --> 00:19:10.015
WE DON'T KNOW
EXACTLY WHO LIVED,
00:19:10.082 --> 00:19:14.186
BUT WE KNOW THAT
IN THE SAME STREET LIVED
00:19:14.253 --> 00:19:17.723
WHITE PEOPLE
AND BLACK FREED PEOPLE
00:19:17.789 --> 00:19:19.324
AND MULATO FREED PEOPLE.
00:19:19.391 --> 00:19:20.959
ALL OVER THE CITY?
ALL OVER THE CITY
00:19:21.026 --> 00:19:24.129
AND EVEN IN THESE
LARGER STREETS
00:19:24.196 --> 00:19:25.931
IN NICE HOUSES
00:19:25.998 --> 00:19:30.202
LIKE THIS ONE
WITH CHAPELS ON THE HOUSE.
00:19:30.269 --> 00:19:31.637
I WOULDN'T MIND OWNING
THIS TODAY,
00:19:31.703 --> 00:19:33.605
FIX UP,
GOT A LITTLE CHAPEL.
00:19:33.672 --> 00:19:37.543
HA HA HA!
HA HA HA!
00:19:37.609 --> 00:19:40.412
Gates, voice-over:
THE BLACK PEOPLE THAT LIVED
IN THESE COMFORTABLE HOUSES
00:19:40.479 --> 00:19:42.180
WEREN'T SLAVES AT AL.
00:19:42.247 --> 00:19:43.882
THEY HAD BEEN FREED.
00:19:43.949 --> 00:19:45.751
SOME HAD EARNED ENOUGH
FROM MINING
00:19:45.817 --> 00:19:49.454
OR EVEN FROM PROSTITUTION
TO BUY THEIR OWN FREEDOM.
00:19:49.521 --> 00:19:51.690
SOME WERE THE CONCUBINES
OF WHITE MEN,
00:19:51.757 --> 00:19:56.395
SET FREE BY THEIR LOVERS,
OFTEN ON THEIR DEATH BEDS.
00:19:56.461 --> 00:19:58.363
IN THE UNITED STATES
OF COURSE, WE
HAD COMMUNITIES
00:19:58.430 --> 00:20:00.832
OF FREE BLACKS,
BUT GENERALLY,
00:20:00.899 --> 00:20:03.168
THEY WOULD LIVE
TOGETHER, SEGREGATED,
00:20:03.235 --> 00:20:07.172
AND THEN THE WHITES
WOULD BE SOMEPLACE ELSE.
00:20:07.239 --> 00:20:13.078
WHY DO YOU THINK HERE
THEY WERE SO INTEGRATED?
00:20:13.145 --> 00:20:14.580
INTEGRATED.
00:20:14.646 --> 00:20:17.616
I THINK FIRST OF ALL
THEY WERE VERY DISTANT
00:20:17.683 --> 00:20:19.685
FROM EVERYWHERE ELSE.
00:20:19.751 --> 00:20:21.086
YEAH.
00:20:21.153 --> 00:20:24.323
EVEN NOWADAYS,
IT'S DIFFICULT
TO COME HERE.
00:20:24.389 --> 00:20:28.994
IMAGINE IN THE 18th CENTURY,
IT WAS MONTHS
00:20:29.061 --> 00:20:32.464
TO TRAVEL TO HERE,
SO THESE PEOPLE WERE
00:20:32.531 --> 00:20:35.000
PRETTY MUCH APART
FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD.
00:20:35.067 --> 00:20:38.837
WHAT DID THE CHURCH
THINK ABOUT ALL THIS?
00:20:38.904 --> 00:20:41.873
OF COURSE THE CHURCH--
HEH HEH--DISAPPROVED
00:20:41.940 --> 00:20:45.477
COMPLETELY THIS KIND
OF SITUATION,
00:20:45.544 --> 00:20:51.316
BUT WHAT WE SEE MORE HERE
WAS A KIND OF SILENCE
OF THE CHURCH,
00:20:51.383 --> 00:20:55.687
AND THERE WERE SOME VISITS
OF THE BISHOP HERE,
00:20:55.754 --> 00:21:01.860
AND WHEN THE BISHOP COMES,
ALL THESE SINS
WERE DENOUNCED,
00:21:01.927 --> 00:21:07.633
BUT AS THE BISHOP LEFT
THE CITY,
00:21:07.699 --> 00:21:11.503
EVERYBODY STARTED
LIVING TOGETHER
WITH EVERYBODY.
00:21:11.570 --> 00:21:13.405
SO THE BISHOP
WOULD COME,
00:21:13.472 --> 00:21:15.674
THEY WOULD BE DENOUNCED.
THEY'D HAVE TO CONFESS,
00:21:15.741 --> 00:21:17.609
AND THEY'D HAVE TO SAY,
"I WON'T DO IT AGAIN."
00:21:17.676 --> 00:21:20.445
"I WON'T DO IT AGAIN,"
BUT AS SOON AS HE LEAVES...
00:21:20.512 --> 00:21:22.280
THEY SAY,
"IS THE BISHOP GONE?"
00:21:22.347 --> 00:21:23.582
YEAH.
00:21:23.649 --> 00:21:25.450
"COME ON BACK--
COME ON BACK
TO THE HOUSE."
00:21:25.517 --> 00:21:27.352
HA HA HA!
00:21:27.419 --> 00:21:29.221
Gates, voice-over: JUNIA TOOK ME
TO THE HOUSE OF DIAMANTINA'S
00:21:29.287 --> 00:21:33.792
MOST FAMOUS CITIZEN,
A WOMAN NAMED CHICA DA SILVA.
00:21:33.859 --> 00:21:36.928
CHICA DA SILVA,
AN 18th CENTURY SLAVE,
00:21:36.995 --> 00:21:39.665
WAS THE PARTNER
OF A WHITE DIAMOND MERCHANT
00:21:39.731 --> 00:21:45.937
AND ONCE FREED BECAME ONE
OF THE WEALTHIEST WOMEN
IN ALL OF DIAMANTINA.
00:21:46.004 --> 00:21:49.041
TODAY, SHE'S KNOWN
ALL OVER BRAZIL.
00:22:11.396 --> 00:22:15.767
A POPULAR FILM,
STARRING THE FAMOUS
BLACK ACTRESS ZEZÉ MOTTA,
00:22:15.834 --> 00:22:20.639
WAS EVEN MADE OF HER LIFE
IN THE 1970s.
00:22:20.706 --> 00:22:24.342
Gates: TELL ME
ABOUT HOW SHE WENT
FROM BEING A SLAVE
00:22:24.409 --> 00:22:27.779
TO BEING ONE
OF THE MOST POWERFUL
WOMEN IN HER SOCIETY.
00:22:27.846 --> 00:22:31.616
SHE WAS A COMPANION
OF SOMEONE WHO WAS
00:22:31.683 --> 00:22:33.952
THE MOST IMPORTANT
MAN HERE.
00:22:34.019 --> 00:22:39.424
HE ARRIVED IN AUGUST,
AND IN DECEMBER,
00:22:39.491 --> 00:22:42.027
SHE ALREADY BELONGED
TO HIM,
00:22:42.094 --> 00:22:43.895
AND HE FREED HER.
00:22:43.962 --> 00:22:45.063
ON CHRISTMAS DAY?
00:22:45.130 --> 00:22:47.866
ON CHRISTMAS DAY.
IT WAS A CHRISTMAS GIFT.
00:22:47.933 --> 00:22:50.001
THAT'S AMAZING,
AND THEY STAYED TOGETHER.
00:22:50.068 --> 00:22:52.404
AND THEY STAYED TOGETHER
FOR 15 YEARS,
00:22:52.471 --> 00:22:55.207
AND THEY HAD
13 CHILDREN TOGETHER,
00:22:55.273 --> 00:23:01.847
ONE AFTER THE OTHER,
SO THE GENERATION
WILL BE SECURED.
00:23:01.913 --> 00:23:03.181
HEH HEH. HEH HEH.
00:23:13.725 --> 00:23:15.560
SHE PRETENDED LIKE
SHE WAS--
00:23:15.627 --> 00:23:17.462
SHE ACTED LIKE
WHITE WOMEN.
00:23:17.529 --> 00:23:18.563
MM-HMM.
SHE...
00:23:18.630 --> 00:23:19.631
SHE DRESSED LIKE THEM.
00:23:19.698 --> 00:23:23.502
DRESSED LIKE THEM,
HAD SEVERAL CHILDREN,
00:23:23.568 --> 00:23:25.237
BURIED
IN A WHITE CHURCH.
00:23:25.303 --> 00:23:28.974
IN OTHER WORDS,
SHE HAD TO ERASE
HER AFRICAN HERITAGE?
00:23:29.040 --> 00:23:30.408
YES.
00:23:30.475 --> 00:23:31.710
WHAT ABOUT HER CHILDREN?
00:23:31.777 --> 00:23:33.779
DID THEY EMBRACE
THEIR BLACKNESS,
00:23:33.845 --> 00:23:35.280
OR DID THEY PASS
FOR WHITE?
00:23:35.347 --> 00:23:38.517
NO. THEY REALLY EMBRACED
THE WHITENING.
00:23:38.583 --> 00:23:39.951
HA HA HA!
00:23:40.018 --> 00:23:43.922
BECAUSE IT'S THE WAY
OF SOCIAL CLIMBING
IN THIS SOCIETY.
00:23:43.989 --> 00:23:46.892
THE THING WAS
BECOME WHITE PEOPLE.
00:23:46.958 --> 00:23:48.393
MM-HMM.
00:23:48.460 --> 00:23:51.963
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
00:23:52.030 --> 00:23:54.099
Gates: A WOMAN IS
BORN A SLAVE,
00:23:54.166 --> 00:23:57.469
AND SHE DIES ONE
OF THE MOST PROSPEROUS,
PROMINENT MEMBERS
00:23:57.536 --> 00:23:59.571
OF HER COMMUNITY.
00:23:59.638 --> 00:24:03.408
SHE AND HER WHITE LOVER
LIVE OPENLY
00:24:03.475 --> 00:24:09.581
AND TOGETHER HAVE
AND RAISE 13 CHILDREN.
00:24:09.648 --> 00:24:13.318
SHE DIES A WEALTHY WOMAN.
00:24:13.385 --> 00:24:18.223
NO SLAVE IN THE HISTORY
OF THAT INSTITUTION
IN THE UNITED STATES
00:24:18.290 --> 00:24:23.895
COULD IMAGINE A LIFE
AS COMPLEX AS THAT LIVED
BY CHICA DA SILVA.
00:24:23.962 --> 00:24:26.097
THE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN SLAVERY IN BRAZIL
00:24:26.164 --> 00:24:29.534
AND SLAVERY
IN THE UNITED STATES IS THIS--
00:24:29.601 --> 00:24:34.172
HERE SHE COULD ALMOST ESCAPE
HER BLACKNESS.
00:24:41.513 --> 00:24:44.349
IS BLACK BEAUTIFUL
TO BLACK BRAZILIAN WOMEN TODAY?
00:24:48.220 --> 00:24:51.423
TO FIND OUT,
I'VE COME TO BELO HORIZONTE,
00:24:51.489 --> 00:24:53.592
THE CAPITAL
OF MINA GERAIS STATE.
00:24:58.897 --> 00:25:02.367
DORA ÁLVES, A BLACK ACTIVIST
AND HAIRDRESSER,
00:25:02.434 --> 00:25:04.669
IS TRYING TO REVERSE
THE TENDENCY OF BLACK WOMEN
00:25:04.736 --> 00:25:06.304
TO STRAIGHTEN THEIR HAIR,
00:25:06.371 --> 00:25:10.942
TO CONFORM TO BRAZILIAN
SOCIETY'S IDEALS OF BEAUTY.
00:25:11.009 --> 00:25:12.944
Translator: SOMETIMES,
WE WILL HAVE SOMEONE
00:25:13.011 --> 00:25:15.614
ARRIVE AT THE SALON,
AND THEY ARE SO DEPRESSED,
00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:17.883
THEY HAVE SUCH
A LOW SELF-ESTEEM.
00:25:17.949 --> 00:25:20.085
THEY THINK THAT
THEIR HAIR IS UGLY,
00:25:20.151 --> 00:25:22.187
THAT THEIR HAIR
IS TERRIBLE.
00:25:22.254 --> 00:25:25.457
SOMETIMES THE MOTHER STILL
HAS HER BABE IN THE PUSH-CHAIR,
00:25:25.523 --> 00:25:28.360
AND SHE ARRIVES ASKING ME,
"OH, MY GOD.
00:25:28.426 --> 00:25:30.996
IS THERE ANY WAY
TO SAVE THIS HAIR?"
00:25:31.062 --> 00:25:33.932
WHEN WE GO INTO SCHOOLS,
A TEACHER MIGHT COME TO ME
00:25:33.999 --> 00:25:36.468
WITH A CHILD
AND WHISPER IN MY EAR,
00:25:36.534 --> 00:25:38.703
"DO YOU THINK THERE IS
ANYTHING THAT CAN BE DONE?
00:25:38.770 --> 00:25:42.440
HEH HEH.
00:25:42.507 --> 00:25:45.877
Gates: DORA CAMPAIGNS
IN SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITY CENTERS
00:25:45.944 --> 00:25:48.413
TO INCREASE PRIDE
IN AFRICAN FEATURES
00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:50.649
AND NATURAL HAIRSTYLES.
00:25:50.715 --> 00:25:54.419
WHY DO SO MANY
BLACK WOMEN HAVE
LOW SELF-ESTEEM
00:25:54.486 --> 00:26:00.325
HERE IN BRAZIL
IF THEY HAVE AFRO HAIR?
00:26:00.392 --> 00:26:02.560
IT'S A QUESTION
OF HISTORY.
00:26:02.627 --> 00:26:04.796
IT'S ALSO A QUESTION
OF THE MEDIA.
00:26:08.533 --> 00:26:10.502
YOU CAN SEE IT
IN THE ADVERTS,
00:26:10.568 --> 00:26:15.340
THE MAGAZINES, THE TV.
00:26:15.407 --> 00:26:18.977
MOST OF THE WOMEN
YOU SEE ARE WHITE
WITH STRAIGHT HAIR.
00:26:21.413 --> 00:26:24.883
THERE MIGHT BE ONE
BLACK GIRL, JUST ONE,
00:26:24.950 --> 00:26:28.353
AND THE REST ARE WHITE
WITH THEIR HAIR
STRAIGHTENED OUT,
00:26:28.420 --> 00:26:31.356
SO BLACK WOMEN CAN'T
SEE THEMSELVES AT ALL.
00:26:42.701 --> 00:26:44.536
Gates: I'VE RETURNED
TO SALVADOR,
00:26:44.602 --> 00:26:46.204
BRAZIL'S BLACK CAPITAL,
00:26:46.271 --> 00:26:48.406
TO FIND OUT WHAT
IN THIS COUNTRY'S PAST
00:26:48.473 --> 00:26:51.776
MADE ATTITUDES TOWARD BLACKNESS
SO PROBLEMATIC.
00:26:55.146 --> 00:26:57.515
THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION
OF THE NEEDY
00:26:57.582 --> 00:27:01.553
IS BAHIA'S OLDEST
AFRO-BRAZILIAN ORGANIZATION.
00:27:03.421 --> 00:27:07.659
FOUNDED IN 1832,
ITS MEMBERS, FREE BLACK MEN,
00:27:07.726 --> 00:27:12.764
RAISED FUNDS TO PURCHASE
THE FREEDOM OF SLAVES.
00:27:12.831 --> 00:27:15.667
WHILE SOME SLAVES MANAGED
TO BUY THEIR FREEDOM,
00:27:15.734 --> 00:27:21.373
SLAVERY AS AN INSTITUTION WASN'T
ABOLISHED HERE UNTIL 1888,
00:27:21.439 --> 00:27:25.510
MAKING BRAZIL THE LAST COUNTRY
IN THE NEW WORLD TO DO SO.
00:27:25.577 --> 00:27:27.846
EVEN THEN,
ABOLITION DIDN'T USHER IN
00:27:27.912 --> 00:27:33.151
THE DRAMATIC TRANSFORMATION
THAT MANY AFRO-BRAZILIANS
HAD HOPED.
00:27:33.218 --> 00:27:34.986
WHEN SLAVERY
WAS ABOLISHED,
00:27:35.053 --> 00:27:39.524
WHAT DID THE WHITE
ELITE THINK
ABOUT THE LEGACY
00:27:39.591 --> 00:27:43.028
OF AFRICAN CULTURE
IN BRAZIL?
00:27:43.094 --> 00:27:44.529
Translator:
WHAT BOTHERED THEM
00:27:44.596 --> 00:27:46.831
OR THE BIGGEST PROBLEM
WAS HOW TO DEAL
00:27:46.898 --> 00:27:51.269
WITH THE POPULATION
OF COLOR.
00:27:51.336 --> 00:27:53.438
VARIOUS INTELLECTUALS
BELIEVED FOR BRAZIL
00:27:53.505 --> 00:27:55.306
TO BECOME
A CIVILIZED COUNTRY
00:27:55.373 --> 00:28:00.145
IT HAD TO HAVE A PROCESS
OF WHITENING.
00:28:00.211 --> 00:28:01.913
FOR THIS REASON,
THE GOVERNMENT INVESTED
00:28:01.980 --> 00:28:06.084
A GREAT DEAL
IN EUROPEAN IMMIGRATION
TO THE COUNTRY.
00:28:06.151 --> 00:28:08.420
Gates: THE BRAZILIAN
GOVERNMENT PAID FOR MORE THAN
00:28:08.486 --> 00:28:12.590
4 MILLION EUROPEANS
TO MIGRATE TO BRAZIL.
00:28:12.657 --> 00:28:18.129
THIS WAS PART
OF A PROCESS KNOWN AS
BRANQUEAMENTO, WHITENING.
00:28:18.196 --> 00:28:20.565
THE GOVERNMENT HOPED THAT
THESE NEW IMMIGRANTS
00:28:20.632 --> 00:28:24.102
WOULD OUTNUMBER THE BLACK PEOPLE
AND BREED WITH THEM,
00:28:24.169 --> 00:28:26.905
OVER TIME WHITENING
THE FACE OF BRAZIL,
00:28:26.971 --> 00:28:30.475
BOTH ITS GENE POOL
AND ITS CULTURE.
00:28:30.542 --> 00:28:32.510
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
00:28:32.577 --> 00:28:34.612
FROM THEN ON,
THE GOVERNMENT BEGAN
00:28:34.679 --> 00:28:38.583
TO PERSECUTE PRACTICES
THAT WERE SEEN AS BLACK
00:28:38.650 --> 00:28:41.553
LIKE CANDOMBLÉ
AND CAPOEIRA,
00:28:41.619 --> 00:28:46.758
TRYING TO CONVINCE PEOPLE
THAT THESE PRACTICES
WERE BARBARIC
00:28:46.825 --> 00:28:50.028
AND THAT IT WAS
A CIVILIZING ACT
TO STOP THEM.
00:28:55.500 --> 00:28:58.103
Gates: IN BAHIA,
ONE MAN STAUNCHLY PROTESTED
00:28:58.169 --> 00:29:00.405
AGAIT THESE RACIST POLICIES...
00:29:02.774 --> 00:29:05.877
HISTORIAN, ARTIST,
LABOR UNIONIST,
00:29:05.944 --> 00:29:10.482
AND BLACK ACTIVIST
MANUEL QUERINO.
00:29:10.548 --> 00:29:16.988
WHAT WAS NEW OR BOLD
ABOUT WHAT QUERINO
HAD TO SAY?
00:29:17.055 --> 00:29:20.558
QUERINO EMPHASIZED
THE GREAT ROLE
OF THE AFRICAN
00:29:20.625 --> 00:29:23.828
AS A CIVILIZER,
AS A WORKER.
00:29:23.895 --> 00:29:26.498
HE THOUGHT THERE WAS
NO NEED FOR IMMIGRANTS,
00:29:26.564 --> 00:29:30.335
AS BRAZIL HAD ALREADY
BEEN CIVILIZED BY AFRICANS.
00:29:33.404 --> 00:29:36.708
SO HE WAS A DISSONANT
VOICE WHEN EVERYONE
WAS SAYING
00:29:36.774 --> 00:29:40.011
THAT THOSE WHO CAME
AS SLAVES WEREN'T CAPABLE
00:29:40.078 --> 00:29:43.281
OF A MORE SOPHISTICATED
STYLE OF WORK.
00:29:46.584 --> 00:29:48.653
Gates: AT A TIME WHEN THE ELITE
WAS TRYING TO WHITEWASH
00:29:48.720 --> 00:29:51.723
BRAZILIAN HISTORY,
THIS MAN TOOK
A COURAGEOUS STAND.
00:29:51.789 --> 00:29:55.126
HE INSISTED THAT
THE BLACK PRESENCE IN BRAZIL
00:29:55.193 --> 00:30:00.532
WAS FUNDAMENTAL TO ITS CULTURAL
AND SOCIETAL IDENTITY.
00:30:00.598 --> 00:30:03.034
AS A SCHOLAR
OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDIES,
00:30:03.101 --> 00:30:06.604
THIS IS LIKE MEETING
FOR THE FIRST TIME
00:30:06.671 --> 00:30:09.974
W.E.B. DU BOIS
OR CARTER G. WOODSON,
00:30:10.041 --> 00:30:13.011
THE FATHERS
OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY.
00:30:31.496 --> 00:30:35.233
PROFESSOR WLAMYRA ALBUQUERQUE
PASSIONATELY WANTS TO RETURN
00:30:35.300 --> 00:30:38.469
QUERINO TO HIS RIGHTFUL PLACE
IN THE PANTHEON
00:30:38.536 --> 00:30:41.873
OF GREAT BRAZILIAN
INTELLECTUALS.
00:30:41.940 --> 00:30:46.511
WLAMYRA HAS BROUGHT ME
TO BAHIA'S GEOGRAPHIC
AND HISTORICAL INSTITUTE,
00:30:46.578 --> 00:30:51.449
WHICH HOUSES FIRST EDITIONS
OF QUERINO'S WRITINGS.
00:30:51.516 --> 00:30:54.419
DO YOU HAVE
A FAVORITE PASSAGE
OF QUERINO THAT U LIKE?
00:30:54.485 --> 00:30:58.356
YES. I'LL HAVE A LOOK.
00:30:58.423 --> 00:30:59.624
OK.
00:30:59.691 --> 00:31:02.126
"WHOEVER READS HISTORY
WILL SEE HOW THE NATION
00:31:02.193 --> 00:31:05.930
HAS GLORIED
THROUGH THE AFRICANS
IT IMPORTED."
00:31:05.997 --> 00:31:08.199
OH. THE GLORY OF AFRICA.
00:31:08.266 --> 00:31:10.201
THIS MAKES ME FEEL
REALLY GOOD.
00:31:10.268 --> 00:31:12.237
IT MAKES ME FEEL
A PART OF SOMETHING
00:31:12.303 --> 00:31:13.838
THAT SHOULD BE
CELEBRATED,
00:31:13.905 --> 00:31:16.474
NOT SOMETHING I SHOULD
FEEL ASHAMED OF.
00:31:16.541 --> 00:31:18.643
SO YOU'RE VERY PROUD
OF THE BLACK--
00:31:18.710 --> 00:31:21.779
YES. I'M VERY PROUD
TO BE BLACK IN BRAZIL.
00:31:21.846 --> 00:31:24.382
YEAH.
00:31:24.449 --> 00:31:27.018
Gates, voice-over:
QUERINO DIED IN 1923,
00:31:27.085 --> 00:31:29.821
HIS IDEAS LARGELY IGNORED.
00:31:32.991 --> 00:31:35.593
THE CREATION OF BRAZIL'S
OFFICIAL IDENTITY
00:31:35.660 --> 00:31:37.895
AS ONE OF THE WORLD'S
FIRST TRULY MIXED,
00:31:37.962 --> 00:31:43.101
SUPPOSEDLY RACIST-FREE NATIONS,
PROUD OF ITS AFRICAN HERITAGE
00:31:43.167 --> 00:31:46.504
IS CREDITED TO A WHITE SCHOLAR.
00:31:46.571 --> 00:31:49.807
I'VE COME TO PERNAMBUCO,
NORTH OF BAHIA,
00:31:49.874 --> 00:31:55.413
THE HOME STATE OF BRAZIL'S
MOST FAMOUS INTELLECTUAL
GILBERTO FREYRE.
00:31:55.480 --> 00:31:57.815
EVEN THE AIRPORT
IS NAMED AFTER HIM.
00:32:03.388 --> 00:32:07.225
BORN IN 1900,
FREYRE SPENT MUCH OF HIS BOYHOOD
00:32:07.292 --> 00:32:11.062
ON A SUGAR PLANTATION OWNED
BY HIS MOTHER'S RELATIVES.
00:32:18.503 --> 00:32:23.174
IN HIS CLASSIC WORK
"MASTERS AND SLAVES,"
PUBLISHED IN 1933,
00:32:23.241 --> 00:32:24.876
FREYRE ARGUED
THAT RACE RELATIONS
00:32:24.942 --> 00:32:30.815
ON BRAZILIAN PLANTATIONS
WERE FAR MORE FLUID THAN
IN THE UNITED STATES.
00:32:30.882 --> 00:32:33.117
PORTUGUESE MASTERS WERE
MORE WILLING TO HAVE
00:32:33.184 --> 00:32:37.722
OPEN, EXTENDED SEXUAL RELATIONS
AND TO FATHER CHILDREN
00:32:37.789 --> 00:32:39.924
WITH THEIR SLAVES.
00:32:39.991 --> 00:32:43.294
ACCORDING TO FREYRE,
THIS OPEN RACIAL MIXING
00:32:43.361 --> 00:32:47.665
CREATED A SOCIETY LARGELY FREE
OF THE DEEP RACIAL ANIMOSITY
00:32:47.732 --> 00:32:50.835
FOUND IN THE UNITED STATES,
WHERE SEXUAL RELATIONS
00:32:50.902 --> 00:32:55.006
BETWEEN MASTERS AND SLAVES
WERE ILLICIT, FURTIVE,
00:32:55.073 --> 00:32:57.475
AND FROWNED UPON.
00:32:57.542 --> 00:33:01.479
IN THIS PASSAGE, FREYRE
SAYS THAT BLACK BRAZILIANS
00:33:01.546 --> 00:33:05.049
AND WHITE BRAZILIANS
ARE INEXTRICABLY INTERTWINED,
00:33:05.116 --> 00:33:07.685
THAT IN EFFECT
THEY CREATE EACH OTHER.
00:33:07.752 --> 00:33:09.053
LISTEN TO THIS.
00:33:09.120 --> 00:33:11.956
"EVERY BRAZILIAN,
EVEN THE LIGHT-SKINNED,
FAIR-HAIRED ONE,
00:33:12.023 --> 00:33:14.192
"CARRIES ABOUT HIM ON HIS SOUL
00:33:14.258 --> 00:33:16.594
"WHEN NOT ON SOUL
AND BODY ALIKE
00:33:16.661 --> 00:33:20.098
"THE SHADOW OR AT LEAST
THE BIRTHMARK
00:33:20.164 --> 00:33:23.201
"OF THE ABORIGINE
OR THE NEGRO.
00:33:23.267 --> 00:33:25.636
"IN OUR AFFECTIONS,
OUR EXCESSIVE MIMICRY,
00:33:25.703 --> 00:33:28.773
"OUR CATHOLICISM,
WHICH SO DELIGHTS THE SENSES,
00:33:28.840 --> 00:33:32.744
"OUR MUSIC, OUR GAIT,
OUR SPEECH, OUR CRADLE SONGS,
00:33:32.810 --> 00:33:37.882
"IN EVERYTHING THAT IS
A SINCERE EXPRESSION
OF OUR LIVES,
00:33:37.949 --> 00:33:42.787
WE ALMOST ALL OF US BEAR
THE MARK OF THAT INFLUENCE."
00:33:42.854 --> 00:33:47.425
CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW THIS PLAYED
IN AMERICA IN 1933
00:33:47.492 --> 00:33:49.594
UNDER JIM CROW SEGREGATION?
00:33:49.660 --> 00:33:53.531
IT MUST HAVE SHOCKED
THEM TO DEATH.
00:33:58.603 --> 00:34:02.106
YOU DON'T HAVE TO AGREE
WITH FREYRE'S VIEW
OF PLANTATION LIFE,
00:34:02.173 --> 00:34:06.210
WHICH TODAY SEEMS
RATHER NAÏVE ABOUT RAPE
AND SEXUAL COERCION,
00:34:06.277 --> 00:34:09.647
TO RECOGNIZE THE ASTONISHING
IMPACT THAT HIS THESIS HAD
00:34:09.714 --> 00:34:12.116
ON BRAZIL'S
OFFICIAL IMAGE OF ITSELF.
00:34:16.421 --> 00:34:20.691
FREYRE LIVED IN THIS HOUSE
IN RECIFE BETWEEN 1940
00:34:20.758 --> 00:34:23.594
AND HIS DEATH IN 1987.
00:34:28.766 --> 00:34:30.401
GEE. WOW.
LOOK AT THIS.
00:34:30.468 --> 00:34:35.239
YEAH. SOME, UH--
SOME MEDALS OF HONORS.
00:34:35.306 --> 00:34:36.874
AND THE FIRST EDITION OF...
00:34:38.910 --> 00:34:40.011
WHEW!
00:34:40.077 --> 00:34:41.078
PORTUGUESE
FIRST EDITION.
00:34:41.145 --> 00:34:42.980
MMM.
00:34:43.047 --> 00:34:44.449
1933.
00:34:44.515 --> 00:34:46.851
HMM.
00:34:46.918 --> 00:34:48.586
Gates, voice-over:
FREYRE'S GRANDSON BELIEVES
00:34:48.653 --> 00:34:51.389
THAT HIS WORK IS THE KEY
TO UNDERSTANDING
00:34:51.456 --> 00:34:55.092
CONTEMPORARY
BRAZILIAN RACE RELATIONS.
00:34:55.159 --> 00:34:58.396
Translator: THIS IS
THE GREAT CREATING SPACE
FOR GILBERTO FREYRE.
00:34:58.463 --> 00:35:00.131
THIS IS WHERE
HE'D WORK.
00:35:00.198 --> 00:35:02.133
HE'D SIT ON THIS CHAIR
AND WRITE,
00:35:02.200 --> 00:35:05.470
SURROUNDED BY HIS WORKS.
00:35:05.536 --> 00:35:10.074
HOW DO YOU THINK ATTITUDES
TOWARD BLACK PEOPLE
00:35:10.141 --> 00:35:13.978
IN BRAZIL CHANGED
AFTER YOUR GRANDFATHER'S
BOOK WAS PUBLISHED?
00:35:14.045 --> 00:35:16.581
Translator: I THINK THAT
"MASTERS AND SLAVES"
00:35:16.647 --> 00:35:18.850
WAS A REAL
TURNING POINT,
00:35:18.916 --> 00:35:22.019
A RUPTURE WHICH OCCURRED
IN BRAZIL IN THE 1930s
00:35:22.086 --> 00:35:23.888
WHEN THE BOOK
WAS PUBLISHED.
00:35:26.624 --> 00:35:28.459
GILBERTO RAISES
THE BRAZILIAN BLACKS
00:35:28.526 --> 00:35:31.162
TO THE SAME
CULTURAL STANDING
AS THE PORTUGUESE,
00:35:31.229 --> 00:35:33.197
WHO CAME HERE
TO BUILD BRAZIL.
00:35:36.300 --> 00:35:41.038
HE PUTS THE PORTUGUESE
AND THE BLACKS
ON THE SAME LEVEL.
00:35:41.105 --> 00:35:43.341
HE SAYS BRAZIL
ONLY BECAME BRAZIL
00:35:43.407 --> 00:35:46.611
WHEN AFRICAN CULTURE
BECAME CULTURALLY
MISCEGENATED
00:35:46.677 --> 00:35:50.248
AND STARTED
TO CONTRIBUTE
TO BRAZILIAN UNITY.
00:35:52.517 --> 00:35:56.787
I DON'T THINK WE HAVE SOLVED
THE RACIAL QUESTION,
00:35:56.854 --> 00:36:01.125
BUT I THINK THAT WE ARE
MORE ADVANCED
00:36:01.192 --> 00:36:05.363
IN SOLVING THE RACIAL QUESTION
THAN ANY OTHER COMMUNITY
00:36:05.429 --> 00:36:07.298
IN THE WORLD THAT I KNOW OF.
00:36:07.365 --> 00:36:09.333
[DRUMS PLAYING]
00:36:12.169 --> 00:36:15.106
Gates: BRAZILIAN GOVERNMENTS
SINCE THE 1930s
00:36:15.172 --> 00:36:18.442
HAVE DRAWN UPON FREYRE'S IDEAS
TO UNIFY BRAZIL'S
00:36:18.509 --> 00:36:20.711
MULTIETHNIC SOCIETY.
00:36:24.549 --> 00:36:26.417
BRAZIL'S POLICY OF WHITENING
00:36:26.484 --> 00:36:28.920
WAS REPLACED
WITH A NEW IDEOLOGY,
00:36:28.986 --> 00:36:31.756
WHICH FREYRE CALLED
RACIAL DEMOCRACY.
00:36:35.459 --> 00:36:38.696
THE MULTICULTURAL HERITAGE
OF CARNAVAL BECAME BRAZIL'S
00:36:38.763 --> 00:36:41.032
NEW METAPHOR FOR ITSELF.
00:36:47.505 --> 00:36:50.808
[MUSIC PLAYING]
00:36:50.875 --> 00:36:54.812
TO THIS DAY, BRAZIL PROMOTES
ITSELF AS A UNIQUE,
00:36:54.879 --> 00:36:57.281
TRULY MULTICULTURAL NATION,
00:36:57.348 --> 00:37:01.419
BLESSEDLY FREE OF THE RACISM
THAT HAUNTS THE UNITED STATES.
00:37:01.485 --> 00:37:03.487
[CHEERING]
00:37:08.426 --> 00:37:10.094
BUT ON MY JOURNEY
THROUGH BRAZIL,
00:37:10.161 --> 00:37:13.631
I'VE BEGUN TO SENSE
THAT THE REALITY
OF RACE RELATIONS
00:37:13.698 --> 00:37:17.969
IS FAR MORE COMPLICATED
THAN THIS ROMANTIC STORY
WOULD HAVE IT,
00:37:18.035 --> 00:37:21.539
AS APPEALING
AS I FIND IT TO BE.
00:37:21.606 --> 00:37:25.610
I'VE COME RIO DE JANEIRO,
BRAZIL'S MOST ICONIC CITY
00:37:25.676 --> 00:37:29.513
AND ITS CULTURAL
AND INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL.
00:37:29.580 --> 00:37:33.451
I'VE COME HERE TO MEET BRAZIL'S
FIRST BLACK FEMALE SUPERSTAR,
00:37:33.517 --> 00:37:38.022
THE ACTOR WHO 35 YEARS AGO
PLAYED THE TITLE ROLE
00:37:38.089 --> 00:37:40.691
IN THE FILM OF THE LIFE
OF CHICA DA SILVA.
00:37:40.758 --> 00:37:42.593
HELLO.
HELLO.
00:37:42.660 --> 00:37:44.228
GOOD MORNING.
HOW ARE YOU?
00:37:44.295 --> 00:37:46.197
Gates, voice-over: CHICA IS
THE SYMBOL OF THE ROOTS
00:37:46.263 --> 00:37:48.099
OF BRAZIL'S RACIAL DEMOCRACY
00:37:48.165 --> 00:37:50.901
AND ITS HISTORY
OF RACIAL MIXING.
00:37:50.968 --> 00:37:53.070
YOU HAVE
A BEAUTIFUL,
BEAUTIFUL PLACE.
00:37:53.137 --> 00:37:54.338
THANK YOU.
MY GOD.
00:37:54.405 --> 00:37:55.706
Gates, voice-over:
BUT THE REALITY FOR THE ACTRESS
00:37:55.773 --> 00:38:00.077
WHO PLAYED HER
WAS QUITE DIFFERENT.
00:38:00.144 --> 00:38:02.013
Translator: THE PRODUCER
DIDN'T WANT ME
00:38:02.079 --> 00:38:05.316
TO DO THE FILM BECAUSE
HE THOUGHT I WAS TOO UGLY.
00:38:09.387 --> 00:38:12.223
UNTIL VERY RECENTLY
IN BRAZIL,
00:38:12.289 --> 00:38:15.459
BLACK PEOPLE WERE
ALL CONSIDERED UGLY.
00:38:18.596 --> 00:38:20.798
Gates, voice-over: OF COURSE
ZEZÉ MOTTA GOT THE PART,
00:38:20.865 --> 00:38:23.934
BUT EVEN WITH HER NEW STATUS,
SHE PAINFULLY LEARNED
00:38:24.001 --> 00:38:30.641
THAT THE IDEA THAT BRAZIL
WAS FREE OF RACISM RANG HOLLOW.
00:38:30.708 --> 00:38:33.344
AFTER THE FILM,
I WAS CONSIDERED
00:38:33.411 --> 00:38:36.814
A BRAZILIAN SEX SYMBOL
BECAUSE THE CHARACTER
00:38:36.881 --> 00:38:42.153
BECAME VERY PRESENT
IN THE MALE IMAGINATION.
00:38:42.219 --> 00:38:44.922
AT THIS TIME,
THERE WOULD NEVER BE
A BLACK PERSON
00:38:44.989 --> 00:38:47.124
ON THE COVER
OF THE BIG MAGAZINES
00:38:47.191 --> 00:38:50.828
BECAUSE THEY WOULD SAY,
"THE COVER SELLS."
00:38:50.895 --> 00:38:54.865
BUT AS I HAD BECOME
THE QUEEN, THE SEX SYMBOL,
00:38:54.932 --> 00:38:57.935
AN IMPORTANT MAGAZINE
PUT ME ON THE COVER,
00:38:58.002 --> 00:39:00.805
AND SOMEONE HIGH UP
IN THE MAGAZINE SAID
00:39:00.871 --> 00:39:05.676
IF IT DIDN'T SELL
THE PERSON WHO SIGNED
IT OFF WOULD BE FIRED.
00:39:15.352 --> 00:39:19.056
"CHICA DA SILVA"
BROUGHT ME INTO ACTIVISM.
00:39:19.123 --> 00:39:23.461
I'M AN ACTIVIST,
A FERVENT ACTIVIST
FOR THE BLACK MOVEMENT.
00:39:26.597 --> 00:39:30.835
I TRAVELED
TO 16 COUNTRIES
PROMOTING THE FILM,
00:39:30.901 --> 00:39:36.006
INCLUDING THE U.S.,
AND WHEN I GOT BACK,
I BEGAN TO THINK,
00:39:36.073 --> 00:39:39.643
"WHERE IS EVERYBODY?"
00:39:39.710 --> 00:39:43.214
THERE WERE SO FEW
BLACK ACTORS IN THE MEDIA.
00:39:43.280 --> 00:39:46.751
I THINK THE COUNTRY HAS
A DEBT TO BLACK PEOPLE
00:39:46.817 --> 00:39:49.920
AND NEEDS TO BE CORRECTED
SO THAT BRAZIL CAN
00:39:49.987 --> 00:39:52.623
REHABILITATE ITSELF
FOR BLACKS.
00:40:00.030 --> 00:40:02.500
Gates: WHEN YOU LOOK AROUND
THE WEALTHIER PARTS OF RIO,
00:40:02.566 --> 00:40:07.171
YOU CAN'T HELP BUT WONDER
IF ANYTHING REALLY HAS CHANGED.
00:40:07.238 --> 00:40:09.206
VERY FEW BLACK FACES HERE.
00:40:12.610 --> 00:40:16.013
AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE COVERS
OF MAGAZINES AT ANY NEWSSTAND,
00:40:16.080 --> 00:40:21.952
YOU NOTICE THE SAME PREJUDICE
EXPERIENCED BY ZEZÉ MOTTA.
00:40:22.019 --> 00:40:26.624
YOU'D NEVER KNOW THAT
THIS NEWSSTAND WAS IN BRAZIL.
00:40:30.561 --> 00:40:34.398
NOTHING BUT WHITE WOMEN
ON THE COVER OF THESE MAGAZINES.
00:40:49.446 --> 00:40:52.283
YOU FEEL THE PRESENCE
OF AFRO-BRAZILIANS MOST
00:40:52.349 --> 00:40:54.819
IN THE POOREST NEIGHBORHOODS
IN RIO.
00:41:00.291 --> 00:41:02.126
I'VE COME TO THE CITY OF GOD,
00:41:02.193 --> 00:41:04.795
ONE OF RIO'S
MOST INFAMOUS FAVELAS,
00:41:04.862 --> 00:41:07.598
TO SEE WHAT LIFE IS REALLY LIKE
FOR FAR TOO MANY
00:41:07.665 --> 00:41:11.735
OF BRAZIL'S 75 MILLION PEOPLE
OF AFRICAN DESCENT.
00:41:20.010 --> 00:41:21.679
ADEUS.
00:41:21.745 --> 00:41:23.581
MV BILL SHOULD KNOW.
00:41:23.647 --> 00:41:27.017
HE'S LIVED HERE ALL HIS LIFE.
00:41:27.084 --> 00:41:29.386
HE'S BRAZIL'S
MOST FAMOUS RAPPER.
00:41:35.159 --> 00:41:36.393
WHY DO YOU LIVE HERE?
00:41:36.460 --> 00:41:39.096
IN AMERICA, HIP-HOP STARS,
SOON AS THEY CAN,
00:41:39.163 --> 00:41:40.831
THEY MOVE
TO BEVERLY HILLS.
00:41:40.898 --> 00:41:43.300
HA HA HA!
00:41:43.367 --> 00:41:45.102
THEY SAY,
"CITY OF GOD, BYE-BYE."
00:41:45.169 --> 00:41:48.405
HA HA HA!
00:41:48.472 --> 00:41:50.007
[SPEAKS PORTUGUESE]
00:41:50.074 --> 00:41:52.543
Translator: I DON'T
CONDEMN THOSE
WHO MAKE MONEY,
00:41:52.610 --> 00:41:55.412
LEAVE THE GHETTO,
AND GO TO LIVE
SOMEWHERE ELSE,
00:41:55.479 --> 00:41:57.314
BUT MY THING
WITH THE CITY OF GOD
00:41:57.381 --> 00:42:00.718
IS DIFFERENT.
00:42:00.784 --> 00:42:03.220
LIVING HERE IS PART
OF MY IDENTITY.
00:42:05.489 --> 00:42:06.924
MM-HMM.
00:42:06.991 --> 00:42:09.460
IS EVERYBODY HERE BLACK?
00:42:09.526 --> 00:42:11.662
THE MAJORITY.
00:42:11.729 --> 00:42:12.863
THE MAJORITY, YEAH.
00:42:12.930 --> 00:42:14.965
THE CITY OF GOD IS
CONSIDERED ONE
00:42:15.032 --> 00:42:18.435
OF THE BLACKEST
NEIGHBORHOODS
IN RIO DE JANEIRO,
00:42:18.502 --> 00:42:20.804
BUT EVEN HERE
IN A BLACK NEIGHBORHOOD,
00:42:20.871 --> 00:42:23.540
IT IS A SMALLER POPULATION
OF LIGHTER PEOPLE
00:42:23.607 --> 00:42:26.644
WHO HAVE THE BEST
OPPORTUNITIES IN LIFE.
00:42:26.710 --> 00:42:29.780
IN BRAZIL, WE ARE NOT
ALLOWED TO TALK ABOUT THIS.
00:42:29.847 --> 00:42:33.317
WE HAVE TO LIVE
IN A RACIAL DEMOCRACY
THAT DOESN'T EXIST.
00:42:33.384 --> 00:42:37.922
THERE IS NO EQUALITY.
00:42:37.988 --> 00:42:40.424
WHEN I LANDED
IN BRAZIL,
00:42:40.491 --> 00:42:43.460
I FIRST WENT
TO BAHIA,
00:42:43.527 --> 00:42:47.498
AND I THOUGHT,
"THIS BRAZIL IS A LAND
OF THE BROWN PEOPLE."
00:42:47.564 --> 00:42:48.666
UH-HUH.
00:42:48.732 --> 00:42:52.236
BUT WHEN I GO
TO HOTELS, RESTAURANTS,
00:42:52.303 --> 00:42:57.141
LOOK AT MAGAZINE
NO BLACK PEOPLE. HA HA HA!
00:42:57.207 --> 00:42:58.776
ME. I'M THE ONLY
BLACK ONE.
00:42:58.842 --> 00:43:00.477
WHEN I GOT TO THE HOTELS,
I LOOK LIKE--
00:43:00.544 --> 00:43:03.814
YOU, BECAUSE OF YOUR
SOCIAL STANDING,
00:43:03.881 --> 00:43:07.718
BECAUSE OF THE PLACES
YOU ARE ABLE TO VISIT
IN BAHIA,
00:43:07.785 --> 00:43:11.522
THERE WILL BE MANY
PLACES WHERE YOU WILL BE
THE ONLY BLACK MAN,
00:43:11.588 --> 00:43:13.857
AND YOU COULD STILL
BE BADLY TREATED.
00:43:13.924 --> 00:43:16.427
SO HAVE YOU BEEN
TREATED BAD?
00:43:16.493 --> 00:43:20.764
MANY TIMES
BEFORE, DURING,
AND AFTER FAME.
00:43:20.831 --> 00:43:23.701
WHY IS BRAZIL
SO RACIST
00:43:23.767 --> 00:43:29.773
WHEN IT'S THE SECOND LARGEST
BLACK NATION IN THE WORLD
AFTER NIGERIA?
00:43:29.840 --> 00:43:33.243
BRAZIL WAS ONE
OF THE LAST COUNTRIES
TO ABOLISH SLAVERY.
00:43:37.948 --> 00:43:39.883
AND SINCE THEN,
WE HAVE LIVED
00:43:39.950 --> 00:43:43.354
UNDER THE MYTH
OF A RACIAL DEMOCRACY,
00:43:43.420 --> 00:43:47.024
BUT THIS DEMOCRACY
IS EXPOSED AS A LIE
WHEN WE LOOK
00:43:47.091 --> 00:43:50.394
AT THE COLOR
OF THE PEOPLE
WHO LIVE IN FAVELAS,
00:43:50.461 --> 00:43:52.930
THE COLOR OF THE PEOPLE
WHO ARE IN PRISON,
00:43:52.997 --> 00:43:57.501
THE COLOR OF MOST
OF THE PEOPLE
WHO LIVE FROM CRIME.
00:43:57.568 --> 00:44:00.004
PEOPLE WILL TELL YOU
THAT OUR PROBLEM
IN BRAZIL
00:44:00.070 --> 00:44:03.273
IS AN ECONOMIC PROBLEM,
A SOCIAL PROBLEM,
00:44:03.340 --> 00:44:05.743
ANYTHING EXCEPT RACIAL.
00:44:05.809 --> 00:44:09.313
IT CAN NEVER BE RACIAL,
BUT IT IS.
00:44:12.750 --> 00:44:15.652
Gates, voice-over:
LISTENING TO MV BILL
MAKES ME SEE BRAZIL
00:44:15.719 --> 00:44:20.190
IN A RADICALLY DIFFERENT WAY.
00:44:20.257 --> 00:44:22.826
BRAZIL NEVER HAD
FORMAL SEGREGATION,
00:44:22.893 --> 00:44:27.798
AND ANY FORM OF OFFICIAL RACISM
WAS MADE ILLEGAL 70 YEARS AGO...
00:44:30.901 --> 00:44:35.239
BUT IT ALSO HAS NEVER HAD
A MASSIVE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.
00:44:35.305 --> 00:44:38.375
COULD IT BE THAT THE ILLUSION
OF RACIAL DEMOCRACY PREVENTED
00:44:38.442 --> 00:44:41.645
SUCH A MOVEMENT FROM DEVELOPING?
00:44:41.712 --> 00:44:46.350
WAS RACIAL DEMOCRACY
EVER ANYTHING MORE
THAN OFFICIAL PROPAGANDA
00:44:46.417 --> 00:44:51.955
INTENDED TO KEEP BLACK PEOPLE
IN THEIR PLACE?
00:44:52.022 --> 00:44:55.759
I'VE COME TO ASK A MAN
WHO HAS BEEN FIGHTING
FOR BLACK RIGHTS
00:44:55.826 --> 00:44:59.496
FOR 3/4 OF A CENTURY.
00:44:59.563 --> 00:45:05.436
AGE 96, ABDIAS NASCIMENTO
IS A WRITER, A PAINTER,
00:45:05.502 --> 00:45:08.272
A PROFESSOR,
AND WAS ONCE A SENATOR.
00:45:08.338 --> 00:45:12.443
HE'S BRAZIL'S GREATEST
BLACK ACTIVIST AND INTELLECTUAL.
00:45:12.509 --> 00:45:14.111
WHAT AN HONOR.
THANK YOU.
00:45:14.178 --> 00:45:16.113
THANK YOU SO MUCH
FOR SEEING ME.
00:45:18.482 --> 00:45:20.851
I'VE WANTED TO ASK YOU
FOR A LONG TIME
00:45:20.918 --> 00:45:23.620
HAS BRAZIL EVER TRULY
HAD RACIAL DEMOCRACY
00:45:23.687 --> 00:45:26.623
LIKE IT HAS ALWAYS
CLAIMED TO BE
00:45:26.690 --> 00:45:29.226
AND IF IT'S
A RACIAL DEMOCRACY TODAY?
00:45:29.293 --> 00:45:30.727
[SPEAKING PORTUGUESE]
00:45:30.794 --> 00:45:32.129
Translator:
THIS IS A JOKE
00:45:32.196 --> 00:45:34.131
WHICH HAS BEEN BUILT UP
SINCE BRAZIL
00:45:34.198 --> 00:45:36.934
WAS DISCOVERED,
AND BRAZIL LIKES
00:45:37.000 --> 00:45:41.805
TO SPREAD THIS
AROUND THE WORLD.
00:45:41.872 --> 00:45:46.677
IT'S A HUGE LIE,
AND THE BLACK PEOPLE
KNOW THIS.
00:45:46.743 --> 00:45:50.247
THE BLACK PEOPLE FEEL
IN THEIR FLESH THE LIE
00:45:50.314 --> 00:45:53.750
WHICH IS
RACIAL DEMOCRACY
IN THIS COUNTRY.
00:45:53.817 --> 00:45:56.820
YOU JUST HAVE TO LOOK
AT A BLACK FAMILY--
00:45:56.887 --> 00:45:58.355
WHERE DO THEY LIVE?
00:45:58.422 --> 00:46:02.292
TO THE BLACK CHILDREN--
HOW ARE THEY EDUCATED?
00:46:02.359 --> 00:46:07.498
YOU WILL SEE THAT IT'S
ALL A LIE.
00:46:07.564 --> 00:46:12.069
YOU MUST UNDERSTAND
THAT I AM SAYING THIS
WITH PROFOUND HATRED,
00:46:12.136 --> 00:46:19.576
PROFOUND BITTERNESS
OF THE WAY BLACK PEOPLE
ARE TREATED IN BRAZIL
00:46:19.643 --> 00:46:22.479
BECAUSE IT'S SHAMEFUL
THAT A COUNTRY
00:46:22.546 --> 00:46:26.783
WHICH HAS A MAJORITY
OF BLACKS,
00:46:26.850 --> 00:46:29.286
A MAJORITY WHO BUILT
THIS COUNTRY
00:46:29.353 --> 00:46:31.922
SHOULD REMAIN
UP TO THIS DAY
00:46:31.989 --> 00:46:34.758
AS SECOND-CLASS
CITIZENS.
00:46:38.195 --> 00:46:39.596
ARE YOU OPTIMISTIC
ABOUT THE FUTURE
00:46:39.663 --> 00:46:43.333
OF RACE RELATIONS
IN BRAZIL?
00:46:43.400 --> 00:46:45.269
IF I WEREN'T
AN OPTIMIST,
00:46:45.335 --> 00:46:49.206
I'D HAVE KILLED MYSELF.
00:46:49.273 --> 00:46:52.843
THIS ACTION
IS SO REPETITIVE,
00:46:52.910 --> 00:46:58.815
THIS THING THAT HAS
BEEN GOING ON
FOR 500 YEARS.
00:46:58.882 --> 00:47:01.251
SO IF I WEREN'T
AN OPTIMIST,
00:47:01.318 --> 00:47:03.854
I WOULD HAVE
HUNG MYSELF.
00:47:14.398 --> 00:47:15.799
Gates: THE HOPES
OF AFRO-BRAZILIANS
00:47:15.866 --> 00:47:20.103
FOR PROFOUND CHANGES
IN RACE RELATIONS REST IN PART
00:47:20.170 --> 00:47:22.739
WITH THE COUNTRY'S UNIVERSITIES.
00:47:22.806 --> 00:47:26.977
IN 2003, THE STATE UNIVERSITY
OF RIO DE JANEIRO BECAME
00:47:27.044 --> 00:47:30.280
THE FIRST EDUCATIONAL
INSTITUTION IN THE COUNTRY
00:47:30.347 --> 00:47:35.686
TO INTRODUCE BRAZIL'S VERSION
OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION.
00:47:35.752 --> 00:47:38.655
IT DECLARED THAT 20%
OF ITS PLACES WOULD BE
00:47:38.722 --> 00:47:40.857
SET ASIDE FOR BLACK STUDENTS.
00:48:10.520 --> 00:48:14.057
OTHER PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES
HAVE ALSO ADOPTED
THE QUOTA SYSTEM,
00:48:14.124 --> 00:48:16.426
SOME AT EVEN HIGHER PROPORTIONS,
00:48:16.493 --> 00:48:21.565
UP TO 40% FOR POOR
AND BLACK APPLICANTS.
00:48:21.632 --> 00:48:24.768
GUARANTEEING A SET NUMBER
OF PLACES FOR BLACK STUDENTS
00:48:24.835 --> 00:48:27.304
IS STILL HIGHLY CONTROVERSIAL.
00:49:14.484 --> 00:49:18.322
CRITICS SAY AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
ONLY INCREASES RACIAL TENSION
00:49:18.388 --> 00:49:21.792
BY FORCING BRAZILIANS
TO ASSERT THEIR RACIAL IDENTITY
00:49:21.858 --> 00:49:25.996
IN A COUNTRY WHERE COLOR
IS SUPPOSED TO BE IRRELEVANT,
00:49:26.063 --> 00:49:29.700
BUT SUPPORTERS SAY IT'S
THE ONLY WAY BLACK BRAZILIANS
00:49:29.766 --> 00:49:33.403
WILL EVER BECOME LAWYERS,
DOCTORS, AND PROFESSORS
00:49:33.470 --> 00:49:36.606
IN PROPORTION TO THEIR
PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATION
00:49:36.673 --> 00:49:39.543
AND THIS WILL BE THE FIRST STEP
ON THE LONG ROAD
00:49:39.609 --> 00:49:42.179
TO TRUE SOCIAL EQUALITY.
00:49:42.245 --> 00:49:44.381
THE CLASS FROM 1966
AT YALE UNIVERSITY
00:49:44.448 --> 00:49:46.717
HAD 6 BLACK MEN TO GRADUATE.
00:49:46.783 --> 00:49:51.955
THE CLASS THAT ENTERED
WITH ME 3 YEARS LATER HAD
96 BLACK MEN AND WOMEN,
00:49:52.022 --> 00:49:53.790
ALL BECAUSE
OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION.
00:49:53.857 --> 00:49:57.160
WITHOUT AFFIRMATIVE ACTION,
I WOULD NEVER HAVE GONE TO YALE.
00:49:57.227 --> 00:50:00.731
WITHOUT AFFIRMATIVE ACTION,
BARACK OBAMA WOULDN'T HAVE
GOTTEN INTO COLUMBIA
00:50:00.797 --> 00:50:04.000
AND WOULDN'T HAVE GOTTEN
INTO HARVARD LAW SCHOOL.
00:50:04.067 --> 00:50:10.207
BRAZIL'S ONLY HOPE
FOR ACHIEVING ITS VISION
OF RACIAL DEMOCRACY
00:50:10.273 --> 00:50:13.744
IS THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION
OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION.
00:50:29.526 --> 00:50:32.462
FOR DECADES, BRAZIL HAS LIVED
WITH THE MYTH
00:50:32.529 --> 00:50:35.399
THAT IT WAS A RACIAL PARADISE.
00:50:35.465 --> 00:50:37.467
BLACK BRAZILIANS WERE TOLD
THAT THERE WAS NO NEED
00:50:37.534 --> 00:50:44.207
TO DEMAND EQUAL RIGHTS
BECAUSE OFFICIALLY
RACISM DIDN'T EXIST,
00:50:44.274 --> 00:50:47.911
BUT IT TAKES MORE
THAN THE REPETITION
OF A COLORFUL PHRASE
00:50:47.978 --> 00:50:52.315
TO WIPE OUT THE LEGACY
OF ALMOST 500 YEARS OF SLAVERY
00:50:52.382 --> 00:50:55.285
AND A CENTURY
OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION.
00:51:03.059 --> 00:51:08.331
BY FINALLY ACKNOWLEDGING
THAT RACISM DOES EXIST
AND ALWAYS HAS,
00:51:08.398 --> 00:51:14.971
BRAZIL IS FINALLY EMBARKING
ON THE ROAD TO ACHIEVING
GENUINE RACIAL DEMOCRACY.
00:51:19.976 --> 00:51:22.212
ON MY JOURNEY THROUGH BRAZIL,
I WANTED TO SEE
00:51:22.279 --> 00:51:25.182
HOW RACIALLY MIXED
THIS COUNTRY TRULY IS,
00:51:25.248 --> 00:51:29.219
SO I ASKED EACH
OF MY INTERVIEWEES
TO TAKE A DNA TEST,
00:51:29.286 --> 00:51:32.789
WHICH WOULD MEASURE
THEIR RACIAL ANCESTRY.
00:51:32.856 --> 00:51:34.825
IT'S NOT
A REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE,
00:51:34.891 --> 00:51:38.762
BUT THE RESULTS ARE
QUITE STRIKING.
00:51:38.829 --> 00:51:41.798
PROFESSOR JOÃO REIS
MIGHT LOOK WHITE,
00:51:41.865 --> 00:51:47.838
BUT IT TURNS OUT
THAT HE'S 10
Distributor: Pragda Films
Length: 60 minutes
Date: 2011
Genre: Expository
Language: English
Grade: Upper Elementary School, Middle School, High School, College, Adults
Color/BW:
Closed Captioning: Available
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