Who are the Whites?: Imposed Census Categories and the Racial Demography of Brazil

Abstract

This article presents the results of an experiment carried out in Brazil to test the consequences of ignoring or overriding the distinctive features of the cognitive system by which Brazilians express their “race-color” identities.{su1} The experiment consisted of substituting a salient vernacular term (morena) for the seldom-used term (parda) that the Brazilian census offers as self-identification for a person who has both black and white color-race features. When morena is offered in a split census, the proportion of respondents who self-identify as being of mixed color-race substantially increases while the proportion identifying as white or black substantially declines. These findings expose the error of imposing upon the rest of the hemisphere rigid dichotomous (white/non-white) or trichotomous (white/mixed/black) categories deemed appropriate for establishing racial identity in the U.S.