PBS Review: Perceptions of Race

While we watched the PBS movie, there was many things that struck me about it. For one thing, I found it interesting about the different skin tones, and how most people who would be considered black in the US don't consider themselves black in Brazil. I felt like for the majority of the movie, I was noticing that it was depicting slavery in the US to slavery in Brazil, and looking at the positives and negatives. It was kind of shocking to me when I heard that Brazil has accepted their slavery period in a way that's much different from the United State's point of view. As a whole, the US doesn't condone its use of slaves and we have come to an agreement against it. Brazil still today has not come to grips with the fact that slavery and segregation of blacks is bad. 

I was able to locate an article about Brazil and how it views its black race.  

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5357842.stm

Most people tend to not even associate themselves as black, but somewhere in-between. The black population, though they make up almost 50% of the population, tend to be on the lower levels of the economic and social hierarchy that is Brazil. They are hoping to change that, but they have a long ride ahead of them. They are currently trying to pass a law to absolve the issues with race, but they were hoping that it wouldn't have to be this way. Although they showed in the film that this happens during carnival season that people appreciate their roots, they don't show what happens on a day-to-day basis in Brazil.

Also, I found it horrible that many black women in Brazil want to straighten their hair and erase their culture that comes with it. I believe everything about you, including curly hair, shows your ancestry and where you come from. I like how they have a week to celebrate their roots, but it shouldn't be just a week celebration, they should have parties more often and to be proud of where they come from.