Is America Becoming Brazilianized In Race Relations?

Jan 8th Brazil, Jan 6 America

In producing this episode, my initial intention was was to compare Brazil’s January 8, 2023, insurrection to our own on January 6, 2021.

What my guest taught me instead is that while Brazil doesn’t have discriminatory racial laws, its deeply entrenched color bias divides the country. Although our own country no longer has discriminatory laws (at least ostensibly), will racism endure? I appreciate that racism and colorism are not necessarily the same thing. Regardless, the history of modern Brazil is highly instructive for us and relevant to Black History Month.

From favelas to beachfront properties. From democracies to dictatorships. From economic booms to busts. From Catholicism to evangelical Christianity. And from white to many shades of colors. In this episode, we cover Brazil’s modern history.

Brazil’s January 8th insurrection occurred two years and two days after our own January 6th insurrection. The similarities between these two events, including the mutual admiration of Messrs. Trump and Bolsanaro during their presidencies and after, only represent the tip of the iceberg here. In many ways that I had not appreciated, Brazil’s and America’s histories mirror each other. Of course, there are also significant differences.