States. The concept of racial democracy had at one point received such widespread acceptance that it was regarded as an essential component of Brazilian national identity. Brazilians distinguished themselves as unique for having achieved a level of racial tolerance that few other societies had attained. The origin of the term racial democracy remains unclear. António Sérgio Guimarães, a Professor at the University of São Paulo, suggests that its usage goes back to the 1940s, when the Brazilian anthropologist Arthur Ramos and the French sociologist Roger Bastide employed the term to link this pattern of race relations to Brazil’s postwar democracy, which began to emerge at the end of the dictatorship of Getúlio Vargas (1937–1945). However, the concept is more generally associated with the work of Gilberto Freyre (1900–1987), who proposed the idea in the 1930s in a daring departure from the scientific racist thinking that had prevailed within Brazilian intellectual circles since the beginning of the 20th century. Freyre stood the scientific racist thinking of the day on its head by arguing that Brazil’s pervasive mixing of the races was not a factor in Brazil’s failure to develop, but instead was testament to the achievements of a Brazilian civilization that had encouraged a pattern of tolerant race relations that was unique in the world. Freyre urged Brazilians to take pride in this, as well as in the displays of Afro-Brazilian culture that were prevalent throughout Brazil. https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/racial-democracy-brazil.
5See the report by the Organization of American States in IACHR, The Situation of People of African descent in the Americas, OEA/Ser.L/V/II, Doc. 62, 5 December 2011, p. 76. In Human Rights in Latin America: The Case of Women and People of African Descent Robert Owoo http://www.e-ir.info/2016/07/19/human-rights-in-latin-america-the-case-of-women-and-people-of-african-descent.
6The Democratic Party claimed that this policy of the Universidade de Brasilia unconstitutional under Article 5 of the Brazilian constitution which protects equality of all citizens regardless of race.
7The Tribunal claimed that the Brazilian policy is in accordance with Article 1 (a) and (b) which calls for implementing a national policy that promotes more equality in educational opportunities. Article 1 Section 4 on the Convention on Elimination of Racial Discrimination states race will not be the primary factor in determining access to higher education, but rather a factor taken into consideration, which complies with Article 13 Section 2 (c) of the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Brazilian policy enables the universities to serve the most vulnerable groups without discrimination.
8Brazil was the last country in the Americas to end slavery, and the Portuguese were the largest importers of slaves, bringing to Brazil 38% of the approximate 9,500,000 Africans forcibly transported to the Americas.
9Currently, they occupy about 10.38% of the seats.
10See http://lac.unwomen.org/en/noticias-y-eventos/articulos/2016/05/mujeres-brazil.
Index
A
Acao Educativa Organization, 209
Access to medicines, 115
Affirmative Action Program, 202
AIIB, 36
Apartheid, 131
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, 35
Atal Pension Yojana, 144
B
Bandhan Bank, 173
Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 148
Basic Savings Bank Deposit Accounts (BSBDAs), 146
Bernanke, Ben, 28
between-group inequality, 63–68, 70–71, 74–75
Bhartiya Mahila Bank, 161
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 167
biodiversity, 99
bipolarity, 84
bipolarization, 83
Black Economic Empowerment, 6, 9
Bolivia, 199
