Not rooted or identified as a Brazilian martial art, Capoiera Angola is the foundation of which African-Brazilians adapted the rhythmic form of self-defense and offense called Capoiera. The indigineous Capoiera Angola is the mother/father of Brazil's Capoeira, which was formed when Africans from Central Africa were brought to South America in bondage. Capoeira Angola goes further.
"On questions of race, Brazil is enigmatic," [David Covin] says. "Brazil sees itself as a racial democracy, with opportunity for everyone. Yet the country portrays itself as white, and the bulk of the population of people of African descent is marginalized -- socially, politically and economically." Blacks are generally considered a majority of the Brazilian population, at least outside Brazil. The United Nations has estimated blacks make up as much as 73 percent of the population, compared to 12 percent in the United States. Brazil's official census, though, shows the black population at about 44 percent, a sign that Brazil's leadership and population place a premium on "whiteness," according to Covin.
African American Research Center, Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Notes:
188 p, Esboça a história de diversos gêneros de nossa cultura popular, antigas e novas manifestações, tais como: música caipira e sertaneja, circo, cordel, pastoril, Gilberto Freyre, Brasil-Portugal, uma definição de música popular, gosto musical, tecnologia, e uma profecia
The United States is a paragon of equal opportunity when compared with Brazil. Even though Brazilians in power have always asserted that the nation is a racial democracy, whites possess all the high status and wealth while blacks struggle for survival at the bottom. Brazilians insist that blacks do not suffer because of their color but because of their poverty. However, the socio-economic data is so racially skewed that the government has recognized the necessity for massive intervention.
