"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.
