Black in Brazil

Yesterday, I was having a conversation with some new friends (yayy!!!) and somehow the conversation drifted to my friend Rodrigo's race.  Recently, some people had claimed he was black. Now, Rodrigo, doesn't really look African to me; if I had seen him walking down the street in America, he would strike me as hispanic or maybe a mix of European and Native America descent.  He has hair that is closer to straight than kinky and even under the Carioca sun, his skin is still a couple shades lighter than Obama. Now after 5 semesters of liberal arts lectures and seminars at Princeton, I understand that "race [like everything] is a social construct."  But it is interesting to see it play out in a country the US already considers to be inhabited by "others".  When we think Brazilian, we don't think black or white; we think exotic latinos that are all that perfect shade of caramel.  In reality, though, Brazil is a racial country with real racial cleavages that often fall along regional and economic divisions.  Walking through a favela, I encounter many more kids and residents that share my color as opposed to the rather white-washed streets of Copacabana.  I have yet to say my two cents on this now because I want to take the time to truly understand the source of these trends and patterns before I cast my suspicions based on the black experience in the US.