Diploma of Whiteness

A superbly researched analysis of the application of the whitening ideal, with all its contradictions, in the Rio de Janeiro schools during the interwar years.Thomas Skidmore, author of Black into White: Race and Nationality in Brazilian Thought By taking an innovative approach to the study of race and social policy, Jerry Dvila has written a rare book that shows how racial attitudes move from elite discourse into the real lives of real people. This approach combines with fascinating research and a narrative style that is compelling and often dramatic to make a first-rate contribution to the fields of Latin American and Brazilian history.Jeffrey Lesser, author of Negotiating National Identity: Immigrants, Minorities, and the Struggle for Ethnicity in Brazil "Diploma of Whiteness is more than a history of Brazilian education. It provides a brilliant lesson that in order to analyze critically any educational system (and/or structure), knowledge of its past can be illuminating. Similarly, this text can elucidate how and why race remains a hidden force to be reckoned with in societies that are not only multiethnic/cultural, but are, in fact, fundamentally multiracial. Finally, this study of social reforms proves that the real measure of policy effectiveness should be sought in the lives of people: the human face of change and social equality." -- Francis Musa Boakari * Comparative Education Review * "An illuminating contribution. . . . Diploma of Whiteness will be of special interest to those who study education, race, citizenship, and state building. It will make a fine addition to the books that are appropriate for upper-level undergraduate and graduate seminars on Brazilian and Latin American history." -- Peter M. Beattie * The Americas * "A noteworthy book precisely because it strives to tackle the thorny set of methodological, analytical, and political issues that have clouded an assessment of the historic relationship between race and social policy in Brazil." -- Seth Garfield * American Historical Review * "A timely work for current debates about affirmative action policies in Brazil, this study describes the long history of issues related to race, racism, and class in Brazil's education system. . . . Diploma of Whiteness is an interesting and clearly written book, appropriate for both graduate and undergraduate courses on Brazil and Latin America." -- Sarah Sarzynski * Hispanic American Historical Review * "Dvila has achieved an important and laudable goal: his book is very well documented, presenting new archival data." -- Antonio Srgio Alfredo Guimares * Journal of Latin American Studies *

Jerry Dvila is Assistant Professor of History at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.

Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1. Building the Brazilian Man 21 2. Educating Brazil 52 3. What Happened to Rios Teachers of Color? 90 4. Elementary Education 125 5. Escola Nova no Estado Novo: The New School in the New State 155 6. Behaving White: Rios Secondary Schools 192 Epilogue: The Enduring Brazilian Fascination with Race 233 List of Abbreviations 244 Notes 247 Bibliography 271 Index 287