What is the Largest Ethnic Group in Brazil?
When considering what the largest ethnic group is in Brazil, it is important to distinguish between communal identity shaped by culture, politics, and history, and so-called 'racial' identity based on physical appearance and biological links. This distinction highlights the complex nature of ethnic identity in Brazil, where various factors influence how people self-identify and are identified by others.
Understanding Ethnicity in Brazil
No people, an ethnicity is not simply a euphemism for 'race' or 'appearance.' A more comprehensive understanding recognizes that an ethnicity, such as Brazilian, is a macro-ethnicity that has emerged from the amalgamation of various other ethnic groups. This process of blending has led to the formation of a large and diverse cultural tapestry rather than a highly multicultural society.
The Brazilian ethnicity is characterized by a vast variety of subdivisions across regional, class, and religious lines. Despite the genetic and phenotypic diversity, there is a high degree of linguistic uniformity, with over 98% of the population speaking the same language, Portuguese, practically without significant dialectal differences. Additionally, there is a relatively high level of internal socio-cultural similarity, with about 90% of the population identifying as Christian, and shared daily routines such as eating beans and rice for lunch, drinking beer, and visiting church on Sundays.
Geographic and Cultural Divisions
The cultural and social behaviors of Brazilians vary widely depending on the region they reside in. For example, a branco nordestino (a white person from the Northeast) may feel more connected to a negro nordestino (a black person from the Northeast) than to a branco sulista (a white person from the South). Similarly, preto gaúcho (a black person from the South) shares customs with branco gaúcho (a white person from the South): they both enjoy churrasco and chimarr?o. Paulistas (people from S?o Paulo), regardless of their ethnic background (East Asian, Arab, African, or European), enjoy pizza, lasagna, temaki, and sfiha, go to Carnaval, and drink caipirinhas at the bar.
Brazilians from the Northeast region celebrating their most important festival of the year, the June Parties (Festas Juninas) or St. John's festival (S?o Jo?o).
The Phenomenon of the Melting Pot
Unlike countries such as the United States, Canada, and Western European countries, where multiculturalism is more pronounced, Brazil has seen a significant trend of dilution and reciprocal change. This process has led to the weakening and vanishing of ethnic communities but has also seen the dominant community, the locals, evolve through the integration of aspects from various other communities. This integration has resulted in a more regional or socio-economic distinction rather than a clear ethnic one.
There are few true ethnic ghettos in Brazil. While it still happens, the general pattern is not one of different peoples living in harmony but rather a blurring of cultural and ethnic boundaries. In time, the newcomers become more Brazilian, and the Brazilians become more 'foreign' as they adopt and integrate elements from other cultures. In the end, the remnants of the ancestors' cultural and ethnic identity remain as mere curiosities or as an exotic veneer over a typically Brazilian core.
In the theoretical frame of a 'salad bowl vs. melting pot,' Americans often discuss this concept. Brazilians are probably the quintessential practical case of a melting pot, where different communities do not remain separated for too long to retain their distinctiveness.