Prejudice based on appearance ethnography and racial relations

Abstract

This paper analyses the notion of prejudice based on appearance developed by Oracy Nogueira for the understanding of Brazilian racism. Prejudice based on appearance indicates a form of social classification based on racial stereotypes which is at the same time a form of discrimination. As such, it implies a social system that permanently delays colored people's social opportunities, instead of segregating them as a different group. This kind of prejudice is compared to another one, the prejudice based on origin characteristic of northern-American society. The paper examines the intellectual context in which the notion was developed, emphasizing the presence of ethnographic tradition among the various influences which shaped the learning of social sciences at Escola Livre de Sociologia e Política (São Paulo), during the 1940's and the 1950's. It also emphasizes the originality and contemporariness of this notion, which suggests the vision of racism as a cultural system.