Essay Sample on Poverty in Brazil

Introduction

From a historical point of view, one of the countries that have had the highest level of inequality in the world since in the year 1989 the Gini coefficient of the country was at 0.63, where only Sierra Leone was the country that had a higher coefficient (Gradin, 2009). Within Latin America, this index ranks the country at first position, something that Brazilians should not be proud of in any given context. However, more statistics collected in the later years have revealed that the levels of poverty have reduced in a significant way, and so did the levels of inequality. The positivity within the system could be attributed to the fact that the 90s saw an increase in public spending and at the same time a balance in educational attainment among the general population (da Silva, 2015). Besides that, the racial divide that existed in the previous years also decreased as evidenced by the fact that the income ratio between the Afro-Brazilians and the Whites reduced. However, these statistics did not hide the fact that racial division within the country was an epidemic that mainly affected people belonging to the minority ethnic groups, especially the Afro-Brazilians. In all the social indicators, they lagged behind considering that their levels of poverty were two times more than those experienced by the whites. From a study, the levels of income per capita that the afro-Brazilians received were 50 percent less than the ones the whites received, since the rates of unemployment among them was 35 percent more. Conclusive reports were indicative of the fact that if the same trend was carried on between the period of 2001 and 2012, attaining normal equality balance would take at least 41 years, provided all factors were held constant. Otherwise, the time for handling the same would take longer than that (da Silva, 2015). Therefore, it is clear that there are various reasons as to why Afro-Brazilians have remained poor for a long time, despite slavery being abolished more than 200 years ago.

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One of the major reasons as to why the Afro-Brazilians receive a lower income could be connected to the fact that most of them have a lower attainment level of education, as only a few manage to the get the quality education that the whites get. Studies related to the same depicted that 28 percent of the whites had some form of tertiary education, as compared to a lower percentage of 13 among the Afro-Brazilians. Even when comparing those who have an education higher than that of high school in terms of salary earning, men Afro-Brazilians get 70 percent, while women get 40 percent of what their male and female counterparts earn respectively. The major determinant in the gap created among these groups of people in terms of salary earned could be attributed to the high levels of discrimination experienced within the country (da Silva, 2015).

The existence of slavery for more than three centuries has enabled the country to have the second largest population of people with a descent that is from Africa, as the only country that has more is Nigeria, which is a country from Africa. From that analysis, it is clear that the country had many slaves back in the day, especially those who did not make it to the United States from the western part of African (Freire, 2013). In that case, Brazil is the leading nation when dealing with countries that are not within Africa. By the end of the year 2005, the total population of Afro-Brazilians within Brazil was almost 12 million, while that of the Colored people was at 80 million, compared to a total population of 185 million. Despite the fact that slavery was abolished in the year 1888, the end of the era ushered in a legacy of social segregation at the expense of the Afro-Brazilians, especially since most of them belong to groups of persons that are socially disadvantaged. According to a survey called the Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicilios, a third of all the Afro-Brazilians lived in houses that were deemed to be poor, as their income was less than half of the median average of the nation (Gradin, 2009). That is more than double the percentage of the Whites within the same group, as they only constitute 12 percent of their total population.

From the demographics of the colored people in the country, one of the other reasons as to why they are socially disadvantaged could be from the fact that majority of them live in the northern part of the country where it is considered as a poor region. At the same time, the region is also regarded as being mostly rural, with many families having an average of six children. It is for that reason why many of them drop out of school during the early stages, hence getting jobs that attract salaries that are very low. The experiences that those who succeed in school go through make them become less skillful when compared to their white counterparts, and that could be the major reason as to why they also earn less in terms of salary. The levels of illiteracy are two times more for the Afro-Brazilians than that of the whites, and the rates are higher when looking at the northern region. Considering that the public school system is highly underfunded and that the private schools are very expensive, most of them do not have a choice than stay with the little education they attain on a basic level (Luebker, 2014). Therefore, most of them end up doing menial jobs that are mainly associated with domestic work, especially the women, as more than 80 percent of them do work that is mainly manual, including washing and cleaning clothes and houses, ironing, or cooking.

A lack of access to many educational resources that would aid in the generation of income implies that most people in the northern region of the state inherit poverty-related problems from one generation to the other. Besides that, the fact that many parents lack the ability to generate more income for their families implies that children are also forced into getting jobs so that they would also take part in contributing towards the income of the family. It is crucial to note that as they get jobs, they are doing so at the expense of their studies, and that is why many of them do not perform well academically. In some cases, when the children fail to get low paying decent jobs, they mainly engage themselves in dangerous jobs that are mainly criminal in nature. As a result, such people would never get out of poverty as crime is a life that never gets one to generate income for a lifetime (Luebker, 2014).

Political power is also something that people can use when they want to regain the status quo that was established as a system during the colonization period where the Portuguese were present. The challenge for the Afro-Brazilians is that they find it very hard mainly because of the lack of economic power and quality education. The fact that they cannot gain political positions implies that it is also difficult for them to make improvements in terms of their social status within the society. Various studies have indicated that women are the most likely to inflict change when in positions of leadership more than how men can do the same. However, with the case of the Afro-Brazilians, the levels of discrimination are not only high against them but also higher when focusing on women specifically. The discriminatory structure can best be changed with political power, and the few who attain these positions lack the humanity to effect these transformations (da Silva, 2015). The common perception was that women and Afro-Brazilians, in general, were people who were not suitable to hold any serious positions based on them also being irrational. This stereotype has acted the greatest in terms of creating a barrier against many Afro-Brazilians from taking part in successful politics for a very long time. Besides that, there is also the undoing of the Afro-Brazilians themselves where it is very common that they do not support each other. It should be noted that the population of the colored people in the country is almost half of the total population, and if they decide to support one of theirs into a powerful political position, it would be easier for them to emerge victoriously. However, from a historical point of view, Afro-Brazilians do not always support their own (Luebker, 2014).

Conclusion

In conclusion, based on the various factors pointed out, it is clear that the levels of poverty among the Afro-Brazilians may not improve any time Sooners, for as long as ethnic discrimination remains prevalent among the people. From the same, colored Brazilians have faced many challenges that have placed them at the lower side of the status quo. The fact that they do not get a quality education and at the same time lack proper ways of generating sufficient funds as income, many of them that belong to the ethnic group have remained poor for a long period, and the trend appears that it will remain so for a long time in the future.

References

da Silva, A. (2015). Voicing Race and Antiracism. Journal Of Anthropological Research, 71(1), 49-68. doi: 10.3998/jar.0521004.0071.103

Freire, P. (2013). Pedagogy of the oppressed (30th ed.). Continuum.

Gradin, C. (2009). Why is Poverty So High Among Afro-Brazilians? A Decomposition Analysis of the Racial Poverty Gap. Journal Of Development Studies, 45(9), 1426-1452. doi: 10.1080/00220380902890235

Luebker, M. (2014). Income Inequality, Redistribution, and Poverty: Contrasting Rational Choice and Behavioral Perspectives in Brazil. Review Of Income And Wealth, 60(1), 133-154. doi: 10.1111/roiw.12100