Agier describes the history of Africans in Brazil starting with being forced into slavery. Ever since their introduction into the country they have been pushed to the bottom of society for their appearance and hardly anything else. The government began pushing the idea of “whiteness” as being the ideal and even heavily promoted Europeans to migrate to Brazil. There is a four tiered system on how racial separation is kept, these being:

1-Specific racial stereotypes

2-Belief that blacks are always on the bottom of social hierarchies with no power as a group

3-Avoidance of situations of conflict

4-Belief that it is not appropriate to discuss racism at in Brazil since the population is multiracial (Agier 1995: 251-251).

Afro Brazilians are still experiencing a modern day slavery where they have to behave according to the rules set forth from the indigenous population who were influenced by the arrival of the Europeans in the 18th century. Many Afro-Brazilians are living in extreme poverty, lacking a proper education, and fear for mistreatment. Unlike the United States where there are certain “qualifications” or “ requirements” that someone must meet in order to be considered black, Brazilians consider everyone who is non-white to be black. In Bahia blacks account for 80% of the population (Agier 1995:247). In 1824 almost half of the population were unfreed slaves. The master-slave relationship is still alive and reflected in the labor force. A French ambassador by the name of Joseph Arthur Gobineau was a proprietor of racism in 1869 who believed that the mixing of races would lead to racial degradation (Agier 1995: 249). The “Fable of the Three Races” written by Da Matta in 1987, solidified this concept by stating that indigenous groups were in one category with not much discussed on them; social inferiority was associated with negroid features that accompanied black skin; Europeans naturally possessed power (Agier 1995: 249). Other black stereotypes included ugliness, lying, dirty, and lack of responsibility (Agier 1995:250).