Race and Politics

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - Many Brazilians cast their country as a racial democracy where people of different groups have long intermarried, resulting in a large mixed-race population. But you need only turn on the TV, open the newspaper, or stroll down the street to see clear evidence of segregation.

In Brazil, whites are at the top of the social pyramid, dominating professions of wealth, prestige, and power. Dark-skinned people are at the bottom of the heap, left to clean up after others, take care of their children, and the elderly.