Why is the United States so segregated?

[acer67]

As a black Brazilian Lawyer I find it very interesting how many in our country keeps denying the rampant racism that still exist in Brazil.

Even when you tell about Dilma's cabinet having just one black might be an indicative of how the government gives the example about a black face in top position for the other black brazilians. In this sense, it is completely different of what happens in the USA, which is an example for Blacks, since there there were only 400.000 slaves, whereas in Brazil there were 4.9 million.

But the argument in Brazil is always the same: there are not enough qualified black professionals to be appointed to higher positions. The same you will you see in Petrobras, Banco do Brasil, BNDES, all funded partly with public money, from blacks, whites, browns, asians, mulatos, that is to say, people from all walks of life.

Therefore, all who contribute to this country should have a fair share of positions in government, in public service and in the private sector.

The problem is that the bar is always set higher for blacks to get a job, while a white person will not need to have much credentials to be hired in Brazil, since meritocracy, brazilian-style, is bases in contacts, privilege, good-looks and a lot of deep-seated prejudice and resentment against any qualified black professional.

See the example of Fundação Estudar, which sees itself as a meritocratic foundation. Well, I have seen its website and I am rather appalled to notice that so far no genuine black student (dark skinned) has gotten a scholarship from that foundation.

As it calls itself a 'meritocratic foundation', one might think that the reason for no black to have gotten a scholarship from it is that blacks in Brazil has no merit at all, and just white students are driven, born to be leaders, smart and have merit.

Curiously, the son of the owner of Cosan, a blond millionarie by all accounts, was granted a scholarhip from Fundação Estudar. Someone who can pay for a place in Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford, Wharton, MIT, Columbia, all together if he wants.

This is a clear example of the Brazilian racism, a place where the best opportunities, best jobs, best research opportunities are given to the white kids, with the right contacts, born of privilege and who have always been told that they are great and will be successful by their peers.