Is Racial Classification Consistent? Analyzing Self- and Third Person Declaration among 15-59 Year Old Females in Two Brazilian Cities

Paula Miranda-Ribeiro, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Andre J. Caetano, Centro de Desenvolvimento e Planejamento Regional (CEDEPLAR)

The objective of this paper is to compare two forms of racial classification -- self-classification and interviewer classification -- among 15-59 year-old females who declared themselves white, brown, or black in Belo Horizonte and Recife, two large cities in two different regions of Brazil. Data come from SRSR (Reproductive Health, Sexuality, and Race), a survey conducted under the authors’ supervision in 2002 and representative of the two cities, where 2.408 females 15-59 years-old were interviewed. Descriptive results present some characteristics of the four groups under study: (1) females who, under both forms of classifications, are consistently white; (2) those who are consistently brown or black (so-called negras); (4) those who declare themselves brown or black but are classified by the interviewer as white; and (4) those who see themselves as white but were perceived by the interviewer as brown or black. Multinomial logistic analysis compare the four groups of females.