How Common Is This In Brazil ?

Question

My cousin's Brazilian fiancee told her that on his birth certificate it says Branco while on his sister's birth certificate it says Pardo because she has darker skin than him. So how common is it in Brazil for a brother and sister to be classified as a completely different race from each other ?

Answer 1

That's kind of uncommon. I'm from the USA but my friend lives in Brazil and he told me that a few people in Brazil have been classified as two different races but it is VERY UNCOMMON.

Answer 2

It's pretty common practice.

Answer 3

my boyfriend is brazilian....and from what he's said, people tag your race by the color of your skin.  so....perhaps if his sister was classified as Pardo, it's because yes, she had the appearance of darker skin.  i've also done some cultural research on this matter, and i've read many times that brazilians define race by the color...and not the blood.  so, if a very light skinned person was of native african decent, they would still say he/she was white.  that is the way i understand it to be.

Answer 4

This is normal.  I am Brazilian and have 4 children.  When applying for the birth certificate the clerk asks the parent what he want to classify the child as.  Therefore is is not uncommon to have inconsistencies in this portion of the birth certificate between siblings.

Answer 5

Normal, really normal. just to you get a idea, in Brazilian census you classify yourself with the colour that you want. you can be white as a paper and say you are black, the interviewer will write black.

www.whl.travel

Answer 6

This is weird, but not so uncommon. I also have cousins on the same situation on birth record.

Answer 7

I think that is not so uncommon as the other answers stated. A friend of mine (German white guy) married a Brazilian (with a darker skin), when their baby was born, the registrant wanted to classify the baby as Pardo, but as my friend complained he ended up classifying her as White. That shows me that it's not such serious process, meaning that they won't check the parent's birth certificate and then classify the baby's collor skin. They just write what they feel like or what they think is correct. I hope it helped... Cheers

Answer 8

This is common.  I have a friend whose mother is black and father white. She has dark eyes and black hair. Her brother is blonde blue yes. Brazil is just like that my friend. By the way you should go visit!

Answer 9

Very common. Brazilian are mix-races (not all), there are many people in Brazil with white skin, but DNA are majority black and black skin whith majority white DNA.

See this link, there are some examples:

Answer 10

very very common.

my sister and i are very close in skin tone but they classify us as being different races but she is a bit whiter.

hey `cat boy´ your wrong buddy.

Answer 11

they are not from different races.both are mixed.the certificate refers only to their skin color that is different on one and other.it doesn`t refer to their ethnicities at all.