babies: black and white

about a month ago in the ladies' toilets at work i got a sobering glimpse into some of the social inequities here in brasil...as i left the toilet stall to wash my hands at the basin, i saw two very pregnant women...one white manager....one black cleaner....and i was struck by how different the life opportunities of those two unborn children were going to be, based on the colours of their skin and solemn statistics...

white, black, yellow and red are the categories used to distinguish races in brazil...quite different from the more ethnic approach used in australia...but there is more than just skin pigment separating the two major racial groups in brazil - "the blacks" and "the whites"...

the black baby, his mother´s sixth, is twice as likely to be illiterate, nearly three times more likely to be homeless and on average (based on per capita income) will earn less than half as much income as the white baby...the Afro-descendant population of Brazil represent approximately 45% of the total population, but approximately 70% of them are living in poverty...and the gap between the rich and poor in this country is widening and even with loving parents, determination and talent it is still very difficult for poor black people to work their way up to higher, more stable income categories...(fortunately at least both babies were boys, so the odds of success for both are better than if they had been girls!)

it is disturbing to imagine these statistics applying to these innocent unborn children...but they do...even though both of them obviously deserve the same opportunities and chances for livelihoods, health and security...some my colleagues and i donated some gifts and necessities to our cleaner and her son, which was a nice gesture, but at the same time feels some what insignificant when one thinks of the massive sistemic and societal changes that are needed to change this picture and see two babies with different skin colours, but the same chances...but in the end, i guess it is always a battle which is won, one-by-one

* statistics based on IBGE data
** here is a link to an article in The Australian about how the average life expectancy for Aboriginal people in Australia has been improving, but is still 17 years less non-Aboriginal Australians