Brazil Enacts Affirmative Action Law for Universities

[1] Brazil’s government has enacted one of the Western Hemisphere’s most sweeping affirmative action laws,

requiring public universities to reserve half of their admission spots for the largely poor students in the nation’s

public schools and vastly increase the number of university students of African descent across the country. The

law, signed Wednesday by President Dilma Rousseff, seeks to reverse the racial and income inequality that has

long characterized Brazil, a country with more people of African heritage than any nation outside of Africa.

Despite strides over the last decade in lifting millions out of poverty, Brazil remains one of the world’s most

unequal societies. “Brazil owes a historical debt to a huge part of its own population,” said Jorge Werthein, who

directs the Brazilian Center for Latin American Studies. “The democratization of higher education, which has

always been a dream for the most neglected students in public schools, is one way of paying this debt.” As in

the United States, affirmative action has stirred controversy and opposition here, even at some of the state

universities that are exempt from the new law and have their own programs to admit underprivileged students.

Critics contend that enforcing expansive quotas will undercut the quality of Brazil’s public university system,

given the nation’s relatively weak public elementary and secondary schools. “You don’t create capable and

creative people by decree,” said Leandro Tessler, institutional relations coordinator at the University of

Campinas. But while affirmative action has come under threat in the United States, it is taking deeper root in

Brazil, Latin America’s largest country. Though the new legislation, called the Law of Social Quotas, is expected

to face legal challenges, it drew broad support among lawmakers. Of Brazil’s 81 senators, only one voted

against the law this month.

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The very poor manage to have three meals a day when the national economy is in recession.

His movie happened to be opened at a time when it received one of the most prestigious cinema awards.

As his words turned out to be utterly false, his wife lost her temper.

She is more intelligent than any other student in South Korea.

She is more intelligent than all the other students in South Korea.

She is more intelligent than anyone else in South Korea.

His speech seems to be more persuasive than ever before.

The law, signed Wednesday by President Dilma Rousseff, seeks to reverse the racial and income inequality that

has long characterized Brazil, a country with more people of African heritage than any nation outside of Africa.

⑵동사 A to B 어법, 이유를 나타내는 관계대명사의 계속적 용법.

An autopsy eventually attributed the baby’s death to sudden infant death syndrome.

He owed his survival to his unwavering mental attitude and physical strength as a religious leader.

It is entirely unfair to impute blame to what your parents have done so far.

The professor, who has made strides in getting so many people out of poverty, is respected by everyone.

“Brazil owes a historical debt to a huge part of its own population,” said Jorge Werthein, who directs the

Brazilian Center for Latin American Studies. “The democratization of higher education, which has always been a

dream for the most neglected students in public schools, is one way of paying this debt.”

[2] Other spheres of government here have also supported affirmative action measures. In a closely watched

decision in April, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the racial quotas enacted in 2004 by the University of

Brasília, which reserved 20 percent of its spots for black and mixed-race students. Dozens of other Brazilian

universities, both public and private, have also adopted their own affirmative action policies in recent years,

trying to curb the dominance of such institutions by middle- and upper-middle-class students who were

educated at private elementary and secondary schools. Public universities in Brazil are largely free of charge

and generally of better quality, with some exceptions, than private universities. Still, some education experts

are already predicting a shift to the better private universities among some students. “With these quotas, these

rich Brazilians who took up their spots will not be abandoned,” argued Frei David Santos, 60, a Franciscan friar

in São Paulo who directs Educafro, an organization preparing black and low-income students for university

entrance exams. “Their parents who had money saved will spend it” on elite private universities. The Law of

Social Quotas takes the previous affirmative action policies to another level, giving Brazil’s 59 federal

universities just four years to ensure that half of the entering class comes from public schools. Luiza Bairros,

the minister in charge of Brazil’s Secretariat for Policies to Promote Racial Equality, said officials expected the

number of black students admitted to these universities to climb to 56,000 from 8,700. The law obligates

public universities to assign their spots in accordance with the racial makeup of each of Brazil’s 26 states and

the capital, Brasília. In states with large black or mixed-race populations, like Bahia in the northeast, that could

lead to a surge in black university students, while states in southern Brazil, which are largely white, could still

have relatively few black students in public universities.

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College students are faced with tough realities, spending a lot of time studying their major.

The rigid regulation against drunken driving has finally been adopted, putting a lot of pressure on some drivers.

Dozens of other Brazilian universities, both public and private, have also adopted their own affirmative action

policies in recent years, trying to curb the dominance of such institutions by middle- and upper-middle-class

students who were educated at private elementary and secondary schools.

The Law of Social Quotas takes the previous affirmative action policies to another level, giving Brazil’s 59

federal universities just four years to ensure that half of the entering class comes from public schools.

[3] The new law recognizes that Brazil has remained far from the ideal of “racial democracy” espoused by the

influential sociologist Gilberto Freyre, who argued that Brazil escaped much of the prejudice and discrimination

he witnessed while studying in the segregation-era United States. Brazil’s former president, Luiz Inácio Lula da

Silva, said in an interview that he was “completely in favor” of the quotas. “Try finding a black doctor, a black

dentist, a black bank manager, and you will encounter great difficulty,” Mr. da Silva said. “It’s important, at

least for a span of time, to guarantee that the blacks in Brazilian society can make up for lost time.” Brazil’s

2010 census showed that a slight majority of this nation’s 196 million people defined themselves as black or

mixed-race, a shift from previous decades during which most Brazilians called themselves white. Still, some

prominent Brazilians have expressed concern about the scope of the quotas. “It’s important to compensate

people, but the way to do that cannot be a copy of what has been done in one moment in the U.S.,” Fernando

Henrique Cardoso, Mr. da Silva’s predecessor as president, said in an interview. “I think it’s better to leave

more freedom for universities to show how to adjust.” Despite such reservations, Brazilian officials say the law

signifies an important shift in Brazil’s view on offering opportunities to big swaths of the population. “Brazil is

experiencing an extremely positive moment,” said Ms. Bairros, the minister promoting racial equality. “Next, we

will seek to extend this concept to other areas, like culture and jobs.”

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Hurry up, and you will catch the first train.

[=If you hurry up, you will catch the first train.]

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[=If you don’t hurry up, you will miss the first train.]

“Try finding a black doctor, a black dentist, a black bank manager, and you will encounter great difficulty,” Mr.

da Silva said.

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Brazil is the largest country in South America in which only a small number of South Koreans are to be found.

You had better respect him for his works to which he has devoted himself.

The president issued a statement in which he sent a harsh warning to those who might be involved in this

murder case.

Brazil’s 2010 census showed that a slight majority of this nation’s 196 million people defined themselves as

black or mixed-race, a shift from previous decades during which most Brazilians called themselves white.