About who we are and what they say we are

what do the rituals of the Heteroidentification Commissions reveal?

Abstract

Among recent practices related to the implementation of affirmative action policies aimed at promoting racial equity is the establishment of Racial Heteroidentification Commissions. Such commissions were incorporated as a necessary regular step in different processes for access to public institutions and they play the role of validating the ethnic-racial belonging of a candidate and, consequently, his/her legitimacy for occupying a place destined for black groups, quilombolas or indigenous people. This work tried to answer the following question: what interferences are presented on the moment of the appraisal of racial belonging, promoted by the relevant commissions? To this end, a multidimensional methodological approach was used: at a first level, through document analysis, observation of the commissions’ procedures and observations produced from the participation in a preparatory course for commission members; and on a second level, with semi-structured interviews aimed at institutional agents involved in the appraisal process. From the observation of the model implemented at the graduate level at the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, we argue that the development of alterity triggered during the interviews ritualistically reproduces dynamics of power and conflict that i) reveal the existence of tension between the objectivity of procedures and the subjectivity of judgment; ii) bring up to date the discussion on the racial classification system, until then considered outdated for the debate on racial relations in Brazil.