Residential Segregation by Skin Color: Brazil Revisited

This article examines residential segregation by skin color in forty of the largest metropolitan areas in Brazil, using census tract data from the 2010 Brazilian census. Residential dissimilarity among whites, browns, and blacks is moderate to low by US standards, and residential segregation correlates positively with socioeconomic status. By contrasting our findings with results from the 1980 Brazilian census, we observe that in thirty years, residential segregation decreased significantly in many metropolitan areas, particularly white-brown and brown-black dissimilarities. We speculate as to why these changes should have occurred. Resumo Este artigo examina a segregacao residencial por raca em quarenta das maiores areas metropolitanas do Brasil, usando dados do setor censitario do censo Brasileiro de 2010. A dissimilaridade residencial entre brancos, pardos e negros e moderada a baixa pelos padroes dos EUA, e a segregacao residencial se correlaciona positivamente com o status socioeconomico. Ao contrastar nossos resultados com o do censo Brasileiro de 1980, observamos que, em trinta anos, a segregacao residencial diminuiu significativamente em muitas areas metropolitanas, particularmente nas dissimilaridades branco-pardo e pardo-negro. Especulamos os motivos pela qual essas mudancas ocorreram.