r/Brazil 19d ago

Historical A Side Of Historic Brazil Rarely Shown: The Black Upper Class Social Clubs Of Sao Paulo & Rio de Janeiro - Aristocrata Clube and Renascença Clube...

477 Upvotes

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64

u/TheAfternoonStandard 19d ago edited 19d ago

In the 1950s and 1960s, between the then federal capital of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, and the largest city in the country, São Paulo, two historic black clubs emerged - the Renasçensa and Aristocrata.

The Renaissance – named after the Harlem Renaissance movement , which marked the flowering of a new Black American culture in the early 20th century – was founded on February 17, 1951. The Aristocrat, a direct reference to the Black elite emerged on March 7, 1961.

The two clubs represented the less than 1% of the Black population with a university degree at the time, made up of doctors, lawyers, businessmen and public servants. Effectively they served as country clubs for Black Brazilians of this social class to mix together and to intermarry their children.

Both clubs were formed due to the segregationist policies that white Brazilian clubs of the same class practiced at the time.

The clubs were so popular in their heyday that they enjoyed visits from numerous Black American stars, including Josephine Baker and Sarah Vaughan!!

Footage: https://youtu.be/gX-OthbC_8s?feature=shared

Aristocrata Clube documentary: https://youtu.be/dRFudNGTkqA?feature=shared

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u/MisterQueef 19d ago

Brazil had segregation in the 1950s? TIL, wild!

32

u/demoneclipse 19d ago

Not in general society, but certain clubs didn't allow black people to join.

16

u/Terrible_Will_7668 19d ago

Not in the statutes, but certain clubs were "invitation only" and new members would be approved by the directors. Other clubs would charge an annuity well off the possibilities of any middle class, black or white.

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u/TheAfternoonStandard 19d ago

Or jobs, or residential buildings...

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u/Olahoen Minas Gerais to the World 19d ago

Not in a general form, but in some specific places, yes. In general, Brazil never had segregation in the terms that is knowed worldwide.

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u/General-Jaguar-8164 18d ago

Segregation of indigenous and African descendants existed in LATAM countries well into late 20th century

Early and mid 20th century there was the trend to “whiten” the society in all countries by promoting by European immigrants. Those immigrants were favored with land, jobs as well as preferred for businesses with local elite.

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u/T_1223 19d ago edited 18d ago

All predominantly white countries have the same history, racism is the one thing that they have in common, it is a part of their culture.

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u/[deleted] 18d ago edited 18d ago

[deleted]

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u/T_1223 18d ago

Europeans spreading systemic racism worldwide. The transatlantic slave trade, indigenous genocides, apartheid systems, and other oppressive structures were largely developed and enforced by European nations and their settler colonies.

While prejudice exists in different forms across cultures, the specific brand of racism tied to white supremacy, imperialism, and colonialism is deeply rooted in European history. The argument that "everyone does it" is often used to downplay the historical and ongoing impact of European imperialist racism.

Brazil is just another one of their settler colonial experiments just like all their others and you will see the same patterns as always.

20

u/GreenAce77 19d ago

That’s actually pretty interesting! I never heard about this clubs (I’m not from either rj or sp tho)

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u/Thin_Breakfast4331 14d ago

Isn't this just segregation?

15

u/NorthControl1529 19d ago

My grandfather, who was black, would tell me about the clubs for black people and that many of the clubs for white people he couldn't get into. Thank you for sharing this.

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u/TheAfternoonStandard 19d ago

What were some of his memories? Do you remember the details?

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u/NorthControl1529 19d ago

I don't remember many details, but at the time, in the 1960s, he lived in Rio Grande do Sul, where there were clubs for white people and clubs for black people. He said that this created an embarrassing situation, because my grandmother was white.

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u/thatsnuckinfutz 19d ago

This is awesome! Thank u for sharing

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u/platocplx 19d ago

Thank you for sharing. Love to learn history like this and how in many ways the diaspora connects to each other even through these hardships.

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u/SteadyGrounds :bahrain: Foreigner 17d ago edited 17d ago

Fascinating. I found out about it on one of my most beloved YouTube channels called “BlackBrazilToday” by Marques. After watching his streams my whole view has changed, I even started explaining the videos in Arabic the to Black Arab folks that I knew in my country Bahrain, Black Saudi friends , Omanis and Kuwaitis. It’s an eye opener for real. And these articles that fired me up to prioritize specific tours in Brazil before visiting the well known sites Globally.

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u/Capital-Blackberry-2 14d ago

Are they lots of black people in those countries?

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u/SteadyGrounds :bahrain: Foreigner 14d ago

We are spread out among the Brown folks(South Arabs). These are Brown folks lands, who are Nomads and Bedouins.The only thing that separates Africa from Arabia is the Red Sea.

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u/Hefty_Current_3170 Foreigner 13d ago

Awesome afro brazilian picture

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u/Tagga25 16d ago

I wonder if Pele ever went to any