Past, current, and future representation of identity: Skin colour declaration on birth certificate in Brazil

Skin colour declarations are collected in Brazilian census since 1872. There is no official definition of the five skin colours categories offered to respondents in national surveys. On a daily basis, more than hundred categories are used to describe population miscegenation. Black movements criticize what is sometimes called a “skin colour continuum”: they promote a binary classification (Black versus White).

Skin colour is indicated on birth certificate. This information is not used apart for statistics to describe population evolution. Initially this declaration of skin colour for new-born babies was done by a doctor, or its equivalent within health administration. In practice, this nomination results from an arguing with the mother (or the parent who is present at the moment of the declaration). This discussion deals with several issues. First, it addresses the legitimacy of the child within her/his parental lineage, especially the relationship with the father. Second, there is a dimension that questions the identity the body support directly. Indeed, parents pass their own conception of skin colour representations on to the child: the declaration may reveal an affirmative positioning (choosing the binary classification) or it may underline a non conflictive perception of racial relationships in Brazil.

Given new-born baby skin colour quickly changes, a gap might exist between the skin colour declared at birth and the one individual chooses from themselves. For adults the skin colour indicated on the birth certificate is something they cannot change from an administrative point of view. They should deal with the potential discrepancy between their own skin colour declaration and the declaration at birth: to accept, to criticize, to deny it.

This research is based on a field research conducted in São Paulo (city) (2006-2007): 48 interviews were realized to collect skin colour declarations and discourse on these declarations.