Soccer and Leisure

An Analisis about “Brazilian Racism” through “Black vs White” Games

Abstract

The present article analyzes an exotic soccer game named Black x White that occurs for 39 years only in the period of Christmas. This ritual game is a friends gathering who create two teams: one composed by players who self declare “blacks” against other team who self declare “whites”. This leisure space is a ritual that thematizes the racial relations in Brazil. It was used as sources the registered memory in the written media and television, semi structured interviews and the participant observation in a 2009 event. We conclude that the event reveals the collective desire of racial integration from themes of race and racism. The celebration of friendship between “whites” and “blacks” is an attempt of overcoming the racism through humor and joke of racial debate. The racial stereotypes triggered during this ritual game probably mean a way, more or less conscious, of laughing about the history of racial relations in Brazil.