The “Black X White” Soccer Games and the Drama of Racism in Brazil

Abstract

In the city of São Paulo by the twentieth century two festivals were held having as their main goal leisure that have in common the fact that whites oppose and black, mediated by a football match. The purpose of this article is to understand the meanings of these two rituals of idealized soccer games known as the “Black X White”. Interpreting it from the perspective of theories of drama and ideology (DAMATTA, 1990) came to the conclusion that the ritual of “Black X White” condenses race relations in the Brazilian culture, reproducing and highlighting them through soccer. Despite their different historical contexts, the festivities surrounding the game converged in around a value: highlight the integration between whites and nonwhites and remember that racism in the country of miscegenation states against one of the values of Brazilianness.