Brazil's Affirmative Action Law Offers a Huge Hand Up

Thaiana Rodrigues, the daughter of an esthetician in Rio de Janeiro, tried to get into college three times. But having spent most of her childhood in poor public schools – her anatomy teacher in seventh grade never showed up to class so she simply never learned the subject – Ms. Rodrigues was unable to pass the entrance exam….

Now, many more marginalized Brazilians may be able to reap the same benefit. A system that was an experiment at scores of universities like UERJ over the past decade has become law: public federal universities must reserve half of their spots for underprivileged students hailing from public schools, disproportionately attended by minorities.

The law, signed in August and set to be completely implemented within four years, will have the widest impact on Afro-Brazilians, who make up more than half of the nation's population….

But many consider Brazil's quota law for public universities a game changer because it opens up the bastions of social opportunity to previously excluded populations, says Christopher Sabatini, editor in chief of Americas Quarterly (AQ).

Last year AQ published a study on the impact of minority political representation and quotas in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Guatemala. It found that representation by the indigenous and Afro-Latinos did not lead to a dramatic uptick in legislation or constitutional reforms in their favor.

But gaining access to what are considered the "Ivies" of Brazil could change the currents of social opportunity….

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