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ome consider sport a
purely recreational activity, while others consider it a useless waste of time.
Yet to others yet, sport is an essential and transformative part of society.
Many sociologists agree with this latter view of sport. Sport exists in and has
a profound affect upon most organized societies. It is much more than a
recreational activity; it shapes the culture and society in which it partakes.
Sport develops acts as a force to alter identity and culture, and may create
unity.
In
Brazil, football—or in Portuguese, futebol—has been a force for change
since its beginnings in the late Nineteenth century. Furthermore, futebol has transformed cultural
identities in Brazilian society. It changed the national, racial, and modern
identity of Brazilian culture and society in the early decades of the Twentieth
century. Moreover, futebol created a national and modern identity for Brazil because
of the fact that it changed the racial identity of Brazilians. futebol entered into is ÒGolden DaysÓ due
to its transformation of Brazil and of course with the ultimate Brazilian hero:
PelŽ.
Discovered
by Pedro Cabral in the 1500s and claimed by the Portuguese, Brazil became a
large country with a very diverse society composed of many different ethnicities
calling it home. During the end of
the Nineteenth and the first half of the Twentieth Centuries, however, Brazil
underwent cataclysmic changes that prepared the country to forge a unified
national identity. One such change
occurred in 1888 when the Brazilian government passed the ÒGolden Law,Ó which
outlawed slavery. This was a major
step forward as slavery had been permanent part of the Brazilian social and
economic landscape since the founding of the original Portuguese colony in
1550.
Over
the following 300-plus years Brazil had, in fact, seen a huge influx of slaves,
Òmore than any other country in the Americas.Ó[1] While the outlawing of slavery
gave all Afro-Brazilians freedom and the chance to rise in society, racist
ideologies prevent this from happening for decades. Afro-Brazilians were not the only ethnicity in Brazil to be
searching for an identity. Brazil
received a large number of immigrants during this period also. Around 3.8
million immigrants came to Brazil from 1827 to 1930.[2] These were mostly European, followed by a significant number
of Japanese. Brazil became a mixture and conglomeration of different
ethnicities, all searching for their own identity in the vast country. The end
of slavery also led Brazil into the future, breaking ties with the traditions
of the past and setting the stage for it to enter the modern world.
Furthermore,
another big change was the dissolution of the monarchy in 1889 after a
liberal-inspired coup dÕetat ousted King Pedro II. Marshal Deodora da Fonseca, the head of the Brazilian
military, led the coup. In 1891, a new republican constitution was set up with
Fonseca as its new President. Fonseca resigned less than a year later and his
Vice President Marshal Floriano Peixoto claimed the presidency. Even with the
new constitution, it was not a real democracy. After PeixotoÕs ouster, the next
president, Prudente de Morais, was the first president actually voted in by
popular election. A number of
other presidents and overthrown presidents soon followed. GŽtulio Vargas stepped into the
presidency following a rigged election and political assassination of the
ÒelectedÓ president, Jœlio Pessoa. Vargas came to power under his military coup
and when elections came up later, he set up his own new government, the Estado
Novo [New
State]. Estado Novo was VargasÕs way of controlling
and suppressing every aspect of government and society under the guise of
building a new, better state. He ruled as a dictator till 1945. The number of
successive coup dÕetats and presidents just give a hint of the political instability and
corruption that Brazil faced during this period. During this time of political
upheaval and turmoil, Brazil looked at the international stage and longed to be
a part of it. BrazilÕs government instability could not put her in the
international spotlight.
At
the turn of the Twentieth Century, Brazil was a country searching for a
national identity, something in which to take pride. The diversity of the country, however, with all of its
different ethnicities, regions, and languages, made developing a national
identity very hard. In 1933
sociologist Gilberto Freyre wrote Casa Grande & Senzala (or in English, Masters and
Slaves), an
anthro-sociological work that embodied the Brazilian racial identity of that
time. Freyre described the
colonization of Brazil and the relations between the Portuguese, Africans and
Indians. FreyreÕs book—and
the racial ideology it proposed—became the force behind the Brazilian
national identity. Freyre argued
that the mixture of the ethnicities created a ÒnewÓ mestizo race superior to all others. As a reaction to the Social Darwinist
theories of the time in America and Europe, FreyreÕs thesis defended his
people, the Brazilians, by arguing that the mixture of races did not create
inferiority, as Social Darwinists maintained, but instead bred a hybrid race
superior to the others . Brazilians became the Òmaster raceÓ under FreyreÕs
ideology[3]. He gave several reasons for the
grandness of Brazilian people relating back to the Portuguese sexual habits
that caused the miscegenation, the climate of Brazil, and the African slaves
brought over from Africa. Freyre claimed that the Africans that came to Brazil
were better than the ones that went elsewhere in the Americas. He said that
ÒBrazil took from the topsoil of AfricansÓ[4] and talked about the Òsuperiority
of the Negro colonizers of Brazil over those of the United States.Ó[5] All of these characteristics led
Freyre to claim that Brazilians were better. The Portuguese colonizers
fascination with native and African women and the superiority of the Africans
led to the creation of the Brazilian race.
Gilberto
Freyre, c. 1975
FreyreÕs
book became the source of national pride giving Brazilians the identity the
diverse country had sought. Historian Marshall Eakin has noted that
Òwhile privately the racial prejudice did not disappear, publicly FreyreÕs view
gradually became the official vision and a basic component of the national
psyche.Ó[6] FreyreÕs ideology of ÒBrazilianessÓ became the gestalt that united Brazilians under the
idea that they were a unique and superior race, a race that—through
miscegenation rather than racial purity—had become greater than the
ÒpureÓ peoples of the Western world.[7] As a result, Brazilians found pride in the fusion of the
races that constituted their heritage.
No longer need they be ashamed of their countryÕs racial mixture.
Despite
surface appearances, FreyreÕs ÒBrazilianessÓ did not exactly include all
Brazilians. It failed to provide
room for different cultural and social expressions from the Afro-Brazilians and
Indians. Freyre also remained
distinctly racist in his writings by promoting the idea that Africans and
Indians remained inferior to the Portuguese or ÒwhiteÓ race. In fact, Freyre contended that
miscegenation had civilized the ÒnativeÓ races.[8] One can clearly see where FreyreÕs ideology fell short of
creating a cohesive national identity. But futebol, on the other hand, would succeed
were Freyre failed, establishing an identity that grew to include all
Brazilians.
Charles
William Miller, a Brazilian-born Englishman, first introduced the sport to
Brazil in 1894. At first only the
British comprised the few teams that played, but the sport gradually gained
popularity among the Brazilians.
Starting with the elite, it quickly moved to the masses and became
popular among all Brazilians.[9] Indians, Afro-Brazilians, the
immigrants and the rest of Brazilians soon indulged in futebol, so much so that by the early 1900s, it became
BrazilÕs most popular sport.[10]
Rare
photo of Charles Miller (left) being challenged in the first recorded football
match in Brazil, played at Chacara Dulley between Mackenzie College and
MillerÕs Sao Paulo Athletic Club.
Sixty fans saw Sao Paulo win, 1-0. (BBC)
One reason
for futebolÕs
popularity, especially among the masses, was that it required very little
equipment. All one needed was a ball and a large playing field. Futebol became especially important in
the developing favelas, slum communities built
just outside the larger metropolises of Brazil. With the rural exodus to find
work in the cities, the favelas grew exponentially, creating large pockets of
impoverished people. Futebol quickly spread among the urban poor. Because of the
sportÕs inexpensiveness and its generally informal nature, anyone lacking a
privileged background could still master futebol. Because the poor had so little, they found in futbol a sport they could call their
own.
As futebol grew, so did the talent of the
Brazilian players. As early as the 1930s, Brazilians started competing against
teams from neighboring Argentina and Uruguay. The Brazilian national futebol team laid the foundation for the
national identity through sport as it united Brazilians in cheering their team
against everyone else. The Brazilian national futebol team proved succinctly
Brazilian. With the integration of
Afro-Brazilians into the sportÕs limelight, futebol now represented all Brazilians and became a symbol
of pride and victory for Brazilians.
This was especially true during the Golden Age of Brazilian futebol in the 1950s when the game put
the developing country on the map.
In 1950, just over fifty years after futebolÕs introduction to Brazil, the nation hosted the World Cup in
Rio de JanieroÕs Maracan‹ Stadium, the largest stadium in the world. Despite BrazilÕs dramatic loss to
Uruguay in the final round, Brazilians reveled in the celebrations and took
great pride that the international spotlight focused on their country.
Poster
for 1950 World Cup
Sociologists
tell us that sport is much more than merely a recreational activity. One important element of
sport—the uniting of people around a certain team and developing a common
interest and collective identity within that society—is precisely what
happened in Brazil. On the
national level, futebol in Brazil unified the growing urban cities through its teams,
knowledge of the sport, and various communications media.
Sport
created unity through the developing rivalries between the different teams in a
certain region. Sociologist Janet
Lever noted that Òsport encourages conflict which is more exciting than
harmony.Ó[11] The conflict that sport creates
does not harm the community, but rather builds unity. Under the conflict theory
of sociology, sport possesses four major aspects. One aspects is the promotion of unity through division and
cooperation.[12] This can be seen in Brazil how futebol has united the country through
several ways. Sport conflict benefits society because it requires collaboration
and cooperation, encouraging elements of unity in the teams.[13] Another part of the conflict
theory is that sport requires cooperation. Cooperation Òbecomes a product of sport rivalry through the
desire to test skills, spirit, and the favors of fate,Ó[14] which is definitely seen in
Brazilian futebol.
In
the growing Brazilian urban centers this proved particularly true. Rio de Janeiro, for example, has twelve
futebol teams.
The four biggest, and most popular, Rio teams are Fluminense, Botofago,
Vasco de Gama, and
Flamengo, each
with different fan base. The
Fluminense/Flamengo rivalry, one of the most important, has been played yearly
since 1912.[15] Such rivalries unite the urban
population becauses the rival fans are participating in a shared event.
Thousands and thousands of Fluminense and Flamengo fans watch the games,
unconsciously creating unity among them all, even if they were cheering for
opposing teams.
Fans
also are united with other fans of their team, creating a sense of family. As Flamengo fans say: ÒWhen you meet a
Flamengo, you meet a friend.Ó[16] It is a sense of brotherhood that unites all Flamengo
fans—they are all one family. In an urban setting with its many rural,
diverse immigrants pouring into the favelas, fans become a family and a
community. So strong are these
bonds that one story tells of a thief who stole a wallet from a man. When he opened the wallet and saw the
Flamengo card in it, he returned the wallet because he too was a Flamengo fan. [17] This story demonstrates the sense
of community that is developed among the fan base of the teams. Even though
these examples were of Flamengo fans, the same can be said about all of the
other teams as well.
Trade
cards from 1910s promoting the Flamengo (L) and Botofago (R) teams
The teams
also draw their fan support and identity from different bases, whether elites,
the masses, or various immigrant groups.
Janet Lever points out that ÒThe Fluminense represent the old rich,
Botofago is identified with the modern middle class, Vasco de Gama is
associated with the Portuguese immigrants and their descendants, and Flamengo
is the team for the masses of black and poor residents.Ó[18] This attachment of fans to ÒtheirÓ group is strong indeed,
and Òsport contests will arouse the strongest passions where they are linked
with the status groups that arouse the most passion, mainly the primordial
groups.Ó[19] The primordial sentiments of
birth, social class, language, race, tribe, or ethnicity, become the basis for
cleavages and prejudices within society.[20] Local soccer teams publicly sanction and express the
societyÕs deepest primordial sentiments, while the phenomenal success of the
national team enormously heightens all BraziliansÕ pride in their citizenship.[21]
For
example, Vasco de Gama was the team of Portuguese immigrants residing in Rio de
Janeiro. A similarly named team
existed in Portugal, so the immigrants were immediately familiar with the
Brazilian counterpart.[22] This familiarity allowed the
immigrants to build a bridge between the home they left behind and their new
one. They were integrated into Brazilian society because of their knowledge,
and support of, Vasco de Gama.
Fluminense, on the other hand, represents the wealthy elite, so a
certain style of play and attitude is expected of that team that is not
expected of Flamengos, which represents the urban poor. Lever notes, for example, that
ÒFlamengo players are expected to act rough and crude; a more gentlemanly code
is imposed on Fluminense players because of their heritage they represent.Ó[23]
Sport
also unifies a society through knowledge. Fans study and know their favorite
teams and the rivalries. The shared knowledge, traditions and symbols of fans
help sports integrate society.[24] The Fluminense fan knows everything
know about his team, but he also knows all about the teams that Fluminense
plays. This knowledge gives him
the chance and opportunity to interact both with other Fluminense fans and with
fans of other, surrounding teams.
This shared knowledge unifies the fan base, which in Brazil constitutes
most of society, and provides fans with a means to interact with one another.
Communication
is another unifying aspect. Sport
encourages and produces communication among fans because they will interact with
one another both during the matches themselves and in daily life. Sport is also an essential means of
communication among people because Òpeople devote more time to playing,
watching, and discussing sport than any other organized activity in public life.Ó[25] As a result, communication
encourages unity. In Brazil, futebol is so popular that most of society has a favorite team
that they love and follow. Futebol thus provides a topic of conversation for fans. Strangers
on the street all have something to talk about—the teams, matches,
victories. People need something
to talk about and in Brazil, Òsoccer provides one of those common interests and
topics.Ó[26] The futebol matches themselves are times of
communication and interaction.
Maracan‹ stadium was not designed specifically for the spectators just
to sit and watch the game, for ÒBrazilians go to matches not just to watch but
to participate, and the antics of the crowds are often as diverting as the
plays on the field.Ó[27] Sport, especially futebol in Brazil, promotes communication
and provides the community with common symbols, a collective identity, and a
reason for solidarity.[28]
Brazilians
are in love with their futebol and are devoted fans. For Brazilians a futebol match is almost a mini-carnival
in atmosphere. The steel drum bands play samba music; the crowds teem with
excitement and energy. For this very reason, futebol matches are unique cultural
events where cultural expression can be released, enjoyed and participated in
by all. Fans Òoften beat drums from
start to finish and in doing so they reinforced the rhythms of the players, who
converted dribbling into a form of dance.Ó[29] This reveals the passion and dedication that Brazilian futebol fans have for their teams. Along with their dedication, they revere
and love the players, their heroes.
The best selling record in Brazil in 1958 featured the voices of the
players and officials of that yearÕs World Cup-winning team.[30] During the Golden Age of
Brazilian futebol
from 1950 to 1970, Òattendances of football matches were higher in Brazil than
in any other country.Ó[31] In Brazil, Òsports command the
largest audiences for popular culture events.Ó[32]
Futebol matches often become a
competition between the opposing fans on who is the loudest and most spirited.
The crowd is filled with fans decked out in the colors and symbols of their
teams. In Brazil, bigger is better, and this is certainly the case when it
comes to fans cheering on their teams.
Banners and flags are Òmust-havesÕ for fans, and Òsome banners are so
large that they are transported by truck and require the cooperation of an
entire section of fans.[33] Sound volume is another element
of the competition. Cheers and
chants are not enough. Fans bring
their own samba bands
that Òinspire communal singing and cheers.Ó[34] Firecrackers are popular
noisemakers after forgoals are scored. Futebol matches in Brazil can bring
entire communities together. The participation and cheering are communal and
shared by all the fans, even those of opposing teams. This fanaticism can be so
extreme that futebol has been called the Òopium of the peopleÓ[35] in Brazil, because the devotion
and fervor of its passionate fans.
On
the international level, futebol fanaticism has united Brazil in competition against other
countries. In the first half of
the Twentieth Century, Brazil was a developing country trying to assert itself among the great
powers of Europe and the United States.
Its desire for global recognition was demonstrated during World War II
when Brazil sent troops to aid the Allies in an attempt to become a player on
the global scene. But it was futebol that thrust Brazil onto the
international scene and made other countries to recognize her and her
talents. Futebol became Òa source of collective
pride for BraziliansÓ and proved that their country could compete with the
other great powers and even win.[36]
Conflict
theorists note that most countries use sport as the showplace for displaying
their national symbols, promoting national pride.[37] In Brazil, futebol Òwas linked ideologically to
national identity and it was mobilizing unprecedented displays of patriotism.Ó[38] The construction of the Maracan‹
stadium, Òfostered a football-inspired patriotism that was not only the
embodiment of BrazilÕs sporting ambition, but also of the countryÕs place in
the modern world.Ó[39] Futebol was not merely the sport that everyone could play,
especially once the racial barrier was broken, it was a social activity around
which Brazilians could rally at local, the national or international level. In
Brazil, Ònothing compares with the Brazilian selection of the National Team as
a basis for collective identity and a focus of solidarity.Ó[40]
Est‡dio
Jornalista M‡rio Filho, better known as Maracan‹ Stadium, in Rio de Janiero
Futebol also proved a means of healing
BrazilÕs racial divides. Race and
racism in Brazilian society have always been important topics, especially
because most Brazilians are a mix of different races, a hybrid of ethnicities.
In the early Twentieth Century, racial ideology rested in the hands of Freyre
and his ideas. FreyreÕs conception
of a superior Brazilian race produced the notion of ÒwhiteningÓ regarding the
mixing of ethnicities. Whitening was the idea that, through the intermarriage
of the lighter people of European descent with the people of African and Indian
descent, those races were gradually become Òwhiter.Ó The whiter oneÕs skin
color got, the ÒbetterÓ it was. This idea of whiting was prevalent among the
elite Brazilians, who believed that the superior Brazilian race was developing
through the ÒwhiteningÓ of the Afro-Brazilians and Indians. FreyreÕs ideas did not promote racial
equality. Instead, FreyreÕs works reinforced
the ÒwhiteningÓ ideal Òby showing graphically that the (primarily white) elite had
gained valuable cultural traits from its intimate contact with the African (and
Indigenous, to a lesser extent) component.Ó[41]
Racism
hid below the surface of society and the myth of racial democracy. White
Brazilians had no overt racism to the Afro-Brazilians because they believed
that the Afro-Brazilians would gradually become white. They accepted the
Afro-Brazilians into society in the lowest terms because they thought that they
would not stay black. This
ideology differed from the racial ideology of the United States; concomitantly,
the two nations developed starkly contrasting expressions of racism. One reason was that in Brazil, there
existed such a myriad of ÒcolorsÓ in contrast to the United States with its
ÒtwoÓ races. In Brazil, Òthis complex racial mixture and color spectrum made
the construction of legal segregation impractical, if not impossible. How could the separation be defined,
much less maintained?Ó[42] The spectrum of differing shades
of race made it virtually impossible to establish a legal, official
segregation, especially when, under the ÒwhiteningÓ theory, mulattos,
mestizos, and
other mixed-race groups considered themselves not as black but as white.[43]
Similarly,
FreyreÕs ideology of a superior race led him to coin the term Òracial democracy,Ó
the idea that the races had uniform equality across the board. Believing that the superior race of
Brazilians also contributed to the racial makeup of society, Freyre could look
at Brazilian society and claim that Brazil had racial equality. Freyre had
observed firsthand the segregation in the United States, so he argued that
Brazil was better than America because Brazil lacked segregation so that the
different ethnicities had assimilated into and formed Brazilian culture. He saw the races as equal because there
was no explicit segregation.
Freyre wrote that Brazil was Òhybrid from the beginning. Brazilian society is, of all those in
the Americas, the one most harmoniously constituted so far as racial relations
are concerned, within the environment of a practical, cultural reciprocity that
results in the advanced people deriving the maximum of profit from the values
and experiences of the backward ones.Ó[44] Freyre thus claimed that the Brazilians were unique and
possessed racial harmony, but as futebol was to prove that was not the case. There was still racism, only it was
just hidden.
Racial
democracy became the overarching doctrine of Brazil in the early Twentieth
Century. Most Brazilians adopted
and promoted FreyreÕs idea of racial democracy, especially the elite
Brazilians. The paradox of racial democracy was that it claimed that no racism
existed in Brazil, but racism always existed under the surface of societal
structures. Elites thought, that
because Brazil had no laws or rules regarding segregation, it therefore
possessed equality, but their attitudes displayed the nationÕs deep social
divides. Slavery had ended only 40
years before, but the economic and social conditions of the Afro-Brazilians
remained much the same—stuck at the bottom levels of society. Most lived
in poverty on rural farms or in the slums, or favelas, of the growing urban
centers. Racial prejudices became
tied to social prejudices, just as there was a division in the social
classes. The elite were a much
ÒwhiterÓ class than the darker, lower class. As a famous saying in Brazil puts it: ÒMoney whitens.Ó[45]
One
reason why racial democracy became so accepted and seemed true was the
condition of the slaves after slavery was abolished in 1888. In Brazil, workers were still needed
for the many coffee and other plantations. But instead of utilizing the
ex-slaves, Brazilian landowners brought in European immigrants as a new work
force. The influx of immigrants pushed the Afro-Brazilians out of the work
force and doomed them to poverty.
This also hurt their social standing as Òthe Negro found that the
immigrant was ranked far above him in the scale of preference.Ó[46] Sociologists Carlos Hasenbalg and
Suellen Huntington point out that because Òthe replacement of black ex-slaves by
white immigrants resulted from hiring decisions by individual employers rather
than from any systematic or organized organization, [this tended] to create
class rather than racial antagonisms.Ó[47]
This
was exactly what the proponents of racial democracy, including Freyre,
argued. They contended that the
only prejudices were on a basis of class and not race. On the other hand,
Fernando Cardosa, another Brazilian sociologist, argued against this. His research showed the exact opposite,
Òrejecting the idea that the existing prejudice is an expression of class and
not racial values.Ó[48] It is true that social class was
involved in issue prejudice, but racism was also there. It is evident that
color prejudices existed in various regions of Brazil and had penetrated in
varying degrees into all social classes.[49] Class discrimination just added another dimension to the
already present racial discrimination.
Afro-Brazilians were now not just racially inferior, but socially inferior
as well.[50] There are many examples of the
prejudices faced by the Afro-Brazilians and others with a non-white skin. Baron
Rio Branco, the Brazilian foreign minister from 1902 to 1912, Òfollowed a
Ôwhite onlyÕ policy in recruiting diplomats and in choosing special envoys for
missions abroad.Ó[51] Even regarding immigration,
Brazilian government officials systematically refused immigrant visas to black
immigrants from the United States because they wanted to lessen black
influences in Brazil.[52] Futebol proved this point with the
integration of club futebol teams.
Racial
democracy was supposed to establish that races were equal in society; it was
generally thought that it was true.
Nevertheless, futebol unveiled the myth of racial democracy. When futebol was first instituted in Brazil,
it was played only by the British.
The game then moved to elite clubs where it gained more popularity among
the Brazilian population. To play
for a club, however, required a mandatory fee. While the fee varied depending on the club, it still proved
expensive for most Brazilians. So
the first few decades of futebol in Brazil were played primarily by the elite class, who
were the only ones who had the money to play. As futebol gained popularity among the general population,
especially in the favelas, the sport quickly became popular with the
Afro-Brazilians.
The
Afro-Brazilians quickly adapted futebol to their own cultural traditions. Dribbling became more than just running
down the field; it became into a rhythmic samba dance perfected by the
Afro-Brazilians. Afro-Brazilians
emerged as the upcoming stars of futebol in the 1930s. But clubs refused for many years to allow Afro-Brazilians
merely because they were black.
This is where futebol proved that racial democracy was indeed a myth. If all the races were equal, then why
were the clearly talented Afro-Brazilians denied the chance to play on
teams? There may have had no laws
and government regulations regarding the segregation of races, but an
underlying racism remained common among the elite. The President of Brazil
forbade the selection of black players for the South American championship in
Buenos Aries in 1921. In 1923 when Vasco de Gama, a Portuguese immigrant club,
allowed black and mulatto players on their teams, many of the other clubs,
especially the elite club teams, declared that unacceptable.[53]
If Afro-Brazilians did play on a team,
they were either light-skinned or tried to make themselves whiter. Futebol historian Alex Bellos noted that
those Afro-Brazilians who did play in these early years Òwere made to feel
ashamed of their color.Ó[54] Arthur Friederich, the son of
German-Brazilian father and Afro-Brazilian mother, was one of the first
Afro-Brazilians to gain acceptance in futebol. Even then, he put rice powder on his face before matches so
that his face would appear whiter.[55] Although he was only half black,
Friederich was always labeled as black, which angered him.[56] Carlos Alberto Torres, the first mulatto to play for Fluminense Òbefore matches
tried to flatten his hair as much as he could, covering it in brilliantine and
rolling a towel around his head like a turban.Ó[57] So while they were eventually allowed on teams,
Afro-Brazilians tried to appear ÒwhiterÓ to gain acceptance from other players
and fans.
Carlos
Alberto Torres
This
refusal of the elites to allow the Afro-Brazilians to play on the club teams
reinforced the racism of Brazilian society. Unfortunately for the elites, the Afro-Brazilians were
talented, much more talented than many of the club players. A clubÕs desire to win games soon
overcame any racist desire to keep black players off their teams. For the Afro-Brazilian players, playing
futebol became
a way to rise above the poverty level and to make a name for themselves. Futebol offered these young men an
opportunity to leave the favelas—where they were doomed to live their lives out in
squalor. For the urban poor—whites, blacks and mulattos—inhabiting favelas and for workers in towns and
cities, futebol
Òpresented the prospect of escape into a better world, at least a lift out of
the direst poverty.Ó[58] This was their way of escape,
playing a sport that they had grown up playing for fun, but once they realized
it was much more than a recreational sport. Especially once the clubs were
professionalized and athletes were then paid to play.
Domingos da Guia
Tragically
for many black players, when their playing careers were over, prejudices still
remained. Once their careers were over,
they were forgotten and sent back to the favelas from whence they came. The Òsuicide rate among former
Afro-Brazilian players was high,Ó writer Tony Mason has noted, because it
seemed as if prejudices were temporarily suspended only while they were playing,
winning and becoming heroes.[59] Fausto, an early great black futebol player, compared himself to an
orange that would one day be left as pulp by the white bosses.[60] Fausto died penniless and alone
just a few years after his career ended.[61] Another black futebol hero, Domingos da Guia, during the height of his
career Òescaped punishment in 1937 for a motor vehicle accident which killed a
pedestrian, but in 1944 was sent to prison for carrying false papers.Ó[62] After da GuiaÕs career ended, he
too became Òa middle-aged black man who had only a primary education and little
work experience in the world of business.Ó[63] Futebol had elevated him to the status of
hero, but once that was gone, so too was his fame and fortune.
It
took the entrance of PelŽ on the Brazilian futebol scene to change the manner in
which society treated Afro-Brazilians.
Even at the World Cup in 1958, there were protests because of the
Afro-Brazilians on the team. Many
elite Brazilians still held on to their racial prejudices and did not want
black players to represent them to the world. The team psychologist told the coach Vicente Feola not
to play seventeen-year-old PelŽ [Edson Arantes Do
Nascimento] and twenty-four-year-old Garrinacha [Manoel dos Santos Francisco] because they were black.[64] He believed that their blackness would keep the team from
winning the World Cup. Feola did indeed keep
the pair out of BrazilÕs first two games, but the intervention of star veteran Nilton Santos
and the other Brazilian players convinced Feola to use both men in the later games. PelŽ finished the tournament with six
goals, including a hat trick against France, and trailed only FranceÕs Juste
Fontaine, who scored thirteen, for most goals scored. In the final, Garrinacha set up
Brazil's first two goals on route to a 5-2 defeat of host Sweden and BrazilÕs
first World Cup. Afterwards
Brazilian soccer was never the same.
Edson Arantes Do Nascimento,
better known as PelŽ, performing a trademark bicycle kick.
FeolaÕs
decision to play PelŽ and Garrinacha changed the face of Brazilian soccer and
turned the two Afro-Brazilian players into Brazilian national heroes. But futebol had also changed the racial
identity of Brazil. The society
soon faced a challenge with the rise to stardom of PelŽ and Garrincha. PelŽ was unquestionably the best futebol player in the world, and he was black. PelŽ was also a national hero. He made a name for Brazilian futebol and became a symbol of pride for
all Brazilians. What was Brazilian
society supposed to do with the amazing, talented black futebol player? Futebol and the stardom of PelŽ changed Brazilian society because
it began to accept and even admire PelŽ not only for his futebol talent, but also him as a person
and more specifically as a black person.
Despite being born with leg
deformities requiring surgery, Manoel dos Santos Francisco [Garrincha] (L.)
became one of the gameÕs greatest ball-handlers and helped Brazil win its first
World Cup in 1958.
PelŽ
was the first Afro-Brazilian to be honored for his talent. He demonstrated to Brazilian society
that ÒwhiteningÓ was an invalid idea; it did not create a superior race as
Freyre said it would. PelŽ earned
his praise as a black man with his skills. He proved that Afro-Brazilians deserved an honorable place
in Brazilian society. He also disproved the myth of racial democracy, for if
Brazil truly had been a racial democratic county, there would have been no
dispute over PelŽÕs playing in the World Cup and his representing Brazil. PelŽ, through the instrument of futebol, proved that racism existed in
Brazilian society; furthermore, he overcame that racism by working hard and
exhibiting his talent for the world to see.
PelŽ
entered a previously unreachable social arena for those very reasons. Yet the greatest significance is that
he became the national hero of Brazil through futebol because he embodied
Brazilians. He was Afro-Brazilian
and was the first black man to be not only accepted but celebrated by all
Brazilians and the entire world. He represented Brazil to the world and became
a part of the national identity of Brazil. He was the best futebol player in the world and led the
Brazilian team to its Golden Age of soccer that started the great legacy.
Since
then, the national team has been composed of differing racial backgrounds. Most importantly, the squad has the
best record of any in the world, and it is the only team to have won the
coveted World Cup soccer championship five times.[65] PelŽÕs significance in history is
that he, being Afro-Brazilian, was declared a national treasure by the
government in 1962.[66] He embodied Brazilian identity, Òwhen Brazil needed national
symbols to help unify a divided country, PelŽ served as one.Ó[67] PelŽ became a symbol of pride and
Brazil to all Brazilians, Òthey identified his goals as their goals and made
Brazilians proud to be Brazilians.Ó[68]
BrazilÕs 1962
World Cup-winning national team
In
addition to altering the racial landscape of Brazil, futebol also pushed Brazil toward
modernization. Futebol influenced technology in Brazil, as advances in sport and technology
often go hand in hand.[69] Radio, television, and print media were directly affected by
futebol. With fan base that encompasses
the entire country, Brazil realized its fans hungered to hear matches
broadcast, to read about their favorite players and teams, and, later, to see
matches on television when attending a game was impossible. The advent of futebol soon pushed media corporations to
build their networks to meet the needs of the gameÕs fans.
Futebol provided a link between the rural
and urban regions of Brazil as well. Domestic airline services emerged when the
national futebol
championship was created. Radio was one of the major factors of futebolÕs increasing popularity in the
1930s.[70] Media was important to keep the
unity and cohesiveness of Brazilian society and unite it geographically. Telecommunication links emerged to
broadcast games to the rural areas of Brazil. Radio lines soon carried signals all the way to the Amazon
Basin. Now Brazilians in rural communities could still keep up and know about
their teams. The 1970 Word Cup provided the occasion to lease space from
orbiting communication satellites, which established the first
telecommunication link between northern and southern Brazil.[71] This helped both to unify the
country and to spread the popularity of futebol.
The
two important media forms in that day were radio and newspapers. During the
first half of the Twentieth Century, Mario Filho, a Rio de Janeiro journalist,
started the Jornal dos Sports, the first Latin American sports daily. Still published today, the Jornal
dos Sports proved
critical in providing fans with the latest news in Brazilian futebol. Today, its Monday circulation rivals that of the cityÕs
best-selling general newspapers.[72] Television has now replaced the radio as the other most
important medium. Telecasts of matches bring additional revenue to the teams
and further the familiarity of the average fan with his sport heroes.[73] Ratings indicate that World Cup
games capture nearly 100 percent of the television audience in Rio.[74]
Another
modernizing effect of futebol occurred when it moved from an amateur to a professional
sport. When futebol was first introduced—and even
after it became a national sport—it remained an amateur sport. The lack of payment for playing
hindered lower-class Brazilians from playing on club teams because the lower
classes had little money and had to work for a living. On occasion, clubs might give their
playersÕ small stipends for their hard work, while on some elite clubs, players
actually had to pay to play on the team.
In the 1930s, clubs began to professionalize, opening the playing field
and promoting talent among all Brazilians. The club directors, instead of relying solely on the elitist
class, began Òactively recruiting talented players, independent of their social
class.Ó[75] Breaking the social class divide
proved as important to futebol as breaking the racial barrier. Both made futebol a sport in which any Brazilian could compete.
The
move to professionalism also provided a democratic model for Brazilians. Traditionally a hierarchical society
that regarded equality among all Brazilians as a joke, Brazil learned that futebol provided a pitch that equalized
the players. Economic, social, and
racial background could not change the talent a player possessed. Renaldo Helal, a Brazilian sociologist,
makes this point clear: ÒThus soccer can be seen as a special instrument that
allows Brazilians from all social classes, races, regions, and creeds to
symbolically break the everyday life hierarchy – based on the traditional
ethic of patronage and social connections – and experience equality and
social justice, fundamental aspects of the ÒmodernÓ ethic.Ó[76]
Helal
claimed that Brazilian society had a Òdouble ethic.Ó[77] One was the hierarchical, traditional structure that
stratified society and based an individualÕs status in society on external
circumstances such as race, family, and economic situation. The other ethic was the one that futebol introduced, in which oneÕs
position in society was based on personal performance. ÒSoccer has provided Brazilians with an
open and highly democratic equality because it is entirely based on
performance.Ó Helal noted.[78]
Futebol embraced and promoted the
democratic ethic, changing the face of Brazilian society and becoming a Òtemporary escape from the
national problems such as inequality, injustice, and authoritarianism.Ó[79] The game provided a chance for players and spectators alike
to be their own individuals, Helal argues, because Òsoccer opens the
possibility for individualized and free expression, when someone can be what he
is, with his skills and weaknesses.Ó[80]
Much
more than just a recreational activity, futebol is an integral part of Brazilian
society the cultural and social glue that holds meaning and creates unity for
the entire country. In the early
Twentieth century, futebol transformed the Brazilian society and helped shape a
national identity. As symbol of
pride on the international level for the nation, the sport united Brazilians
through their roles as fans and forged solidarity within society. As acts of cohesion among the
fans and citizens of the cities, futebol matches are Òone of the central cultural forms,
promoting a sense of national community providing a rite and a spectacle on
which a disparate, multi-racial, unequal and dependant society could project
its overarching dreams of pride and reconciliation.Ó[81]
Futebol also changed the racial identity
in Brazil, uncovering the racism that lurked beneath the surface. Futebol helped Afro-Brazilians and other
minorities also to rise above the social and class prejudices they faced
because of their darker skin. By
focusing on the individual, the game additionally provided a democratic example
of the equality of all men. Unlike
the traditional aristocracy of the Brazilian elite that focused on family,
wealth, and race for societal status,
futebolÕs middle
and working class supporters pushed the nation to modernize by demanding
telecommunication links that united the country geographically. Futebol is a such source of pride and joy
for all Brazilians that the Jornal do Brasil once compared BrazilÕs victory
with the soccer ball to the conquest of the moon by the United States.[82]
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