This paper investigates how students at the State University of Rio de Janeiro
(UERJ), one of the first Brazilian universities to adopt race-based quotas for
admissions, interpret racial categories used as eligibility criteria.
Considering the perspectives of students is important to understand the workings
of affirmative action policies because UERJ's quotas require applicants to
classify themselves. Students' interpretations of those categories often diverge
from the interpretations intended by people who shaped the policy. Students'
perspectives are formed by everyday experiences with categorisation and by their
self-assessment as legitimate beneficiaries of quotas. In contrast, the policies
were designed according to a new racial project, where black
consciousness-raising and statistics played an important role.