Phenotypes

November 15, 2021
A prominent, light-skinned consultant from a mixed Brazilian family confronts and is consumed by the "uncontrollable shame" of racism in his country. Even though his father, a renowned police forensics expert, is Black, Federico grew up in the southern town of Porto Alegre not knowing what it meant to be "part of the race": "Blackness did not exist in my upbringing." Increasingly guilty over his ability to pass as White, he has stopped straightening his hair and dedicated himself to Black causes. Drafted onto a government commission looking at affirmative action policies for universities in the wake of violent student protests over racial quotas, Federico is stunned by the commission's support for a software program that will determine whether an applicant is sufficiently Black, brown, or Indigenous. "It had to be a joke," he scoffs. But it isn't, and neither are proposals to employ facial recognition technology, a national register on which a person's racial "qualifications" are recorded, and the "hierarchisation" of skin tones. Also no joke is the arrest of Federico's rebellious niece at a student protest over quotas, where she was found carrying a gun--a police service revolver that her father and uncle had frantically hidden years ago following a shooting to which they had an unfortunate connection. A former lawyer and activist, Scott pours out his indictment of Brazil in long, overflowing sentences that are equal parts outrage and cutting humor. Originally titled Brown and Yellow when it was published in Portuguese, the book is a bit sidetracked by a romantic involvement and other nonessential plot, but even so, it is not easy to shake off. A blast of righteous (and spot-on) indignation by a formidable Brazilian author.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from December 6, 2021
Scott follows up Nowhere People with a profound story of colorism and familial loyalty set in Brazil. Federico, a light-skinned middle-aged Black man from Porto Alegre, has built a career as an advocate for racial justice and equality as one of the founders of the Global Social Forum. While serving on a commission to develop software meant to equitably evaluate Black, brown, and Indigenous candidates for public education, he receives word from his darker-skinned brother that his niece, Roberta, has been arrested at a political protest. Alternating chapters bounce between Federico’s present and his youth, when he and his brother hid a gun for a friend after it was used to kill someone. Now, Federico worries their old mistakes might ruin his chance to ensure Roberta’s safety. Scott’s portrayal of how colorism functions in Federico’s own family, and society at large, is nuanced and careful (in a commission meeting, Federico criticizes their impossible task: “Wherever a judgment is made, whether legal or moral, it makes no difference, there will always be considerable scope for subjectivity, for personalities, for prejudices”). The multiple layers combine for a mesmerizing and mature story. Agent: Nicole Witt, Mertin Literary Agency.