Classroom Segregation Without Tracking: Chance, Legitimacy, and Myth in "Racial Paradise"

Though schools do not track in Brazil, I find that racial classroom segregation in Brazil is on par with recent estimates from North Carolina high schools (Clotfelter et al., 2020). How does racial classroom segregation occur without tracking, and in a supposed “racial paradise,” no less? Using national, student-level data spanning from 2011 to 2017, I describe racial classroom segregation among Brazilian 5th and 9th graders and assess potential mechanisms identified in the literature. The findings are consistent with segregation by chance in which (1) schools typically assign students to classrooms pseudo-randomly, producing initial assignments that can be substantially segregated and (2) schools choose to move forward with these assignments, even when they are highly segregated, rather than make race-conscious adjustments. This is consistent with racial democracy, a prominent colorblind ideology in Brazil.<br><br><br><br><br>