Tourist Prices and Discrimination

I've mentioned a few times that I seem to receive "special" treatment quite often in Brazil, especially when I'm alone, because I am assumed to be Brazilian.  I believe this happens for two reasons.  First, I speak Portuguese whenever I can, not just because the locals rarely speak English, but because I think it's appreciated when you make an effort to speak the local language when traveling.  I've picked up enough Portuguese over the past two months to easily get by ordering food at a restaurant or drinks at a bar, or when buying something in a store.  And while it's not very difficult to order a beer in Portuguese, I think the loudness of the club makes it even more difficult for anyone to realize I'm not Brazilian since the noise helps to mask my accent.  Secondly, and probably more significantly, I am Black and easily blend in with the local population, especially if I speak Portuguese.  Brazil, like the United States, has a significant Black population and Blacks in Brazil look very much like Blacks in the US in the sense that there has obviously been a lot of mixing with other races over the past few hundred years so that Blacks in Brazil and the US look distinct from Blacks in Africa, although there is certainly a lot more variation in skin tones and hair here in Brazil.  One more reason I am often assumed to be Brazilian is because there are very few Blacks in other South American countries and Blacks from the US rarely travel, especially to South America.  Even when I was traveling in Argentina and Chile, many people's first assumption was that I was Brazilian. 

 

As I mentioned in my previous post, Marcin and I went out to a club Saturday night.  As with many clubs in South America, especially in Brazil, the bartenders do not handle cash.  Either you purchase drink tickets from a cashier which you then exchange for drinks at the bar, or you receive a single sheet or card upon entry on which the bartender records your drinks each time you order.  When you leave, you present your sheet to the cashier to pay your bill.  This club operated with sheets, so Marcin and I both received our own sheet upon arriving at the club.  The interesting thing about these sheets, however, is that there was a space to indicate the number of beers, as well as scratch off amounts to indicate the cost.  The R$25 entrance fee was also indicated on the sheet.  We both ordered our own drink the first time from bartender #1 who only had Brahma beer, which were R$7 each for a can (the most expensive of any club I've been to in Brazil).  After finishing the first beer, I went to bartender #2 to order the second round and put them both on my sheet.  This time, the cost was R$7 each for cans of Bohemia beer, which I like better.  Marcin went to order the third round from the bartender #2 and was again charged R$7 for Brahma cans.  When I noticed, I asked the bartender for Bohemia instead and he explained they were more expensive.  I said whatever and to just charge me the difference, so he added R$1 to my sheet, meaning the Bohemia now cost R$8 per can.  The next time I got a round from bartender #2, he charged me R$8 each for Bohemia cans.  Those were the last beers we bought. 

 

Now, if you add everything up, Marcin had three beers on his sheet: the first Brahma (R$7) from bartender #1 and two Brahma's from bartender #2 (R$7 each).  This brings his beer tab to R$21.  I bought a total of five beers: the first Brahma (R$7) from bartender #1, the two Bohemias from bartender #2 (R$7 each), the R$1 difference to exchange the Brahma Marcin bought for a Bohemia, then the last two Bohemias for R$8 each.  This brings my beer tab to R$38.  The total number of beers and amounts were all correctly indicated on our respective sheets.  Marcin was in line in front of me for the cashier so he paid his tab first.  Adding in the R$25 entrance fee, his total was R$46, which is what he was charged.  Adds up correctly; no problem.  When it was my turn to pay, the cashier only charged me R$40 for what should have been a R$63 bill (R$38 for beer plus the R$25 entrance fee).  So basically, even though I bought two beers more than Marcin, my total bill was less than his. 

 

I don't know how or why, but I certainly didn't ask questions.  Perhaps I still paid the same entrance fee and only R$3 for each beer, which would be the normal amount you would pay for beer at any other bar or club.  As I said, the sheet indicates the total number of beers and has a separate area to indicate the amounts.  When we first arrived, I couldn't understand why they would need both ways of recording drinks, but now I wonder if they go by one (number of drinks) for locals and another (scratch off amounts) for tourists, allowing them to charge a lower price for locals without it being obvious to tourists.  Like I said, I usually order my drinks in Portuguese, so there was no way for the bartender to know I wasn't Brazilian until Marcin went up and ordered the next round in English.  From that moment on, we were charged higher prices.  When we went to the cashier, however, if he was going by looks, as people tend to do, then he would have assumed I was Brazilian and just charged me according to the number of drinks I had.  We were told by a couple of Brazilians before we even arrived in the country that many places have two different sets of prices, with some restaurants going so far as to have separate menus.  It's not uncommon for cities and countries to have tourist prices... handicraft markets in most places charge tourists more than locals all the time.  I can't come up with any other explanation and with the frequency of these sorts of experiences, it's hard to believe they're just mistakes or coincidences.  All I know is I paid half the price Marcin did for the beer I bought.  And he's still pissed about it. 

 

I can't think of any other time in my life when being Black was actually an advantage over being White, so while I don't agree with the practice of charging tourists higher prices, I can't help but laugh at the shocked reaction and complaints of discrimination from White people (Sean and Marcin) when they are discriminated against.  Just remember, discrimination is the other way around in most parts of the world.   

 

Cheers,

Ozell