An Urban Legend That May Be Fact - Updated

In 2002, Snopes, the famous Urban Legends Reference Page, published this article regarding an allegation that, when discussing the ethnic diversity of Brazil at a meeting in November 2001 with Brazil's president, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, President Bush asked Cardoso the following question:

"Do you have blacks, too?"

Even I didn't put too much credence in that. I couldn't believe Bush was that ignorant.

I have been reading President Cardoso's autobiography and apparently at least at that time President Bush was that ignorant. I call your attention to page 260 and Cardoso's contemporaneous account of the meeting:

Bush had recently been to a mosque in Washington to show his support for the Islamic community. I congratulated him for the gesture.

"We can't confuse religion with terrorism," I commented. "Our world is a world of diversity. In Brazil we have 10 million Arabs, and they are overwhelmingly peaceful."

Bush nodded. "It sounds like you've got a real diverse country down there."

"Oh yes," I said. "We are truly a melting pot." I told him about all the immigration Brazil had from Italy, Germany, Ukraine, Japan and so on. "we also have one of the world's largest populations of blacks, you know."

"Do you have blacks in Brazil?" Bush asked.

At that point [Condolezza] Rice chimed in. "Of course, Mister President," she said, and we quickly changed the subject to other matters.

Cardoso has a great deal of credibility with me. I see no reason for him to fabricate such an instance. I guess I misoverestimated the president.

By the way, I e-mailed the snopes site and they responded promptly with a note thanking me for the update.

UPDATE: Mércia reminded me that in June of 2002 we were at a party and met a Brazilian diplomat who related the story to us. I was skeptical, but he told me that Cardoso himself told him the story. Doesn't necessarily make it true, but it's interesting.

Comments

[werttrew]

This reminds me of a conversation I had a few years ago in Brazil.

I was talking with a Brazilian woman. Somehow, the conversation turned to race, and I mentioned African-Americans. She was astonished: "There are black people in America? I thought you were all white."

To be fair, every American she had met till then had been white, and she's not the leader of the free world, but I still found it pretty funny.