Just as Lula’s 2002 election signified a sea of change in a highly class-conscious, socially stratified society, Silva’s election would shake up the racial order in a country – and indeed continent – where racism has not been eradicated. Indeed, in a country that has been proud of its supposedly non-racist nature, there has been no Afro-Brazilian politician of significant stature for a century.
正如2002年卢拉的当选预示着一个具有高度阶级意识、阶层分化明显的社会的大转变，席尔瓦的当选将颠覆这个至今仍未消灭种族主义的国家——事实上是大陆——的种族秩序。事实上，在这个以自称的不带种族色彩特征为豪的国家，一百年来从未有非洲裔巴西人政治家赢得崇高地位。