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In January 1992 I went to a small town in the interior of the state of Rio de Janeiro to conduct field research on race and racism. In planning for this trip, I had consulted with graduate student colleagues and scholars who specialized in Brazilian Studies. In giving advice, no one had suggested that racism might be a factor in field research. 1 In fact, some had even suggested that race, or at least my phenotype, would be an advantage. In my field research, I still vividly remember one graduate student’s encouraging words:“They will love you in Brazil because you’ll be a mulatta there.”