In Brazil, the official census distinguishes between "preto" (Black) and "pardo" (a category commonly associated with mixed racial ancestry). The unified political and legal category, known by the official Portugese term "negro", has historically encompassed both pretos and pardos (for the purposes of this debate, refer to this identity as "the unified category").
Brazil currently has race-based affirmative action policies, including quotas in higher education and public employment. These apply to the unified category as a whole. However, major federal quota programmes generally verify racial self-identification based on visible physical characteristics (phenotype) as a supplement, rather than ancestry alone.
The Movimento Negro Unificado (MNU), founded in 1978, is a historically influential Brazilian Black movement that has promoted the unified political identity in its struggle against racism.
In recent years, advocates of Parditude have promoted greater recognition of pardo as an identity distinct from the unified category.