Although elements of racial self-consciousness and external classifications can be found throughout the entire history of Brazil, since the twentieth century the political element of racial identity has provoked debate, as groups related to individuals subjected to slavery have denounced the persistence of the stigma of social discrimination and unequal opportunities preventing them from improving their standards of living. Much of the Brazilian movement against racism has been influenced by developments in the United States of America and other parts of the world, such as the struggle for independence in Angola and Mozambique. Mainly since the 1970s, issues of racial identification in Brazil have become highly politicized and the features of this debate have changed to accommodate different perceptions. However, the majority of the population still resists abandoning the comfort of the wide concept of moreno to embrace the dichotomy of black or white.  
The first thing to notice about the growing racial consciousness among people of African descent in Brazil is that blackness is perceived differently in that society. This means that, while in the United States of America and the English-speaking Caribbean, the word 'black' has replaced 'Negro', which is associated with the stigma of slavery, in Brazil the word negro has been adopted by the black movement, intellectuals and the media in general to refer to pretos, which implies racism and discrimination. A common expression, 'preto é cor, negro é raça' (black is colour, negro is race), is used to justify racial affiliation as a kind of political statement.