The Chamber of Deputies has a low average engagement on the issue of racial equality, according to research published in Brasília, this Tuesday (9), which combines the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with human analysis to evaluate the work of 571 deputies.
The 2025 Racial Equality Ranking is the result of the analysis of 37 thousand legislative activities including roll-call votes, speeches, opinions, amendments and substitutes.
The Advocacy Coordinator of the Black Reference Institute, Peregum Ingrid Sampaio, highlighted that, after the top 50 in the ranking, the ratings of male and female deputies drop abruptly.
“From then on, the award of grades drops abruptly to three. It is a very sudden drop. It is not gradual. This sudden drop makes us realize that there is, yes, some incipient engagement, but that the most engaged parliamentarians need to make a lot of effort to compensate for the lack of commitment of the others”, he assured.
Notes
The study presented by the Peregum Black Reference Institute – in partnership with the Tide Setubal Foundation – used an AI algorithm developed by the Brazilian Legislative Observatory (OLB) to produce the survey.
Parliamentarians receive scores ranging from the lowest -10 to the highest +10 based on positions, favorable or contrary, to projects that promote racial equality or that impact the black population in the evaluation of the organizations that carried out the study.
Expert Ingrid Sampaio states that the low engagement is due to the fact that the racial issue is an uncomfortable topic for the National Congress.
“It is a political decision that the agenda does not move forward. It is a thorny issue because it forces us to recognize the responsibility that we have as a country to heal this wound and move forward. And it is not comfortable and the uncomfortable topics Congress will already avoid”, he stated.
Throughout history, the Brazilian black movement has defended public policies to reduce inequalities between the black and white populations in the country. The income of black people corresponded, on average, to 58.3% of the income of white peopleaccording to the Center for Studies and Data on Racial Inequalities (Cedra).
You can check the highest and lowest scores in the 2025 Racial Equality Ranking at the end of this article. The research also promotes the awarding, on Tuesday night, in Brasília, of parliamentarians who stood out in defending agendas for racial equality.
The survey also included the participation of the Multidisciplinary Affirmative Action Study Group (Gemaa) at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ).
Right and left
In the ranking produced by the study, the first places are mostly occupied by members of center-left parties, but there are some right-wing or center-right parliamentarians among the first 50 placed.
The coordinator of the Peregum Black Reference Institute, Ingrid Sampaio, highlights that, despite this issue being historically linked to the left, there are several parliamentarians from outside this field who have been supporting the issue, even if contradicting their benches.
“Left-wing parties are more engaged on the issue and, at the same time, we have a center and center-right with some dissent. They have their disagreements internally and, to some extent, have the freedom to act in accordance with local interests or the parliamentarian’s own experience”, he concludes.
Black parliamentarians
The research also points out that black, women and indigenous parliamentarians are those who most promote racial issues, with greater involvement in votes, speeches, amendments and opinions.
“The research also highlights that, even though they represent only 20% of the Chamber, women occupy the majority of the top positions, reinforcing that the plurality of experiences is decisive in the formulation of more robust policies aligned with the needs of the Brazilian population”, says the study.
Ingrid Sampaio added that the presence of non-white people and women in the National Congress reinforces the agenda for racial equality.
“This proves, with data, that representation makes a difference. The presence of women and people of color in Congress really influences public policies. This influences the qualification of the debates that we need to have as a society”, he considered.
The complete study can be accessed here:
