Recent years have seen a surprising reversal of racial identification trends among Brazilians, moving away from their previously documented tendency toward whiteness. This article interrogates this unexpected shift and attributes it to state education initiatives aimed at expanding citizenship for the lower classes.

The author posits that increased access to schooling has exposed newly mobile citizens in Brazil to information, social networks, and labor market opportunities, fostering racialized political identities.

This claim is explored through a blend of methods:

• Interviews & Analyses: In-depth interviews combined with systematic analyses of national survey data and census records.
• Survey Experiments: Original survey experiments provide direct evidence for the causal mechanisms.

The findings offer fresh insight into identity politicization, underscoring how educational expansion interacts with social structures to reshape political belonging.