Carnaval in Salvador. People in the middle row paid for V.I.P. access - denoted by the obligatory wearing of a dorky T-shirt called “abada”, which costs between R$ 250 and R$ 1500 (roughly $ 100 to $ 750).

The City of Salvador has the greatest African ancestry in Brazil, with about 70% of residents self-identifying as black. The V.I.P. access is not segregated in any way, except for “Filhos de Gandhi” block, which accepts only blacks (“Filhos de Gandhi” means Sons of Gandhi - yes, the Indian guy). The locals are not willing to pay those outrageous prices for the dubious privilege of not mixing up with poor (and often colored) people.

Those douchey whitey V.I.P.s (heh) are tourists from southern Brazil and elsewhere in the world.

Note (edit): I’m in no way defending the theory that Brazil doesn’t have racism. What I’m saying is that this particular picture, impressive as it is, is showing the difference between locals and tourists. You can probably find a similar color contrast between VIP rooms against bleacher seats during a Carnaval parade in Rio or São Paulo, or during soccer games - in that case, both are composed mostly of locals. Still, I’m calling the tourists douchey for paying overpriced tickets to not mix up with people and failing to notice the role they’re playing in the above picture