LAUSR

Significance Among the possible explanations for the racial differences in academic performance observed in the United States is “acting White,” which refers to a trade-off between academic performance and popularity faced by minority students. Using data from Brazil, another country with a long history of racial discrimination, we find that non-White students do not face such a dilemma, especially when we account for the role of non-White friendship ties in overall social status. We also find a weak negative relationship between grades and racial identification with the mixed-race group. Our results provide insights for understanding racial relations, not only in Brazil, but also in the United States, in the light of the recent demographic trends in this country.