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Even though society in Brazil is multi-ethnic and multi-colored, racism is a potent force there. There are simply, quite literally, more shades of prejudice than elsewhere. In this story, a man returns to his birthplace to seek out a girl he grew up with. She is now a beautiful black woman. When he asks her to marry him, she refuses, saying that it could not be. He is disappointed, but persistent. A local white man tells him that she is actually a prostitute, and therefore is an unsuitable bride. Though this story is not true, he readily believes it, and tragedy follows.