Why in this place?

Classification of racial and ethnic data for mortality cases is problematic in the Northeast of Brazil. This paper will address some of the reasons for this. The dead cannot self-declare their race or colour, as such that responsibility turns to the professional of Legal Medicine who completes the Declaration of Death. The Legist is a contentious interface between Medicine and Justice. It has been historically marked by eugenics and discourses of racial supremacy. The medical work is supposed to provide a "neutral" technical decision to serve the processes of justice. Methodology: This case study investigates the classification schemes used by professionals of forensic medicine, of a Brazilian city with high rates of mortality from violent causes amongst ethnic groups. The ratings were extracted from documents and interviews with medical staff. Results: The Brazilian state has been pursuing non-discriminatory policies, against prejudice and racism as origin or signal. This policy has proven to be problematic in relation to the work of legists. The policy dictates that the legist must describe the physical characteristics of the dead body, without using reference to “race” recording only the colour of skin. The confrontation between different rationalities appears at this juncture; colour is singularity whilst “race” relates to the whole set of attributes. The policy demands the expert must give qualified proofs generated from technical judgements. Conclusion: Since the cause of death is privileged, “who is dead”, almost 100% of blacks end in negligence, as they are not recorded as black, while the “social whites” construct high walls to not see the “natural” extermination outside. Where is the loss? In the System of Information on Mortality? The doctor cannot feel it because there isn’t a patient to be saved. The black people, condemned since birth, turns in such space, only into a proof of law