ABSTRACT
The article resulted from a research focused on the academic trajectories of students who entered the system through racial quotas in the Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA), considering the analysis of the meanings attributed by students themselves to this experience they lived. In the field of studies about the functioning of racial affirmative actions, the research analyzes the narratives of thirteen students who entered UFPA through the racial quota and have already graduated or are close to complete their graduation. The conclusions of this study suggest that, regarding the students interviewed, the program of UFPA has been effective in providing these young people with access and successful stay at the university, although they still face financial difficulties, problems to access cultural benefits and prejudice, both because they are racial quota beneficiaries and because they are black.
KEYWORDS:
racism; affirmative actions; racial quotas at universities