The article seeks to identify and understand the mode in which Afro-Brazilian students in the municipal school system of Porto Alegre constitute their social interactions and how such constructions manifest themselves amongst student culture and in Physical Education classes. Using educational ethnography, it reflects on afro participation in the construction of a society that is full of contradictions and controversies. The authors analyzed documents, used participant observation, kept a field diary, led discussion groups and conducted semi-structured interviews. The analysis emphasizes the way in which the study's subjects perceived themselves in ethno-racial relationships when dealing with the codes of student culture, especially when identifying themselves in relation to the group, revealing that Afro-Brazilians manifest a certain naturalization of a social position of inferiority. The different cultures in the school lend different meanings to the actions, rituals and codes, which will then be interpreted using elements of this very culture.
students; afro-brazilian; physical education; race