This study uses demographic censuses to estimate infant and child mortality rates among children born to white and nonwhite mothers in Brazil Estimates of associated levels of life expectancy showed that whites outlived nonwhites by 7.5 years in 1950. The mortality gap between the white and Afro-Brazilian populations remained about the same in 1980 (6.7 years). Tobit regression analyses of sample data for metropolitan areas in 1980 found that race of mother continued to have a significant effect on child mortality after controlling for region, household income, and parental education. Tests for interaction effects indicated that key social indicators (maternal and paternal education, indoor plumbing, access to the public health system, and the demographic characteristics of the household) had significantly different effects on the probability of death among white and nonwhite children. We show the contribution of these findings to research on racial inequality in Brazil and discuss the implications of the results for the fields of development studies and comparative race relations.