
The picture above, taken during anti-government protests in Brazil, has been held up online as emblematic of the country's economic and racial divides - though others loudly defended the couple captured on camera.
A white couple walk their dog in Ipanema, one of the wealthiest neighbourhoods in Rio de Janeiro. Behind them, their twin toddlers ride in a stroller pushed by a black nanny. The parents are wearing yellow and green clothes - the colours of the Brazilian flag - whereas the maid is dressed in the all-white uniform that some upper-class Brazilians prefer their domestic employees to wear.
The family and their maid were on their way to join one of more than 100 protest marches held Sunday across Brazil. The protesters - two million of them last weekend - are fed up with corruption allegations against President Dilma Rousseff and a poorly performing economy.
And by the time the demonstrations were over, this one picture - strangely absent of large crowds, dramatic scenes or tense confrontations - had been shared millions of times.
To understand why requires a little bit of knowledge about Brazilian politics today.
Rousseff and her predecessor, Lula da Silva, have both come under fire for corruption allegations linked to the state-run oil company, Petrobras. Da Silva is currently under investigation in a bribery case, and high-profile members of the ruling Workers Party have been convicted of corruption charges. Both Da Silva and his successor have denied any wrongdoing and say the allegations are politically motivated.
Even though Brazilians across all classes and ethnicities have expressed frustration with the current left leaning administration, polls suggest the demonstrations are dominated by white and upper-middle-class people. One survey of protesters in Sao Paulo indicated that protesters were much wealthier than average and that three-quarters were white (compared to less than half of the general population).
So for many online, the photo snapped by Joao Valadares, a journalist with Brazilian newspaper Correio Brazilienze, became a symbol of how polarized Brazil is over the current protests.
"I want my country back, where I can have my "maid" and not give her any rights (IRONY)", one user commented. "What the picture says, between the lines, is that you are asking for a better world for yourself as a white employer, and for your perfect family, while the black nanny continues to be a maid
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