INTRODUCTION:
In epidemiology and health surveillance, the race/color variable is often treated as a technical, neutral, and decontextualized category. However, in societies shaped by colonialism and structural racism, this category reflects historical, political, and epistemological disputes. This study proposes a critical and decolonial reading of the use of race/color in health surveillance systems, understanding it as a tool traversed by the coloniality of power, knowledge, and being.

METHODS:
This is a theoretical-analytical study grounded in a critical literature review, documentary analysis of Health Surveillance regulations in Brazil, and epistemological reflection anchored in critical Collective Health frameworks, decolonial studies, and Black Population Health. The analysis articulates public policies, health information systems, and knowledge production in public health.

RESULTS:
The findings indicate that the instrumental use of the race/color variable—when disconnected from a historical and political understanding of racism—contributes to its institutional undervaluation, poor data quality, and limited incorporation into decision-making processes. The absence of a decolonial approach reinforces practices that render racial inequalities invisible and reproduce colonial logics within the field of epidemiological surveillance.

CONCLUSIONS:
Incorporating a decolonial perspective into the use of the race/color variable is essential to transform health surveillance into an effective tool for confronting racial inequalities. Moving beyond the notion of technical neutrality and acknowledging the ethical-political implications of this category constitute a central step toward building health systems committed to equity and social justice.