In this paper we present an analysis of the judgments released by the Court of Appeal of the state of Minas Gerais, regarding claims that have as their central point practices identified as racism, discrimination or prejudice on the basis of race or skin color. By doing so, we aim to answer the following questions: which type of conflict related to race or skin color is judged, and in the second instance, with regards to the Court of Appeal; which acts, words or expressions are present in these cases; which type of arguments are used and which discursive strategies are applied by defendants, victims and judges to manage the conflict. Our results indicate that the legal system tends to decontextualize expressions historically considered as racist, denying that the root of the observed conflicts is racial prejudice.