Not that it makes any difference, but... The discussions about the recent first Hispanic Supreme Court judge found me looking in bewilderment as some claimed that Portuguese are considered Hispanic in the US. This surprised me as I don't see myself as Hispanic (as the term is not used here in Europe). Would any of you living across the pond consider yourselves Hispanic?
Sunnova...you mean I coulda had all sorts of scholarships and such by claiming I was Hispanic? Anyway, I thought "hispanic" was outdated since it implied they came from Spain, hence Euro-centric? I thought the term was "Latino" since it reflects they are from Latin America, not to be confused with the "Latin" origins in Europe.... Anywho, I should start marking Iberic or Luso as my heritage.
That was pretty much my view, but in the news there were discussions whether Benjamin Cardozo (of Portuguese origin) qualified. Apparently the Department of Transportation in the US includes Portuguese ancestry as Hispanic (some sort of throwback to Hispania, which was the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula). Maybe you did miss out on some scholarships.
This subject tortured my brain a bunch of times during high school. White people(French, English, Scottish, Russian Ukraine background) would tell me I wasn't white, the black kids would tell me I wasn't white. I tried to claim white but they would never give it to me. Then to further mess with my brain they would call Spanish people from Spain "Hispanic", or Latino, which didn't make anysense to me at the time because I was from the country right next to them on the same Iberian piece of land! . A Mexican friend of mine in highschool, also claimed to be Latino, and I looked exactly like him, so I started to claim that "title". But people in Brasil didn't identify with this title AT ALL, but they spoke the same language? To make matters worse, I was experiencing descrimination from different institutions. I was refused on buses, despite having all credentials neccesary, I was profiled by Police, with them even spelling my name "Jose Borguez" ( I'll Never forget that). I also experienced sporting parents and fans calling me "********, among other things. As a result I started identifying with that title, I began putting other, or Latin on the cencus reports as kid. But I still wasn't really satisfied, because when I went to Portugal during my last 2 summers in Portugal I saw people of so many different skin colors, so many different characteristics, eye color hair color, etc. What I ended up undestanding was that government officials were simply trying to group people together. As I traveled around the world I also noticed this phenomenon as well. People in Spain certainly did not classify themselves as "Latino" or "Hispanic" neither did Portuguese. But modern children in North American certainly identified themselves as such. What I noticed was there there where different types of people everywere. Brasil had millions of millions of "white people" or people from European hertitage, but they also have millions of mixed people. Uruaguy was almost completely a populus of Native background, but their neighbors, Paraguay, was a country predominately populated by Europeans, with pockets of Native Americans, Argentina a similar situation. Cuba, Puerto Rico, people lighter then me, Dominican Republic a country where 80 % of the populus is black or has some type of black DNA, yet they REFUSE to be called black, outside of DR of course. But go to NYC and and ask a Dominican what "race" they are, 1st answer will be "LATINO". Basically, its all bullshit. Its a stupid title given by North America politicians and media outlets to group individuals, adopted by Mexico and now greated Western Nations. You see white people in Mexico's larger cities, but Mexico's populus is much more hemogeonous, native. Yet they fully adopted the title "Latino" thanks to modern media and the influences of America on their culture. But how come those same people with the same genetic background in New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, are refered to as Native Americans? Its bullshit. I no longer identify myself as Latino, or Hispanic, I simply put white. Some people, especially women still consider me to be "Latin", I let them have it. I consider myself Luso now for kicks and giggles, I identify myself as Portuguese(Seleccao thank you!) and that race, and the definition of race, is nonsense...., if they keep asking I just say white or Arab if I am feel like F'n with them. I have some Mexican/Italian girlfriends, they act as white/Italian as can be. Your classic Valley girl syndrome, but they both look like they come from somewhere in Central America, so thats just it. Its just all bullshit. Are Portuguese people "Hispanic", I guess as much as a black as night Dominican, a red - haired Jew from Acapulco, Mexico, or a Blond Arab living in Colombia are hispanic.
Hispanic isnt a race, its more of a cultural group. Hispanics can be of european descent (i.e. Spanish/Portuguese/other), Amerindian, or African, since these 3 "races" were what populated the different countries of Latin America. To further complicate matters you have many people who are mixed race, some look part european/amerindian (i.e. alot of central americans like salvadorians or mexicans), some look part european/african (i.e. some mixed brazilians) you can have Amerindians/Blacks and some ppl are even mixes of all 3 races. I dont consider myself hispanic because being Portuguese we have our own unique culture, and there is no reason for us to be lumped together with ppl who for the most part live on a completely different continent, mostly speak a different language and have a completely different socio-economic structure. We sitll share alot in common and can relate... ou cultures have some similarities but in the end we are Portuguese and I dont see any reason why Portuguese should be deemed as hispanic. A colombian friend of mine told me in Spain they are "white and racist against hispanics" so from this one example I have seen at least one hispanic label spaniards as not being hispanic. However, growing up I always considered myself white. because well, if i went to Portugal I would be considered white and my family considers ourselves white. but some white ppl or black ppl or other ppl here do not consider my white. I possess what are seen as typical Portugeese physical traits - Im pretty much always tanned even in the winter, im a little bit short in height lol, dark brown curly hair and eyes so some ppl dont really consider that "white" like an anglo saxon. I remmeber one time in school our teacher (who was a Black lady) wanted to see how "multicultural" our class was and she said I wasnt white and grouped me in with all the non-whites in the class for her little data-collection study LOL she was like "white means ppl descended from europe" and I said I was from Portugal and thats in Europe but she said that she thinks its considered non-white LOl. i still remember that it was years ago and very awkward because I sat down (the non-whites were told to stand up for the experiment) and everyone in the class looked at me like I was crazy for thinking i was white lol. and Remember I pretty much look liek a "typical" Portguese I guess and there is absolutely no other races in my bloodline to my knowledge. Most ppl guess me as being Spanish/Portugeuse or Italian altho ive gotten other things on the rare occasion. at the same time, I have some Portuguese friends who look like they could be Irish or english or anglo saxon... and nobody seems to consider them as not being white ol.
In the USA, Hispanic is not something Portuguese with ties to Portugal are either considered by the government nor claimed by most Portuguese-Americans. I check other on the census form, and write in Portuguese-American, for I do not consider myself " white " as it really means "Anglo" here.
Not Hispanic. I think a more appropriate way to label, or at least for the purposes of financial aid money and things of that nature, would be first-generation immigrant, etc. etc. from Europe/etc.
Hispanic is an outdate term kind of like African-American. Why does the colour of the skin matter so much? Some portuguese people are really white, blond/red hari, some are really dark with brown/black hair. I've never even heard anyone referring to a portuguese person as a latino or hispanic but I grew up in Toronto in a elementary/high school dominated by portuguese and people from South and Central America. I don't even remember referring to South/Central Americans as latinos. We just called them "spanish guys" and we knew we were not referring to people from Spain. We should just consider ourselves Canadians/Americans with a portuguese backround and that's it. In 3 or 4 generations, the only thing portuguese that we pass on will be our last names.
by then, there are chances of marrying non-portuguese and your great-great-great-grandkids will probably struggle to even know what the Capital of Portugal is.
Hispanic to me always implied a person from a Spanish Caribbean, Central, or South american country. I wouldn't consider someone from Haiti hispanic (even though Haiti is on Hispaniola) and same goes for Belize, Brazil, Guadaloupe, or any of the French or Anglo Islands. To be honest Hispanic to me also always implied some sort of Mestizo ancestry. I wouldn't consider all those white Argentinians hispanic nor would I call a Black Dominican, Colombian, Cuban hispanic. None of the Dominican guys I've ever known would have referred to themselves as hispanic either. It's a crazy outdated term; Latino seems to be what they put on the forms here in the US now since it supposedly encompasses any race but even still when someone says Latino their first image is a mestizo central american. As for Portuguese being hispanic, not even close.
It's very simple. If you are from a spanish-speaking country or a decendant of someone who is, you're Hispanic.
What if you're ethnic Chinese born and raised in Costa Rica and moved to the USA at age 27 ? Still Hispanic ?
Yes, still Hispanic. He can still say he's Chinese, too. Hispanic has nothing to do with race. It's language and region that are the determining factors. I know it seems strange because we instinctively think it has something to do with ethnicity but it includes all sorts of ethnicities that might not have much in common other than speaking spanish. The Spanish language is the main thing. This can help you out: Hispanic.com definition of Hispanic Joel: Grow up, buddy.
that's a romantic view of things . That guy is considered "chino" in Costa Rica and definitely Chinese not Hispanic in the USA, even though he speaks Spanish fluently and very little Cantonese. He, himself will tell you that.
Are you insisting that my offspring will breed with fuglies? I figure, worst case scenario is they get with some butterfaces.
True story: My dad (several generations in the US: Scottish, Irish, Swedish) worked in oil exploration and married my Portuguese mother (story for another day: the trials and tribulations of FigoTX getting his Portuguese citizenship since the Portuguese side of the family -mother- left Portugal with a foreigner, which was inexcusable at the time). Anywho, my oldest brother is born in Portugal, then my middle brother is born in Tanzania. Is my middle brother an African-American, or maybe a Luso-African-American? I always told him to mark that down,but he wouldn't do it. And of course we're not Hispanic. My grandfather (on my mom's side) would kick some heads around if he or any Portuguese got called Spanish or of Hispanic descent. Anywho, it seems that whenever labels are created they are thrown out by the future generations as they see these labels as being antiquated and/or racist.
Not my family, cuz they'll get beat if they don't know the capital of Portugal is Sporting. Err, Lisboa.
I believe that 100% but, he could bubble in "Hispanic" in a government form and nobody could ever say he lied. I don't like that they ask those questions on test, etc. If I can't write in Portuguese I don't bubble anything. They probably want me to bubble in "white" but what does that mean? We could have a whole 'nother conversation about that term, too.
Hispanic is a term generally meant to refer to people of Central or South American, and not European, descent regardless of direct ancestry. Spanairds, for instance, although Spanish-speaking, would not be classified as Hispanics under the United States census. They would be under the same bracket as the English, who are considered white. Genetically, the average Hispanic is different to the average European, which belies the reason for why they are placed in different categories.