Hello, Wow I was very captivated by the conversations, however I am not Portuguese, my sister is. I am Italian and Spanish. It is so hard to mark the correct thing on these dumb census forms today. I say that because the origins of Hispanic and Latin were all turned around. People of Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and French descent are Latin because of the languages. Now, after research and reading so many different articles, I consider people of South America Mestizos because they are descendents of Latin and native blood lines, as well as African descent. I can pass for the Latin that is known here and to the rest of the world. However when I tell people I'm Latin, I'm not saying that I'm from Latin American but because of my Latin heritage of Italian and Spanish descent. Latin means the language of ancient Rome and a member of a people speaking a romance language. Hispania was a termed used for the people of the Iberia Peninsula which consists of the Spaniards and Portuguese. I assume it is how you see yourself and how you want others to see you. The government is the one who starting putting people in categories without knowing the true meaning of the word and group but that is due to ignorance. I view Portuguese, Spaniards, and Italians to be Latin and they are one the "grand parents" to the "Latinos" of South America. Which now I referred them as being mestizos because they are descendents of Latins, Native Americans, and Africans. If you want to go even deeper than that, they also have Arabic and Jewish descent as well.....so basically WE OUR ALL MIXED MUTTS!!! So in conclusion I consider my sister and me to be Latin, and I mark other on the census form and fill it in if there is a line provided. !gracias!. .........Pamela Pinto-Da'Moni

--(We kindly request our visitors to translate the following from Spanish to English)
Sobre lo dicho, Hispanics es para los Gringos una definicion arbitraria, y ellos entre su ignorancia y su poder hacen o que les da la gana; la salida: Aprovechar la calificacon para  obtnere beneficios como minorias porque siempre lo seran; los que se quejan los acomplejados que olvidan que cuando llegaron  sus acncestros fueron considerados no white y ahora son mas papsitas que el papa, xla vaca se olvidó quando fue terneraª suele suceder . Um grande abraço para os Lusos pensantes desde PERÚ...  Luis Lozano--
-I have one more input about the Hispanic or Portuguese debate. People keep bringing up the government census. The Census say's all middle Eastern people are white. all Arabs, Iranians etc.. When some of those people are dark skinned. But then a blond haired blue eyed person from Latin America is not "White". The Census is a joke. The next time I get stopped by a police officer and the put Hisp on my ticket I will bring out my Census form and show him that I am not. the next time my daughter comes home and tells me that an Anglo kid called her and her Mexican American friend "Beaners" I will make sure next time she has here census form with here to show the truth. You can't put everybody in the USA in a category. When my people came to this country from Portugal in the early 1900's they where not white, Now they are white. .That's why I don't fill out the "Race Section". They don't have a box for me. One last thing Hispanic is not a race. It's a ethnic group. You can be white, brown, black and be Hispanic. Joe Silva
Joe, you are correct in stating that we are Latin. In fact, Latin blood permeates Europe, the Americas, parts of Africa, etc. Hundreds of millions of people the world over could define themselves as Latin, if the requirement was Latin blood running through their veins. Yep, we could all be Latin, but please remember that this was never the question. I have realized that the only problem with this forum is that the real question is "how do some Portuguese people define themselves?" I understand that in America your stereotypical xwhite guyx is tall, lanky and pale, while your Hispanics are seen as shorter and brown. While we all know that this isnxt true, this depiction on T.V., in movies, etc. seems to have influenced the way some Portuguese have come to identify themselves. Clearly, you do not see yourself as a xwhite-guyx, while I most certainly do. Most of us arenxt the tall, Nordic-typex.but in truth, neither are most Southern-Europeans! It doesnxt matter, really. There is no question, as far as the American government is concerned, as to what we are. For the census and other government purposes, if your ancestors are European you are "white". If you, or your ancestors, are from Central America, the Caribbean, or South America (except for Brazil), you are Hispanic. This is one way to tally how many potential Spanish-speaking Americans are in the country, which in turn affects gov't spending, the educational system, laws on bilingualism in the U.S. etc Every Portuguese person who checks off Hispanic, is doing the rest of us a disservice!! The government is attempting to figure out things like, how many of itsx employees must speak Spanish, whether it is a valid argument that both Spanish and English be taught in grade-school, what languages must a DMV test be printed in, and other matters of this sort The last time I checked, Portugal was in Europe, neither we nor our ancestors spoke Spanish, and there are no laws in Congress being debated over Portuguese or Portuguese-Americans. I must say, again, that it is a little disheartening to hear some Portuguese say they reply or check "Hispanic" because they do not know any better, or have no clue what else to say I reiterate, take pride and learn about our culture, our history, and help shape our future. It is truly great to be a Portagee!! (And Joe, one of my great-grandmas was a Silva. I know itxs a pretty common name, but where is your family from?)-Ryan Reposa
-People, We all have Latin blood running through our veins that's what binds us. You all need to think of it that way. We are all part of the Latin culture if your Hispanic or Portuguese. I don't think of myself as a white guy with a tan. I am Latin. Joe Silva-
I'm sorry, but this seems like a ridiculous discussion! Are people in Northern Italy, French? Ok, their dialect is similar and they "look" the same, but that is absurd! Nope, they're Italiano. Many Portuguese (myself included) look like Spaniards or Italianos. In California, which is where I'm writing from, some people think that I'm a fair skinned Mexican, or Jewish. None of this matters, though. Fact is fact, and the fact is that we, as Portuguese, are European, not minorities and definitely not Hispanic. If somebody happens to think that you're Hispanic and discriminates against you, that DOESN'T make you Hispanic, you're just the victim of some bodies ignorance. In fact I think that it is noble that some people on this site empathize with Hispanics, and many note the cultural similarities. While this is true, the Portuguese also share many cultural similarities with the French, but I would never call myself a Frenchman!
To those Portuguese throwing yourself into the hodge-podge cultural stew of Hispanic.........STOP IT!!! Go read a book on our great, long, noble culture and stop using this label as a way of receiving special attention, or a way to lick your wounds because somebody saw that you were tan and called you Latino! Get over it, your a Portagee and be proud!! Ryan Reposa






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  • Updated:
    November 18, 2011