PORTUGUESE-AMERICANS: THE LOST HISPANICS
George Perry
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, 44106
Correspondence to:
George Perry, Ph.D.
Institute of Pathology
Case Western Reserve University
2085 Adelbert Road
Cleveland, Ohio 44106 USA
216-368-2488
216-368-8964 (fax)
george.perry@case.edu
The issue of who in America is
Hispanic is unclear. Is it
merely a description of
conveniences for political
expedience or is it a group of
true affinity (Rodriguez, 2002)?
If political, does this
classification enable? The issue
of who is Hispanic is
particularly important to
Portuguese-Americans because as
argued here, they share all of
their demographics and origins
with traditional Hispanics are
not often recognized as such.
While America’s dictionary of
record defines Hispanic as “the
people, speech, or culture of
Spain, Spain and Portugal, or
Latin America (Gove,
1993),”and as a scholarly field,
Portuguese are included as
Hispanic (Hispanic Research
Journal, 2004), American
culture, reflected by the U.S.
Census and other government
agencies, has no mention of
Portuguese as Hispanic and
defines Hispanic as those who
“trace their origin or descent
to Spain or to Mexico, Puerto
Rico, Cuba, and many other
Spanish speaking countries of
Latin America” (Bureau of the
Census, 1993).
Portuguese-Americans themselves
also seldom consider themselves
Hispanic (Portuguese-American
Historical & Research
Foundation, 2004; Holmes,
1998). Therefore, we are left
with operational definitions of
Hispanics as inclusive of
various peoples of Hispanic
culture derived from European,
Native American, African, or
Asian ancestry (Rodriguez,
2002), but explicitly omitting
Portuguese.
Is exclusion of Portuguese
recognition of their distinction
or instead a reflection of other
realities?
Comparing Portuguese with Latin Americans shows most immigrated to the United States to pursue working class jobs based on opportunities for entry and availability of positions (Table 1). There was substantial maritime traffic through the Azores and Madeira (Portuguese colonies) and mainland Portugal and natives involved in the whale and fishing trade left the islands and entered into New England with subsequent migration to California or Hawaii for agriculture, fishing, and familiar climate. Latin American migration was initially to adjacent states to perform manual labor with subsequent migration further into the U.S. heartland, initially to perform manual farm labor and later to other working-class occupations. While European groups also entered the U.S. for economic opportunities, their life was less tied to a limited set of skills and instead new ones were developed through education leading to dispersal.
Portuguese share many other traits with groups traditionally recognized as Hispanics that when seen together, make separation artificial. Portugal was derived from a county of León, a country that, save for the region now known as Portugal, merged into modern day Spain. Second, while the Portuguese language is distinct from Spanish, the language of Spain is not uniform and, significantly, the people in Galicia, a Spanish region adjacent to northern Portugal speak a language similar to Portuguese. Third, a large number of Portuguese that entered the U.S. were inhabitants of the Azores or Madeira, colonies much like Latin America and historically suffering poverty leading to immigration, again much like the Latin American colonies of Spain. Fourth, low educational attainment marks Portuguese-Americans as other Latin American groups, with a result that education lags that of any group derived from the Old World, including Spaniards. (Tables 2 and 3). . Fifth, like persons of traditional Hispanic ancestry, there is a strong predilection for Portuguese-Americans to have strong ties to the Catholic Church (Holmes, 1998) (Table 2), strong sense of family and to participate in festivals particularly associated with the church (e.g. Holy Ghost Festivals) (Goulart, 2002). Portuguese Americans have further maintained their solidarity by forming societies within Portuguese communities (Goulart, 2002).
The data presented above suggests that like traditional Hispanic-Americans, Portuguese-Americans are not experiencing social advancement, a fact often overlooked. While American culture, the U.S. government and Portuguese-Americans, often overlook socioeconomic shortfalls based on moderate economic success such as a relatively high household income (Table 4), it is at the expense of long-term social advancement attested by a low rate of education (Table 2). Portuguese-Americans often earn the above average income by working ‘extra’ working class jobs forgoing investment in education. It is striking that Portuguese-American educational attainment shows no sign of increasing as it does for other groups including many traditionally Hispanic groups. It can be argued that cultural aspects that define immigration to the U.S. by former Spanish, Portuguese, or their colony members may be major contributors for relative lack of socioeconomic advancement. With few exceptions, (e.g., Cubans after 1958 or Central and South America during the 1980’s), Latin Americans and Portuguese came to America not for religious, cultural, or political freedom, but instead for economic advantage, often with the goal of returning to their homeland after obtaining the economic fruits of the U.S. (Mira, 2001). The strength of this force is shown by noting the similarities in educational attainment of Portuguese-Americans with Pennsylvania Germans (Table 2) a group predominantly made of Amish and other groups who explicitly discourage education and finding they are similar and rank as the lowest among any immigrant group from the old world.
Why Portuguese-Americans have not universally identified themselves with and subject to the same cultural factors that shaped immigrants from Latin America (O Progresso) may be based on history. Although Portuguese derive from the expansion of León (Northern Spain) over one thousand years ago, Portugal has been in constant conflict with Spain and its predecessors. That Portugal has remained autonomous for almost 900 years while Spain represents the consolidation by Castile of all the adjacent countries speaks strongly of Portuguese independence (Mathew, 1989), and may be why they continue to remain distinct from Spain or Spanish culture no matter what their origin or the socioeconomic cost. Yet, while history and demographics do put Portuguese as distinct from modern Spanish, it does not separate them from the Iberian peninsula, Hispanola, and the issue should not be dismissed based on issues of government patrimony because “they don’t want to be involved in affirmative action” (Holmes, 1998). Making such simple pronouncements begs the question as to the factors that underlie demographics that speak strongly for a group that although through most, but not all (Mira, 2001), of US history has been recognized as “white”, has not fully shared in social integration. While a strong sense of independence (Portuguese-American Historical & Research Foundation, 2004) is a cultural trait of Portuguese, it, together with America’s preconceptions regarding Hispanic identity, are important to an enlightened perspective to Portuguese-American identity.
Portuguese-Americans are not
well integrated into the
American mainstream. They adhere
to religious traditions,
festivals and celebrations of
their native culture as do the
those of Mexican ancestry (5
May, Cinco de Mayo; 15
September, Mexican Independence
Day; 12 December, Our Lady of
Guadalupe; 6 January, Epiphany).
Maybe most important for
socioeconomic advancement,
neither culture promotes higher
education leaving longstanding
deficiencies. The choices
Portuguese-Americans can be
appreciated by the career of the
highly successful
Portuguese-American politician,
former U.S. Congress member Tony
Coelho, who was a member of the
Congressional Hispanic Caucus in
the 99th and 100th
Congress. While none of the four
current Portuguese-American
Congressmen were initially
members and have instead formed
the Portuguese-American Caucus
with predominantly
‘white-Americans’, more
recently, they too joined the
Hispanic consensus. These
actions mirror the choices
Portuguese must make in
separating themselves from
Hispanic culture or instead
uniting with a dominant culture
where they share few values. For
Portuguese-Americans,
understanding cultural history
and demographics is critical to
self-realization.
CITED LITERATURE
Bureau of the Census, 1993. We the American…Hispanics, U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration. Available from: http://www.census.gov/apsd/wepeople/we-2r.pdf [Accessed 14 April 2004]
Goulart, T.P., 2002, The Holy Ghost Festas: A Historical Perspective of the Portuguese in California. Portuguese Chamber of Commerce of California.
Gove, Phillip Babcock, 1993. Webster’s Third New World International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged, Springfield, MA: Merriam Webster Inc.
Hispanic Research Journal, London, Maney Publishing on behalf of Hispanic Research Ltd, Queen Mary and Westfield College. Available from: http://www.maney.co.uk/search?fwaction=show&fwid=166 [Accessed 14 April 2004]
Holmes, L. (1998). That ‘Are We Hispanics?’ Question Is Heard Again. O Progresso, Portuguese Historical Society of Sacramento.
Mathew, D., 1989.Atlas of Medieval Europe. Oxford: Equinox.
Mira, M., 2001. The Portuguese Making of America. Franklin, North Carolina: Portuguese American Historical Research Foundation, Inc.
Portuguese-American Historical & Research Foundation, “Hispanic or Portuguese Debate”. http://www.portuguesefoundation.org/hispanic.htm [Accessed 14 April 2004]
Rodriguez, R., 2002. Brown:
The Last Discovery of America.
New York: Viking Press.
Table 1. Portuguese and Hispanic Population by State
|
|
|
Rank of States |
|
|
|
|
Ancestry |
First |
Second |
Third |
Fourth |
Fifth |
|
|
Costa Rican |
CA (16379) |
MA (7483) |
FL (7130) |
TX (2664) |
MD (2551) |
|
|
Guatemalan |
CA (143017) |
NY (20293) |
IL (15263) |
FL (12137) |
TX (10732) |
|
|
Honduran |
CA (26834) |
NY (23014) |
FL (21682) |
TX (9614) |
LA (8268) |
|
|
Mexican |
CA (5322170) |
TX (3403368) |
IL (557536) |
NM (215576) |
CO (198902) |
|
|
Portuguese |
CA (356,495) |
MA (289,424) |
RI (94,650) |
NJ (63,188) |
HI (57,125) |
|
Table 2. Hispanic Groups
Ancestry |
Doctorate (%) |
Bachelor's + (%) |
High School + (%) |
Median Family Income |
Households Living in groups (%) |
Single parent Families (%) |
# of People |
Speak English (%) |
Catholic (%) |
Linguistically Isolated Homes (%) |
|
Brazilian |
2 |
27.7 |
78.1 |
$29,987.00 |
12 |
9.0 |
57,108 |
28.3 |
70 |
28.5 |
|
Cape Verdean |
0.24 |
9.2 |
58.7 |
$30,328.00 |
14.7 |
22.3 |
46,552 |
63 |
96 |
14 |
|
Costa Rican |
0.27 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
16.5 |
13.5 |
57,223 |
-- |
93 |
18 |
|
Cuban |
1 |
16.6 |
56.8 |
$32,417.00 |
15.3 |
6.8 |
1,053,197 |
45.5 |
70 |
28.5 |
|
Guatemalan |
0.17 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
33.6 |
12.6 |
268,779 |
-- |
75 |
44.5 |
|
Honduran |
0.18 |
-- |
--- |
-- |
26.9 |
19.7 |
131,066 |
-- |
92.7 |
35 |
|
Mexican |
0.15 |
6.2 |
44.2 |
$24,119.00 |
23 |
12.1 |
13,393,208 |
49.1 |
95.3 |
23.7 |
|
native |
0.17 |
-- |
-- |
$26,766.00 |
14.9 |
14.4 |
8,933,371 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
foreign born |
0.11 |
-- |
-- |
$21,568.00 |
33.5 |
9.6 |
4,459,837 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
Portuguese |
0.31 |
11.9 |
61.1 |
$38,370.00 |
8 |
6.8 |
900,060 |
73.5 |
92 |
9.2 |
|
native |
0.3 |
-- |
-- |
$38,931.00 |
6.8 |
8.3 |
667,477 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
foreign born |
0.33 |
-- |
-- |
$37,524.00 |
10.6 |
4.1 |
232,583 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
Puerto Rican |
0.24 |
9.5 |
53.4 |
$21,941.00 |
14.9 |
26.7 |
2,651,815 |
58.6 |
87 |
18 |
|
Spaniard |
0.79 |
20.5 |
76.7 |
$36,680.00 |
9.0 |
10.2 |
519,136 |
68.1 |
94.2 |
6 |
|
United States (all) |
0.75 |
20.3 |
75.2 |
$35,225.00 |
7.5 |
9 |
248,709,873 |
90.4 |
23 |
3.5 |
Table 3. Educational Attainment for Selected Ancestry Groups
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census
Internet Release date: February 18, 1998
Percent Percent Percent
Persons high school bachelor’s graduate
25 years diploma degree degree
Ancestry and over or higher or higher or higher
All persons 158,868,436 75.2 20.3 7.2
Albanian 24,555 68.0 21.5 8.3
Armenian 186,469 76.0 28.6 11.0
Assyrian 28,844 64.3 18.5 6.5
Australian 22,663 85.6 31.8 13.2
Austrian 443,870 86.0 37.3 17.2
Barbadian 24,457 71.8 15.8 6.1
Basque 25,371 85.3 30.3 11.0
Belgian 177,371 81.0 23.2 8.8
Belizean 12,437 69.3 9.4 3.0
Brazilian 33,480 78.1 27.7 10.9
British West Indian 24,996 70.1 16.0 7.0
Bulgarian 15,463 83.4 30.9 14.9
Cajun 357,535 67.7 11.8 3.4
Canadian 262,155 77.7 22.2 8.6
Cape Verdean 27,203 58.7 9.2 2.8
Croatian 292,259 74.1 18.9 6.9
Czech 538,078 80.6 23.6 8.4
Czechoslovakian 195,418 82.6 29.5 11.0
Danish 697,668 87.0 27.4 9.4
Dutch 2,433,010 76.8 18.5 6.4
Dutch West Indian 23,067 66.9 9.6 2.7
Egyptian 45,689 91.6 60.4 25.6
English 16,364,356 84.2 28.4 10.3
Estonian 16,124 88.3 41.0 18.2
Ethiopian 21,012 80.3 29.5 11.8
Finnish 317,014 84.0 24.2 8.1
French 4,147,969 79.0 18.2 6.1
French Canadian 1,183,615 77.2 16.7 5.5
German 29,483,562 82.7 22.0 7.3
Greek 607,249 77.9 28.0 10.7
Guyanese 46,441 69.8 15.3 4.9
Haitian 163,990 58.0 12.2 4.4
Hungarian 735,880 80.8 26.8 11.5
Icelander 18,456 89.7 33.5 12.6
Iranian 140,021 90.8 56.2 26.0
Iraqi 12,849 74.2 34.2 17.0
Irish 5,416,152 79.6 21.2 7.2
Israeli 38,261 87.3 42.3 21.4
Italian 7,516,642 77.3 21.0 7.4
Jamaican 261,804 68.9 15.6 5.2
Latvian 59,228 89.6 43.8 20.4
Lebanese 203,212 83.9 34.6 14.0
Lithuanian 407,167 81.9 31.4 13.6
Luxemburger 22,830 82.3 29.6 9.8
Maltese 19,903 76.3 16.0 5.4
Nigerian 52,388 87.6 52.9 26.3
Norwegian 1,745,104 85.9 26.0 8.2
Palestinian 24,676 79.3 36.5 15.4
Pennsylvania German 185,080 63.4 7.9 2.7
Polish 4,512,634 78.5 23.1 9.0
Portuguese 589,789 61.1 11.9 3.6
Romanian 179,715 82.7 5.6 18.1
Russian 1,620,535 90.8 49.0 24.3
Scotch-Irish 3,285,577 85.3 28.2 10.1
Scottish 2,467,047 88.6 33.6 2.2
Serbian 66,078 77.5 26.5 0.8
Slavic 29,216 80.5 29.6 1.2
Slovak 898,926 78.2 21.6 76
Slovene 69,072 74.7 23.8 9.0
Swedish 2,033,196 87.3 27.4 9.1
Swiss 439,001 85.6 32.4 12.4
Syrian 64,137 80.5 29.3 12.1
Trinidadian & Tobagonian 47,980 74.2 16.2 5.8
Turkish 44,872 81.4 40.9 22.1
Ukrainian 389,597 77.5 28.3 12.0
Welsh 778,157 88.7 31.8 11.6
Yugoslavian 129,277 75.4 23.8 7.7
Table 4. Income and Poverty for Selected Ancestry Groups
Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census
Internet Release date: February 18, 1998
Median Median Percent Percent
household family persons families
Ancestry income income in poverty in poverty
All persons $30,056 $35,225 13.1 10.0
Albanian $35,615 $41,036 10.4 7.8
American $22,721 $27,198 15.8 13.4
Armenian $36,860 $43,018 13.1 10.5
Assyrian $33,124 $35,839 14.7 13.2
Australian $36,340 $45,823 8.3 4.6
Austrian $38,278 $49,894 5.3 2.7
Barbadian $33,480 $38,735 8.8 6.5
Basque $37,123 $43,014 7.4 3.6
Belgian $34,598 $40,774 6.2 3.9
Belizean $27,449 $28,441 17.2 15.0
Brazilian $27,309 $29,987 15.6 12.3
British West Indian $29,738 $33,388 15.7 13.2
Bulgarian $31,850 $39,882 10.2 7.7
Cajun $25,131 $28,635 16.4 13.4
Canadian $31,510 $40,407 8.0 5.3
Cape Verdean $26,516 $30,028 18.0 16.2
Croatian $30,991 $37,291 8.9 6.1
Czech $31,800 $38,457 7.3 4.9
Czechoslovakian $33,615 $42,227 6.9 3.8
Danish $33,822 $40,163 6.3 3.9
Dutch $30,929 $36,470 8.4 5.8
Dutch West Indian $24,335 $27,924 18.0 13.9
Egyptian $40,095 $45,700 11.6 9.3
English $34,117 $40,875 6.8 4.5
Estonian $35,818 $48,922 5.5 2.1
Ethiopian $21,553 $26,920 24.6 19.9
Finnish $31,142 $38,067 8.3 5.5
French $30,696 $36,237 9.3 7.2
French Canadian $33,702 $38,996 7.6 5.4
German $32,730 $38,216 7.7 5.5
Greek $37,212 $43,330 7.3 5.2
Guyanese $33,904 $35,761 12.1 10.7
Haitian $25,547 $25,651 22.2 20.7
Hungarian $35,200 $42,778 6.9 4.3
Icelander $35,358 $41,497 8.4 6.5
Iranian $36,813 $41,974 13.3 10.6
Iraqi $33,043 $36,811 17.6 15.6
Irish $31,845 $38,101 8.7 6.5
Israeli $40,242 $47,167 11.7 7.9
Italian $36,060 $42,242 6.9 4.9
Jamaican $30,461 $34,018 13.1 11.1
Latvian $38,586 $51,209 5.0 2.2
Lebanese $35,721 $42,104 10.0 7.1
Lithuanian $35,916 $45,361 5.6 3.2
Luxemburger $35,318 $41,726 4.5 2.7
Maltese $40,552 $44,896 5.9 5.0
Nigerian $22,364 $26,837 22.2 18.5
Norwegian $32,207 $38,430 7.5 5.1
Palestinian $31,300 $35,102 19.5 14.8
Pennsylvania German $23,286 $29,779 12.1 8.1
Polish $34,763 $41,700 6.6 4.3
Portuguese $33,936 $38,370 7.9 6.3
Romanian $37,452 $46,457 9.1 6.1
Russian $45,778 $58,826 6.1 3.6
Scotch-Irish $32,106 $39,816 6.1 3.9
Scottish $36,810 $43,293 5.8 3.5
Serbian $34,036 $40,510 6.6 4.1
Slavic $31,059 $39,206 8.1 5.7
Slovak $32,352 $40,072 6.0 3.8
Slovene $31,554 $39,673 4.9 2.4
Swedish $33,881 $40,459 6.7 4.5
Swiss $35,531 $42,126 6.5 3.8
Syrian $35,956 $42,164 9.4 6.6
Trinidadian & Tobagonian $30,305 $33,206 14.4 12.7
Turkish $37,091 $45,011 10.9 7.4
Ukrainian $34,474 $42,193 6.3 4.0
Welsh $36,515 $42,170 5.6 3.4
Yugoslavian $33,574 $40,583 8.2 5.6