Mês: Agosto 2019

For years there has been an “unresolved dilemma” of whether or not the Portuguese are Hispanic in the United States of America. My long-time friend from California, ex-Rep. Tony Coelho, gave it a fight. In his state the Portuguese are counted as minorities — but, categorized as Hispanics. Under the Department of Transportation now under the Department of Homeland Security — and the Small Business Administration, Portuguese are considered minorities under the label of “Portuguese.” The rest of the 49 states, to date, if l’m not mistaken, group the Portuguese people as Hispanics. Why?

In my view, “Hispanic” is the wrong ethnicity for the classification of the Portuguese. However, many people insist on that label — i.e., being Hispanic — particularly for government benefits currently enjoyed by the Hispanic community at large. How right/wrong is that? Think about it.

Many discussions have materialized in the past, and the issue of the Portuguese in the U.S.A. being Hispanic, or not, has not yet been officially resolved. Shouldn’t we “grab the bull by the horns” and officially put the subject to rest-in-peace once and for all? Isn’t it about time?

When I first started teaching in the Boston Public Schools in the mid-1970′s, desegregation was a serious ongoing process. Everyone in the school department — students and teachers — were counted daily on the basis of their ethnicity and race. I, myself — an Azorean Portuguese native — was not considered Portuguese or Hispanic. Rather, I was classified as an “Other.” This was the so-called ethnicity of the controversial category used for classifying Cape Verdeans in Massachusetts. The matter became so controversial that a book was written some years ago by a Cape Verdean American — Marcel Gomes Balla — simply titled The Other Americans — a good suggested read with much to be learned.

This issue has been kicking around for far too long. How do we right the wrong? Robert Burns once stated, and I fully agree: “To make a crooked stick straight, you bend it the contrary way.”

Sempre p’ra frente! ~ Always forward!

Adalino Cabral

Formerly of New Bedford, Mass.

Ex-educator/administrator: Boston University,

Stonehill College, Public schools of Boston,