Brazilians are a hard one. Hispanic means those who are from the Iberian Peninsula–i.e. Portugal, Spain, etc… So Spaniards and Portuguese are “Hispanic.”

Latinos are those who speak Spanish and live in the Americas and Caribbean and are descendants of Spain.

I would say Brazilians are Hispanic because they speak Portuguese and not Spanish.

I am Afro-Latina, my son is Afro Puerto Rican and Mexican, he will say Latino, not Hispanic. I actually hate when someone says that I am “Hispanic” when I am Latina by correct definition.

Like many of the ways in which we define our lives, racial and ethnic titles are definitions we create using imaginary differences.

This and a lot of other issues we discuss here at SB bring us to the ultimate question: do we humans have a natural tendency to find others that are like ourselves, or are we artificially dividing the world with these associations?

My understanding is that Brazilians are not included in the “Hispanic” title, at least officially. Technically, Brazilians are Latinos because Brazil is a Latin American country, but I’m not sure that most Americans would include them in this group in everyday conversation.

The question of Portuguese speakers is interesting because they are often overlooked or assumed to be Spanish speakers! Do you find that to be the case?

But I would like to know better about Brazilian ones, who speak only Portuguese and no Spanish.

Am I Hispanic too? Why?

I use different terms depending on the context, really. For instance, when I travel to a foreign country I usually say I am American. If Im in the states I say…well…it depends on whom I am speaking with. Mostly it depends to whom I am speaking with. One thing I like to remind people is that all of these terms (gender, race, ethnicities etc etc) are really social constructs so they can take on different meanings and they can be negotiated through interactions. I don’t think anyone person can decide what you are or who they are it, ultimately, comes down to the individual.

Great post!

Not able to speak Spanish. Yes, even my mother says she doesn’t speak Spanish and she grew up in a home speaking Spanish her whole life, speaks it fluently with family members who came up from Mexico and others. I recently read a book about my Grandmother and she tells us in that book that my Great Grandmother spoke a different type of Spanish, it was the old Mexican Indian Language. A Language that they didn’t speak when they went to Mexico City. My Grandmother had to ‘translate’ even in Mexico for my Great Grandmother.

So, what does Hispanic mean to me? It means that there is someone still trying to make us fit into a box. I’ve met some very nice Spanish people, some who have even noticed the Mexican Indian in me when we first met and felt the need to apologize for the cruelties the Spanish people put us through once upon a time. There is no need to do that. But they are Spanish and we are Mexican Indians, very little in common. Not even from the same Continent.

Hispanic to many in my area simply means Mexican. My children are taught about Cinco de Mayo and El Dia de Los Muertos in school. I wish they could learn about other Latin American countries as well. My children are 1/2 Portuguese from my husband and then a mixture of Spanish, Colombian, and a teensy bit of Puerto Rican from my side. I have relatives who have ties to the Dominican Republic and Mexico as well.

To me Hispanic means rich food, vibrant music, and passionate people.