<p>As the title says, I'm part Portuguese (one-fourth). I firmly believe that I have the right to mark the Hispanic box without guilt, but I'm worried that admissions officers would simply think that I'm playing the URM card if I specify "Portuguese" when asked to elaborate on my Hispanic heritage. As you may know, there is raging debate on whether Portuguese should be classified Hispanic or not. [url=<a href="http://www.portuguesefoundation.org/hispanic.htm%5DHere%5B/url">http://www.portuguesefoundation.org/hispanic.htm]Here[/url</a>] is some evidence of that. It's all really confusing... when Portuguese immigrants came to the US in the early 1900s, they weren't classified as white. Now, they are, yet the classification is still arbitrary and controversial. Also, all these forms (except the US Census) imply that people from Hispania share a race. They don't because race is a physical categorization (based on skin color mainly) and these people come in white, brown, black. What they share are cultural/ethnic similarities, not race.</p>
<p>I think it's absurd that I'm actually hesitating to own up to the influences I've had by virtue of having ancestors from the Iberian Peninsula (by way of Brazil?), all because of the worry that college admissions officers might think I'm trying to get a leg up in admissions. What do you guys think? Should I just mark "white" (as the general classification for Portuguese, since my other non-Portuguese ethnicity is non-white)? How about marking "other" and putting down "Portuguese"? How about putting white-Hispanic (I have a Hispanic last name though and look more like a mixed Hispanic+other unspecified race than white)?</p>
<p>This is a really difficult question and I don't think there's a definitive answer. I agree that race has nothing to do with being/not being Hispanic. As a practical matter, here are the requirements for qualifying for National Hispanic Scholar:</p>
<p>To qualify for this program, the student must be at least one-quarter Hispanic, according to the following definition: A person of Mexican-American, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American, or other Spanish cultures or origins. For purposes of this program, this does not include persons from Brazil or Portuguese culture/origin, nor persons from the Philippines. Hispanic is an ethnic category not a racial category and Hispanics may be of any race.</p>
<p>You might want to look up some other scholarships for Hispanics and see what their requirements are, and see if they are consistent in including or excluding Portugal/Brazil. Also, there is nothing wrong with marking the Hispanic box and designating Brazil as they always ask for which country in South America you are from. Then college can decide if they will consider you a URM or not. Good luck!</p>
<p>so would someone from Guyana, which is part of South America, but does speak spanish at all and has a more carribean-like culture, be considered hispanic</p>
<p>The rule of thumb I use is this: if you checked Hispanic and ended up enrolling in the school, could you, with a straight face, join the Hispanic Students Association on campus and maybe even run for office in a year or two? Would they accept you as Hispanic, or would they think you are an imposter? Would you feel comfortable asserting to them that you are Hispanic, or would you feel like an imposter yourself?</p>
<p>If the answers are yes, go ahead and check the box. If they answers are no...well you gotta decide if you are willing to be untruthful in order to get into college.</p>
<p>I never can understand this. Put whatever you have identified with your whole life. It seems that you have never considered yourself to be Hispanic and are just searching for loopholes to reap the benefits of affirmative action. And if you are looking for a straight answer, it's no, don't identify yourself as Hispanic. Hispanic refers specifically to the Spanish diaspora, which does not include Portugese. For instance, Brazilians, who speak Portugese (as a former Portugese colony), are not Hispanic, they are Latin American.</p>
<p>Note that most of the definitions of Hispanic say that the person or their family must have come to the U.S. from Central or South America, and that many of the definitions specifically exclude Brazil. Unless you or your family came to the U.S. from Central or South America, I don't think most colleges would consider you Hispanic.</p>
<p>To answer the OP's question, I agree with most of the above posters in that you are not Hispanic by "definition."</p>
<p>In my opinion, this is a case of politicization. I'd bet anything that the representation of descendants from Portuguese-speaking countries is a mere fraction of the representation of descendants from Spanish-speaking countries.</p>
<p>Who's the real URM? "Hispanics" or people from the Portuguese-speaking World?</p>
<p>Portugal is in Europe. Being part Portuguese makes you Caucasian not Hispanic in the least. If you were Brazilian I would understand but given that you are not you ought not downright lie on your application.</p>
<p>I think Brazil should NOT be added as hispanic because they don't even speak Spanish. Also, In my opinion, you shouldn't consider checking "hispanic" because you are not even from Brazil and probably that will be the only time that you are going to say that you are hispanic because other than that, you will consider yourself as white. </p>
<p>I agree with the College Board in the people that qualify as "Hispanic"</p>
<p>I have never considered myself part "white," but if Portuguese counts as white, then I suppose that I am. I can also specify "white-Hispanic, non-URM"</p>
<p>Defining "Hispanic" in the broadest sense, it might be possible to include the Portuguese. The modern country of Portugal covers the same territory as a part of the ancient Roman province of Hispania, which is where the word originally came from. The word "Spain" also derives from Hispania.</p>
<p>But is that what schools really mean when they ask whether you are Hispanic? Probably not. The admissions boost that comes from being a URM of Hispanic origin is intended to help Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and other Latin Americans that have traditionally been marginalized in the US culture and economy.</p>
<p>So you probably are technically Hispanic in a legalistic sense. But if you check Hispanic and gain an admissions boost for it, you will likely be guilty of deceiving the school into giving you an opportunity that was meant for others.</p>