Portuguese-Americans against being declared Hispanic

I am American born of (recent history) of Portuguese descent. Not that I give a crap, but isn't it painfully obvious that Portugal is in Europe therefore it is..... I won't insult you by finishing that sentence. That's like saying England is American; thinking in reverse. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with being Latino, so my Portuguese brethren need to relax; but we are just not.

Ok.. I consider myself 100% American and as a 10 year Navy Vet I love my country. I do however, HATE the preference given by the government to minority groups just because they are minorities. We are all American unless you weren't born here. Now for the rub...So I am about 1/4 Portuguese and I am just finding out that after 8 years of running my business as a "white" guy (no minority status) that the government may actually classify me as Hispanic. This has HUGE implications for getting in on the Federal bidding that's out there. Honestly, I agree with the comment above that stated let "them" (the government) "call me whatever they want.. I know what I am." Here are the facts. Portugal was once part of Hispanola (Modern day Spain). Portugal borders Spain and no other counrty. Pedro Alverez Cabral (from Portugal) discovered Brazil and this is why Brazil is the only South American Country that speaks Portuguese. According to the federal government the classification for Hispanic is: Hispanic or Latino. A person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race. The term, "Spanish origin," can be used in addition to "Hispanic or Latino." (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/fedreg_1997standards)
If Portugal was part of Hispanola and the residents of Brazil are considered Hispanic then as far as I am concerened the government can consider me Hispanic. It will only help my business.
Again, I consider myself 100% American but if the yahoo's in Washington D.C. want to make all these stupid rules the best thing we can do is let them call me what they want and take advantage of it on the backside.
-B. Cabral

I am greatly offended and have corrected people when they attempt to classify Portuguese and those of the former colonies as Hispanic. The only solace was that each and ever time the error was never made out of some underlying prejudice but rather simple ignorance.

All that said we as descendants and Americans have a moral obligation to retain our ancestral heritage while being the best citizens we can as Americans. The United States is and remains the single greatest country to date.

The above aside I have no desire to be lumped in with the cesspool that is Spain's and it's Hispanic history.

I enjoy my long Portuguese (LUSO) history and the contributions made by the Portuguese and learn from the not so good parts. Same goes for my German heritage as well.

My ancestors came from Madeira to Guyana, and I moved to Canada, so it was very confusing for me at first. The Portuguese people in Toronto generally treat me like crap so I learned to just completely disregard race and just be my own person! Its time to evolve.

As far as I know, both the Spanish and Portuguese are Hispanic. Problem is, we confuse Mestizos with Hispanics. The Portuguese are entirely fully blooded white Europeans, but the Hispanics as we know them here in America are no where near white.

Never be ashamed if you have Spanish or Portuguese heritage. Those two countries used to be world powers and were the leaders in exploration and made great empires.