We were the only Portuguese family living on a street mostly inhabited by Irish families.  Our house looked like everyone else’s – which means we didn’t have a St. Anthony flag or statue in the front window.  We thought our Portuguese-ness was the same as our neighbors’ Irish-ness.  It was something you were born into, like being Catholic – no big thing.

Until a neighbor hissed a name at me.  I thought it odd – didn’t she know I was Portuguese, not Puerto Rican.  Completely different food AND they spoke Spanish not Portuguese, for goodness sake.  Over the years, as I met all kinds of different people, I learned what some of the stereotypes for Portuguese and Catholic peoples are.  I think my standard response was “that’s a joke, right?”  Some of them were so absurd, luckily few were hurtful.

Driving home from work yesterday I was listening to public radio and a Native American tribal leader was explaining what “red skin” meant and why it is offensive.  He said it was a term used by bounty hunters when they showed up with the flayed skin of a Native American.  They turned the skin in, got their money and went back out to find more “red skin” to trade.  I haven’t done a exhaustive google or wikipedia search to see if that’s true but even if it isn’t, it makes you think, doesn’t it?  I think I get it now.