# racism in portugal



## Losb7Algerie

i heard portuguese are very friendly towards foreigners and that they have a long history with the blacks, they were the only country to treat the blacks differently is there anybody with experiences or more info about this subject
thanks


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## Janina k

Losb7Algerie said:


> i heard portuguese are very friendly towards foreigners and that they have a long history with the blacks, they were the only country to treat the blacks differently is there anybody with experiences or more info about this subject
> thanks


Hello

Are you looking for an area without Blacks as you say??? and do you have a problem???

We have friends who are white gay, Black Gay. Black, mixed race where we live we have no problem and neither does anybody in our area. "*History with the Blacks*" strange way to say something. All the above are very, very good friends of ours.

Fred


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## Mattskii

"The Blacks" 

Whether you mean it or not, your words are racists. This may be accidental, and so I would urge you to consider the terms you use. 

Please note - I am not calling you a racist!  Just letting you know that the words you chose could make you sound like one to some people.


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## oronero

The whole thing is rather strange as to not cause offence when giving a term to a group of ethnic origin.

In the UK sub-Saharan African descent people are referred to as 'black people', using the term 'coloured' or '*****' has negative connotations with some interpreting the words as being racist.

I found it strange that in Portugal when I was there that the same group of people found '*****' acceptable and the word 'black/preto' to be condescending/racist when referring to their ethniticity.

I wonder how the grandchildren of a London neighbour feel about being referred to as 'sub-Saharan Africans ' when their grandfather was born in Grenada and the following generations born in West London. To me they are just great individual people!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/30999175/warning-why-using-the-term-coloured-is-offensive


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## MrBife

Losb7Algerie said:


> i heard portuguese are very friendly towards foreigners and that they have a long history with the blacks, they were the only country to treat the blacks differently is there anybody with experiences or more info about this subject
> thanks



A very large proportion of Portuguese people are indeed black, not surprising really since the Portuguese language is the main language in Mozambique, Angola, Guinea Bissau, Sao Tome, Principe. Not to mention Brazil !

With an attitude like yours probably I would think it's probably safest to stay away


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## oronero

Losb7Algerie said:


> i heard Portuguese are very friendly towards foreigners and that they have a long history with the blacks, they were the only country to treat the blacks differently is there anybody with experiences or more info about this subject
> thanks


The Portuguese do have a long history 'with the blacks' as you put it, though I am not sure that it has always been positive.

Portugal | Europe | The Places Involved | Slavery Routes | Bristol and Transatlantic Slavery | PortCities Bristol


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## bom dia lisbon

I didn't read the original post to be offensive or racist at all. It sounds like just a question to me. The word Blacks is not offensive, nor should "the blacks" be when it is apparent that using the article "the" before the word "blacks" or any other such noun, while nonstandard to native speakers, is common among people with another native language.

The great Eusebio was just entombed in the National Pantheon. His nickname was "Pantera Negra," Black Panther.


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## travelling-man

Is now a good time to point out that (for example) a white South African who's family may well have been in Africa for hundreds or years and who has been granted US citizenship could accurately be described as an African american?

Personally, I can't be doing with all this PC BS and see nothing at all wrong with referring to a man with a black skin a black any more than referring to a man with a white skin as a white. 

If you really want to get upset about racism, you should consider the commonly used term that black Africans use to refer to whites.......... Spelling and pronunciation (of the word Mulungu) vary slightly from country to country but the meaning remains the same.......... and that meaning is white scum that floats upon the waves.


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## Speago

I was hoping you were black and just worded your post badly. But if you were, I don't think you would be referring to black people as "the blacks".. Very strange post..

Can you please explain your point further?


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## Speago

VERY STANGE!!! I just looked through your previous posts. All of your posts seem to be about separation of race or religion.


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## jojo

Losb7Algerie said:


> i heard portuguese are very friendly towards foreigners and that they have a long history with the blacks, they were the only country to treat the blacks differently is there anybody with experiences or more info about this subject
> thanks


I have no idea what you mean. "The blacks" from history have probably mixed/procreated with "The browns" and "the whites" by now, so I doubt anyone will remember ???? 

Jo xxx


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## travelling-man

Speago

I'm a bit confused, probably because our posts might have crossed.

To whom are you referring your last 2 comments to please?


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## Speago

Am referring to the original post.


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## oronero

Speago said:


> VERY STANGE!!! I just looked through your previous posts. All of your posts seem to be about separation of race or religion.


...divide and conquer!!!


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## azoreseuropa

Losb7Algerie said:


> i heard portuguese are very friendly towards foreigners and that they have a long history with the blacks, they were the only country to treat the blacks differently is there anybody with experiences or more info about this subject
> thanks


Nonsense!

Everywhere.. there are racists, sexual orientation, colors and more.

I am Portuguese and I loved anybody no matter what because God created everyone. In America, there is racists everywhere as well as in Canada. I know Canada because my relative lived in Montreal and Toronto. It doesn't matter. As long as there are good people who do not have a problem with black. 

The people who disliked the black, sexual orientation, and something like that are not human being and they are the coward, that's all.


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## Losb7Algerie

I'm terribly sorry if i've offended anyone i am new to this posts and i'm definitely not racist i live in canada and me and my family are looking to move to portugal we just did not want to go to a country that is racist (it is quite hard to get any info on the internet) so we actually wanna go somewhere that has diversity so again sorry but i really didn't know how to put it in my question


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## Losb7Algerie

*blacks in portugal*



Losb7Algerie said:


> i heard portuguese are very friendly towards foreigners and that they have a long history with the blacks, they were the only country to treat the blacks differently is there anybody with experiences or more info about this subject
> thanks


I'm terribly sorry if i've offended anyone i am new to this posts and i'm definitely not racist i live in canada and me and my family are looking to move to portugal we just did not want to go to a country that is racist (it is quite hard to get any info on the internet) so we actually wanna go somewhere that has diversity so again sorry but i really didn't know how to put it in my question:grouphug:


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## Mattskii

I Agree with @travelling_man - there is noting wrong with using the word black. A black man, a white man, whatever! 

The term used was "the blacks" which to my mind indicates an institutionalised racism which says it is OK to define to a myriad of different races and cultures by the colour of their skin.


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## Roy C

losb7algerie said:


> i heard portuguese are very friendly towards foreigners and that they have a long history with the blacks, they were the only country to treat the blacks differently is there anybody with experiences or more info about this subject
> thanks


zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz


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## Karstin

Regardless of how this started, I am interested in the conversation. In the US I can see racism in effect everywhere I look. It's not terrible where I live in California because there is so much diversity of race, color, gender, sexual orientation, etc... But it happens. I would be foolish to pretend to myself that it doesn't happen. My impression of Portugal is that they are making an effort to be a more inclusive, accepting, welcoming country. Like the US, this is a process. I think my question as a white woman with a mixed race (African American / Okinawan) wife, and 2 small dogs and a cat... is would it be difficult for us to find a place to rent, and what would be the biggest challenging factor? Pets... my wife's ethnicity, or the fact that we're gay? Would the combination be the biggest hurdle? Your thoughts are useful in weighing this out. For us finances are less of a concern than making friends and fitting into the local culture - we want to be part of Portugal, not an expat enclave (nothing against but not our thing)


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## johnjohn47

Have my two pennyworth as the locals don't say. If anyone is seriously thinking (or maybe frivolously thinking) of relocation to Portugal for whatever reasons they would be utterly stupid to take their opinions from the inter web. The only way is spend time here, go to different places and make up your own mind. What one person thinks as utopia in Iberia another thinks of as hell. The world of Algarve and the world of Serra de São Mamede and the world of Fontainhas Porto are all so different and as are the people, facilities, housing, topography, weather etc. There are 10 million people here so a wide range of views, prejudices, sexual practices and cheese so you will always find someone to verbally or on-line reinforce whatever you have decided before arriving. Try looking at the history of Portugal to have some knowledge of how it has got to where it is today if you can't be bothered to spend time here. Maybe start with the period when here and the place next door was a Muslim country.

PS. Also look at the António de Oliveira Salazar era and the distrust of authority which probably still have an effect in the administration.


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## Karstin

I agree wholeheartedly Johnjohn47 with the principle. We are looking at a number of locations to have an adventure abroad and want to travel to all of them multiple times and multiple parts of the country to get a better feeling for the culture, the people, the government's involvement in daily life, food, health, etc... 

However, and that's always the kicker isn't it... we only have so much time and money to spend globetrotting. I personally feel that every country's history merits a certain gentle forgiveness and decision to believe the best and take its people for where they are right now.


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## baldilocks

Much depends on where you are. People of difference (colour, sexual orientation, nationality, race, immigrants, expats, etc.) assuming they behave normally (e.g. not drunken louts having punch-ups in the street, etc) are usually accepted wherever they go, until there appears to be an excess of them, which is when the problems start. The locals start to feel overwhelmed and their aggressive element starts to rebel, leading to trouble.


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## Italia-Mx

travelling-man said:


> If you really want to get upset about racism, you should consider the commonly used term that black Africans use to refer to whites.......... Spelling and pronunciation (of the word Mulungu) vary slightly from country to country but the meaning remains the same.......... and that meaning is white scum that floats upon the waves.


Poor "whites" in the Appalachian region of America were called Melungians and their origins are not known except that many of them have dark skin and are thought to have mixed with the descendants of black slaves. Perhaps black Africans had a very good reason to refer to these people as "Mulungu" or white scum that floats upon the waves.


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## johnjohn47

Italia-Mx said:


> Poor "whites" in the Appalachian region of America were called Melungians and their origins are not known except that many of them have dark skin and are thought to have mixed with the descendants of black slaves. Perhaps black Africans had a very good reason to refer to these people as "Mulungu" or white scum that floats upon the waves.


Melungians are taken to be tri-racial mix of European, African and Native American ancestry so somewhat weird you say _quote_ " Perhaps black Africans had a very good reason to refer to these people as "Mulungu" or white scum that floats upon the waves "


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