Talk:Ethnic Groups in Cape Verde

The CIA website list Ethnic groups for Cape Verde as Creole (mulatto) 71%, African 28%, European 1%. Granted there are an overwhelming amout of Creoles in Cape Verde, but there are other groups there. Recent immigration from West Africa have left a notable African presence on the islands. Also, there is a there are currently many Chinese immigrants in the country...mainly in commercial areas. Some Europeans currently reside on the islands or have bought home there recently.

Finally, there has always been a presence of different ethnic groups on the islands, including Jews and Italians.


 * First of all, what CIA lists are out to date data. Those figures were taken from the sixties. After nearly 50 years I think that the mualtto population percentage has grown bigger, but since there are no racial groups surveys in Cape Verde since 1975, I’m not sure.
 * Second, “Mulatto”, “African” and “European” are not “ethnic groups”. Mulatto, black and white are racial classifications. “African and “Europeaan mean “from Africa and “from Europe, respectively. To say that in Cape Verde there are 3 “ethnic groups”, mulatto, African and Europeean is a very wrong statement. It implies that mulatto people, black people and white people in Cape Verde possess a different culture, they are separate groups, each one with different ethnic characteristics. Which is false. Cape Verdeans are pretty homogeneous in terms of culture.
 * Third, as you said, recent immigrants, are... immigrants. They are not Cape Verdeans, therefore they may not be considered “Cape Verdeans ethnic groups”!!!
 * Fourth, “Jew” is not an ethnic group, it is a religious classification. The jews that existed in Cape Verde were gradually assimilated, and their descendent (I am married to one of them) are now Cape Verdeans, nearly all of them Christian.
 * Finally, I don’t know what community of Italians you are talking about, but if you are talking about tourists, they are... tourists!!! They are not a Cape Verdean ethnic group!!!
 * Ten Islands 12:07, 20 October 2007 (UTC)

>First of all, what CIA lists are out to date data. Those figures were taken from the sixties. After nearly 50 years I think that the mualtto population percentage has grown bigger, but since there are no racial groups surveys in Cape Verde since 1975, I’m not sure.

I can't speak for the CIA, but their website was updated on 4 October, 2007. I can only assume that changing information were updated as well. Since it has been 50, assuming that you are correct, with the emigration of Cape Verdeans and immigration of Africans into the country, without a recent census, there is no ways to accurately put a percentage on the people.

>Second, “Mulatto”, “African” and “European” are not “ethnic groups”. Mulatto, black and white are racial classifications. “African and “Europeaan mean “from Africa and “from Europe, respectively. To say that in Cape Verde there are 3 “ethnic groups”, mulatto, African and Europeean is a very wrong statement. It implies that mulatto people, black people and white people in Cape Verde possess a different culture, they are separate groups, each one with different ethnic characteristics. Which is false. Cape Verdeans are pretty homogeneous in terms of culture. I did not say these racial categories are ethnic groups. However, racial categories in many instances denote different ethnicities. For example, in the United States, we have different racial groups, but we know that they show that different ethnicities exist here. Europeans-English, Irish, etc; African-Cape Verdeans, Nigerians, etc; and Hispanic - Cubans, Mexicans, etc. In most cases different racial classification usu sally indicates different ethnic groups. Also, not all Africans in Cape Verde were born there. Hence, there culture are not homogeneous, nor are the Europeans living in Cape Verde.

>Third, as you said, recent immigrants, are... immigrants. They are not Cape Verdeans, therefore they may not be considered “Cape Verdeans ethnic groups”!!!

In the United States, when someone becomes a citizen, they are Americans, regardless of origin. Is that not the same in every country that allows citizenship to immigrants? So why then do we not count Africans in Cape Verde as Cape Verdeans, once they receive citizenship?

>Fourth, “Jew” is not an ethnic group, it is a religious classification. The jews that existed in Cape Verde were gradually assimilated, and their descendent (I am married to one of them) are now Cape Verdeans, nearly all of them Christian.

I was not talking in regards to ethnic Jews and not the religion. Yes, virtually all Jew assimilated. That is correct, as my own did. However, many Cape Verdeans maintain cultural ties to Jewish heritage. The US census gave people the option to identify as more than one ethnic group. Though the vast majority picked on group, there were a noticeable amount that named more than one. Ethnic identification, no matter how far back, is a personal choice. We are not identified by other, ideally, but by our own self-perceptions.

>Finally, I don’t know what community of Italians you are talking about, but if you are talking about tourists, they are... tourists!!! They are not a Cape Verdean ethnic group!!!

Thank you for the vote of confidence, but I was not referring to tourists. There are people from all over the world who come to Cape Verde. The question is not whether they exist in Cape Verde, but rather, what constitutes a community.

Josedosanjos 12:42, 20 October 2007 (UTC)

jose dos anjos


 * There is no need to make a list that will be empty, or include only one item. There are a lot of assumptions that you are making that are wrong:
 * Antonio da Noli was Genovese. At that time there was no such country called Italy.
 * Sergio Frusoni use to consider himself as Cape Verdean (he was born in Cape Verde and lived there). His parents were Italian but he wasn’t.
 * Adelina Domingues was either Cape Verdean (ethnically, or by birth) either American (by nationality change). There is no such “ethnic group” called “Italian Cape Verdean”.
 * Immigrants are, as the name says, immigrants. They are not ethnic groups native to a country. I don’t know the figures but my guess would be that immigrant population does not reach 5% of Cape Verde’s population. Dividing those 5% by all the different nationalities living in Cape Verde (Portuguese, French, Italians, Spanish, Russians, Senegalese, Guinea-bissauans, Gambians, Ghaneans, Nigerians, Angolans, Sao-tomese, Mozambicans, Americans, Canadians, Cubans, Mexicans, Colombians, Brazilians, Chinese, etc., etc.) it does not make up a population numerous enough worthy to have an article talking about it.
 * Even if an immigrant changes his/hers nationality to Cape Verdean, that does not mean that he/she has changed his/hers ethnicity. Do not confuse Nationality with Ethnic group.
 * The American concept of “ethnic group” is quite particular. The Americans tend to put people in specific “bags” accordingly to their presumed origin. Recent immigrants in United States may classify as a certain ethnic group (Chinese, Cuban, Mexican, Nigerian, etc.) since they still possess the cultural characteristics of the place they come from. But their descendants, hardly, they are simply… Americans…, they no longer identify culturally with their progenitors. Just because someone in United States bears a name such as “Franceschini”, for instance, that does not automatically make that person an Italian. Neither in Italy they will consider an American with such a name being Italian. Classifing people as belonging to different “ethnic groups” according their presumed origin is an American concept, certainly not a Cape Verdean concept!
 * There is no Jewish community in Cape Verde. Those links have completely mixed up information:
 * There are people in Cape Verde bearing Jewish names (as I said, my wife, for instance). You can find in Cape Verde family names like “Ben David”, “Ben Oliel”, “Brigham”, “Cohen”, “Levy”, “Wahnon”, but those people are not Jewish (I dare you to show me one!). They are descendants of Jewish that either migrated from Cape Verde, or either died without passing their Jewish heritage to their descendance.
 * Throughout the history of Cape Verde, there certainly has been Jewish fleding away from Catholic inquisition. But they were gradually absorbed by the general population, they have not made up a community.
 * Family names like “Albuquerque”, “Pereira” and so on are Portuguese names, even if they can be traced back to the forced conversion of Jewish to Christianity. But they are not considered Jewish names, neither in Cape Verde, neither in Portugal, neither anywhere else.
 * As you said (and very correctly) “ethnic identification, (...), is a personal choice, we are not identified by other”. Cape Verdean see themselves as a single ethnic group. I suggest you to review the exact meaning of “ethnic group”. Making a page listing presumed different ethnic groups native from Cape Verde, or foreign ethnic groups living in Cape Verde is a nonsense, completely absurd, and irrelevant. Any information about Cape Verdean ethnicity (cultural characteristics) can figure in the Culture of Cape Verde page (needs expansion, by the way; the Portuguese page is more complete). Any information about foreign people living in Cape Vere can figure in the Demographics of Cape Verde page.
 * Ten Islands 04:49, 5 November 2007 (UTC)