Diniz Borges Interview 2
Item
Title
Diniz Borges Interview 2
Description
Diniz Borges, was born on the island of Terceira, Azores. At the age of 10 he emigrated with his family to the United States, having lived and worked in the Central Valley ever since. He founded his first radio program at the age of 18 and co-founded the first 24-hour Portuguese radio station in Central California. He has served on numerous boards of Portuguese-American organizations at the local, state, and national level. He taught Portuguese at Tulare Union High School and the College of the Sequoias for 22 years. He is a lecturer at Fresno State where he is the founding director of the Portuguese Beyond borders Institute (PBBI). A contributing writer to various Portuguese language newspapers in the US, Canada, and the Azores, he has published several books in Portugal including anthologies and translations. He was the first Portuguese language teacher to be recognized as an Outstanding California World Languages Teacher.
Creator
Borges, Diniz
McCoy, Kelley
Relation
Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute
Identifier
SCUAD_pbbi_00002
Date
02-13-2020
extracted text
Diniz Borges: According to the US census of the year 2000, when we had
actually an ancestry question, 2010 did not, and so according to that
there are roughly around 350,000 Americans who identify as being of
Portuguese background. The majority from the islands of the Azores.
Concentrated in various areas. So, southern California, way south, San
Diego, because of the tuna industry. Then in the greater Los Angeles,
metropolitan area the small community of Artesia and the Chino,
originally because of agriculture many years. Then, of course, the San
Joaquin Valley from Tulare County all the way up until Stanislaus County.
So anywhere from Tulare to Modesto. A little bit in the Sacramento, a
very older community basically in the Sacramento area. And then in the
Bay area, East Bay, Freemont, Oakland area, originally a very, very
strong Portuguese American in the Oakland area in all of the East Bay and
then, of course, down into the San Jose area, which is a newer community,
San Jose. And Santa Clara. But there were pockets of Portuguese up in
Santa Rosa and also in Arcata where there's actually a quite older
community as well.
Kelley McCoy: So they're all over California.
Diniz Borges: They're basically all over California, yes.
Kelley McCoy: What would you say in terms of the kinds of contributions
that Portuguese Americans have made, not only locally within the
communities, but across the state, even nationwide?
Diniz Borges: I think we've made some contributions in certain
industries, more than others. In Southern California, San Diego in the
tuna industry, it was pretty much controlled by the Portuguese in the
middle part of the 20th century. And then -- and, of course, in the
San Joaquin Valley in agriculture, in the dairy industry. According to
all data that has been published throughout the years, in the 1970s
especially, the Portuguese controlled about half of the dairy products
that were being manufactured, they were being processed -- producers that
is, in California and from the San Joaquin Valley and from the Chino area
as well, when dairies were still present in that part of the states. And
then in the Sacramento area in agriculture as well, before the
metropolitan areas became popular. In northern California I believe the
Portuguese Americans have been very involved in the services, in
construction, in services, and that's been heavily a community of the
1960s and 70s. The early communities all over the states, other than San
Diego and the Monterey area, were basically involved in agriculture one
way or another. The -- the San Diego and Monterey area were around
fishing and around whaling and around the tuna industry and San Diego as
well. Their contributions, I think, we've made some contributions to the
arts, I think we have some people that are widely known here from the
Valley and throughout the state. We made some contributions in the
political world. It was the early 1900s when we had our very first
Portuguese American elected to the state office. And, also, in -- I think
also in contributing to this multiethnic and this multicultural state of
ours, okay? Sometimes staying a little bit too close and that's been our
fault, but we've participated with going forward with our festivals, you
know, with our parades. Kind of adding a little bit of our own parts of
our culture to the multiethnic world of California.
Kelley McCoy: Tell me why it's important to capture the stories of
Portuguese Americans in the central valley?
Diniz Borges: I believe that it's a story that's been untold by many
ways. We can look at some of the historical data. There's not a whole
bunch historically done of the central valley itself when it comes to
California history. But very little do we open up any of the
publications that have been done or the stories that have been told about
the different ethnic groups in the valley. There's hardly anything about
the Portuguese Americans. Portuguese Americans have come to California
from the Azores Islands, they've blended in, which is a great thing.
Acculturation has been part of our process. And, so, because we blend in,
because we have been able to also construct bonds with other ethnic
groups, there hasn't been the need, I believe, in certain generations
they wanted to blend in a little bit more than the need to tell their
story. And I think their story is part of the American story, but,
however, there is -- there is a cultural component to it that I think is
important to cherish as we go -- as we move forward and I think there's a
little bit different kind of a take now in California and throughout the
United States as far as your ethnicity is concerned. It's something that
wasn't talked about, the concept of the melting pot is kind of given away
to a new concept, with is multiculturalism. And with the multiculturalism
we kind of need to know our story.
Kelley McCoy: As you noted, most Portuguese Americans in the valley, the
vast majority comes from the Azores, can you summarize the waves of
Azorean immigration to California and tell us why California and central
valley was such a popular destination.
Diniz Borges: The first wave of immigrants -- we have immigrants all the
way back to the 1816s and 1820s, but they were, you know, sporadic one
here, one there. For example, the secretary to the governor of
California, when it was a territory of Mexico, Governor Alvarado was
a Portuguese American from the Azores. So, there's been, you know, a
little bit of immigrants, but waves themselves in the late 1800s, so
between the 1870s and 1920, people would come for a better opportunity,
it was all about America. And, so, everyone in the old country, in old
Europe, wanted a taste of the new world. And so there was just get on the
ship and basically, you know, if you were healthy you would go through
Ellis Island. And then the second wave of immigration we -- was basically
after the 1958, '57, '58 eruption of a volcano in the island of Faial in
the Azores. And we convinced John F. Kennedy, we, the Massachusetts
community, convinced the then young senator from Massachusetts to put
forth something called the Azorean Refugee Act, that allowed folks to
come to America. After that the Family Reunification Act of the 1960s,
already with the Johnson administration, and, so, the Family
Reunification Act allowed those who had come either at the beginning of
this century or those who came post Capelinhos volcano in the late 50s to
bring forth their families, their siblings, their mom, their dad. And
that was the last exodus from the 1960s, early 1960s until basically
about 1976 to 1980. Our immigration to California has ceased. There are
families that come, you know, every year, but the last exodus was in
the 1960s and 70s. Why they come to California and not the east coast.
There's quite a few them. That -- did stay in the east coast, but in the
beginning, of course, the gold rush and all that, you know, entailed
that, you know, and the mythical part of the El Dorado and coming
to California and making it. Then the connection with farms, the
connection with the land. Most Azoreans, as mentioned by one of our
interviewees, the Congressman Jim, cause most Azoreans in the 18 and
early 1900s were one of two things, they were either fisherman or they
were farmers. And, so, California, being this land of plenty and where
you could buy land at a very reasonable price, it was a way for people to
come over. In the 1970s the California had a kind of established itself
in the Azores as a place to -- that anyone can make a good living, that
anyone can reinvent themselves, while continuing to be Azoreans or
Portuguese. And, so, it was a mythical place. By this time the Azorean
literature, there's lots of poems, lots of short stories written about
the Californias, which was a way to say, those who were Portuguese
background that lived in California. So it's kind of -- all though
there's a long, much broader immigration also to the -- the New England
states, California was kind of a mythical place. And some people
immigrate to the New England states and worked at a factory maybe six
months or a year, but there was always the opportunity of having land of
having your own business in California.
Kelley McCoy: Now, when -- when the immigrants came, precisely because of
what you were talking about, this presents, in many cases it was an
already established presence of other immigrants who had arrived. So you
had immigrants from the Azores coming into an established Portuguese
community, or Portuguese American communities. Did that make easier for
them, you think, to adjust to life in the United States and to maintain a
distinct Portuguese identity?
Diniz Borges: I believe so. And that – and we can look at that and all
the successive waves of immigrants. So in the early part of the 20th
century, last part of the 19th and early part of the 20th century, there
was a strong Portuguese American presence from the Azores in the Oakland
area. There is not a community or there's a very small community in the
Oakland area, but the Oakland area and the Oakland Hills, because they
were farming communities at the time. And, so, then as folks moved to
Sacramento or they moved into the valley and established
themselves, then, of course, those who came either later part of the 20th
century, what I mean latter part, from the 1960s onward, then, of course,
they would go into areas where they had family or folks from that
particular village that they knew that they could connect with. And
sometimes even to get a job. It was easier to get a job to be
employed if you knew someone who knew someone who could get you a job.
And in the 1960s the Family Reunification Act you had to have something
called the [termo de responsabilidade][a], we called it in Portuguese, or
that is, you have to have someone that was going to furnish you a job.
And, so, and -- so if you went to that area because this is sometimes
someone that you knew that had a dairy or that knew someone who owned a
dairy that could do that. I think having an older generation here that
had been here since the latter parts of the 1800s or the beginning of
the 20th century, gave the Portuguese immigrants that came after the 1960
or in the 60s and 70s, a foothold in the new world, but it also gave
them some -- a building block, let's say, to build what they were going
to do and a connection to the Azores, because there was already some
traditions that were kept alive, especially the Holy Ghost, festas. So it
was easier to maintain some of the cultural ties. Of course, there's
also some negative aspects of that, you know, some discrimination within,
you know, your own community sometimes, that happens. But overall it was
a positive thing, not only to have a foothold in the new world, but also
to maintain some of the cultural traditions that were being already
maintained by the folks who had been here or their parents had
immigrated.
Kelley McCoy: You mentioned discrimination, what do you mean by that?
Diniz Borges: Oh, there -- there was discrimination. I mean, the only -and I think I should use maybe personal aspect in this one, that is, if - I was -- the only time I felt discriminated when I was growing up in
America when I came at the age of 10, was by other Portuguese American.
Portuguese American kids who -- of course, these are kids that were 10,
11 years old, but some of these things come from the home -- who
discriminated against me because I was a Portuguese, not a Portuguese,
because my dad milked the cows and their dads owned the dairy. And, so,
there was some discrimination. We -- amongst communities, I think it's
unfortunately kind of natural that those who have been here, who were
born here or in some cases their parents were born here as well, felt
that they were more Americans and true Portuguese Americans and we
were kind of the newbies. So, that happened and many folks throughout the
state have -- in my involvement with the Portuguese American community
have told me that. The immigration that came in the 1960s and 70s, that
they necessarily did not feel discrimination from Americans in general,
they felt it sometimes within their own community.
Kelley McCoy: So, I'd like now to ask you about the roles and various
traditions in the institutions have played in the Portuguese American
community. First, the Portuguese language. You teach Portuguese, would
you say that it's a language that's experiencing resurgence, do you find
that the farther removed children are from those who immigrated the less
likely they are to be interested in the language, what role is the
language played?
Diniz Borges: The language played a role -- still plays an important
role. In the beginning, obviously, it was a way for people to communicate
with each other. So, even though some of them, whether it be in Northern
California, Southern California Valley, they lived in farms, basically at
that time, even the last part – or the latter part of the 1800s and
beginning of the 20th century, but they still got together because of the
language. So it was a way to communicate and keep the language alive.
It's a total different community today, especially because we've had -we have not had any significant immigration now in over 40 years. So, the
language is having a resurgence, not so much from the Portuguese American
aspect, but a lot of times because it's a global language and we are in
global markets and, so, there are other ethnicities that -- that -- that
compose, you know, our melting pot world. And, so, we -- these ethnic
groups are interested in another language besides -- besides, of course,
English. And, so, they looked at Portuguese for several reasons. However,
in the Portuguese American world there is a little bit of a need to
continue the language. Even if it's not going to be the language that you
communicate at home with your mom and dad or with your grandparents, but
it is important to have some certain words and certain phrases that gets
passed down from generation to generation, because it kind of help you
connect with the culture. Because we all say certain things in certain
ways.
Kelley McCoy: Can you say a few?
Diniz Borges: You know, well, you know, like for example, in Portuguese
we say [Cala a Boca which, you know, literally translates, means shut
up, you know, which we don't say in English, it's rude. But in Portuguese
it's just the way you are. You know, [cala a boca][b] is not a rude
term. It's a term that's used, you know, to be quiet more of, literally
translate. So, in knowing some of these -- some of these terms, [come e
cala-te) which literally translates, eat and shut up, you know. So, or
shut your mouth and eat. You know, we, you know, it's kind of rude to say
that in English, but in Portuguese when your grandmother says, [come e
cala-te), it's a term of endearment, means, enjoy the food. You know, do
be quiet for a little bit and enjoy the food. So, I think it's important
that -- that Portuguese Americans of third, fourth, fifth generation know
some of these terms and how -- and what they mean in the culture itself.
Okay. So I think the language continues to play an important role. I
think having Portuguese language programs, whether it be at community
schools, elementary or high schools or obviously through universities, is
an important way, not just for Portuguese Americans to connect, but also
to connect with other ethnic groups and to have the language present. So
I believe if the language ever totally dies in California, I think
we'll lose a lot of the cultural components.
Kelley McCoy: How about Portuguese language radio, what kind of role has
that played in the community?
Diniz Borges: Portuguese language radio was a very important bond between
the communities. It was more than just giving news of Portugal, from
Portugal or the Azores, it was more than giving -- playing music to keep
people tied. I was a product of that when I came in the 1960s. We
listened to Portuguese radio, not just in a what was happening in
Portugal, because they didn't have a lot of information. This was prior
to the internet. And, so, some of the news that we heard was like a week
old or a week and a half old. But it was a way that Portuguese people
found jobs, so the radio programs had a community calendar that included
jobs. So if a new immigrant came from Portugal, he would listen to [Lúcia
Noia for example on the Portugal radio or Miguel Canto e Castro in the
northern valley and they would listen to him on a daily basis and find
out whose dairy, where there was a dairy is looking for a milker. And
that was a way to connect for economic opportunities here in the valley.
It was also a way to keep the music and some of the traditions alive. And
that's how we also knew about festas about the events that happened in
the community, who died in the community, who was born in the community.
They did -- it was a very, very family and community-based radio. We
didn't listen to it like we listen to radio today, just to listen to
what's going on in national politics or international world, we listened
to it because we needed to know who was born in the community, who had
passed away so we would go to the services. Where was the next festa this
was before -- before Facebook and all the social media world. So it was
our way to connect with the world. And it was our way to connect also to
keep on having contact with the language. I'm a firm believer that if we
did not have Portuguese language in the programs, radio programs, in the
1960s, 70s, 80s and even through the 90s, we would not have folks
speaking Portuguese that they speak today. Because they were taught
mainly by their parents and what they heard. Today it's a different world
and that's why, you know, we are even doing now Portuguese radio in
English, about the Portuguese community, because we need to reach the
second, third and fourth generations who don't -- who don't speak
Portuguese. But it was a very important tool.
Kelley McCoy: Tell me about Festas. Everybody mentioned them, can you
explain what they are and what exactly the role is in the community, why
they're so important.
Diniz Borges: Well, the Festas would be kind of a semester long course.
The Festas are important from a social aspect, but also important from a
community bonding aspect. So, when people talk about Festas they normally
-- it's just our generic word for a celebration. Usually tied around the
Catholic Church and usually tied around the Holy Ghost Festas. And these
began in Portugal and throughout Europe they were popular as well
in different aspects. And they kind of died out in all of Portugal and
all of Europe. But they maintained in the islands of the Azores. So if
you go to communities that are not Azorean, they will not probably have a
Portuguese Festas of the Holy Ghost. If you back east, for example, to
New Jersey, there's no such thing, other than the local Azorean club that
will have a Holy Ghost Festas. They have completely died with -- a couple
of pockets that kind of keep the tradition alive, but they've completely
died in main land Portugal, but they're very, very strong in the Azores.
There was no village in the Azores, literally no village that doesn't
have at least one Festas in honor of the Holy Ghost. These normally
happen between Easter Sunday and the Trinity Sunday in the Catholic
energy. So, they're spring events. And here they're just all over. They
begin after Easter and they go all the way through late July, beginning
of August. And, so, they're kind of part of the idiosyncrasy of who we
are as an Azorean. Even Azoreans who are not religious have -- believe in
the cult of the Holy Spirit. You know, what I mean believe, I mean
believe in some of the things that it ties. Because it ties the idea,
the idea is of sharing. The idea is of having a feast that open to
everyone and that is the idea of the sopas, which are part of the
gastronomic experience of a Festa. It's a very simple meal. It's bread,
broth that comes from the meat, wine. And, so, and then a few -- now
cabbage and some other vegetables. But it's a very, very simple meal.
Then the idea is, anyone can do that and make their promise to the higher
being and are able to partake this meal with their family and friends.
Now, here in California it's taken to a community Festa. So, people don't
normally have Festa in their own house and some people do. But the
Portuguese American associations, all of the Portuguese American
associations throughout the valley just about are DESs, which means
divine, which we've said to our Holy Ghost, halls. So every single hall
has a DES in it somewhere, Pentecostal, you know, the Lamoure Trinity
Hall or the PPAV Visalia, the Portuguese American Pentecostal Association
of Visalia. So, all of them have to do with the Holy Ghost, with the
Trinity and with the Festa. That's how they began. They're still a very
important component. I believe that if -- I think everything may even
die out in the Portuguese American community, we may not have the
Portuguese marching bands that we have today, we didn't have them, you
know, a 100 years ago, so we may not have them 50 years from now. We may
not have the folk lore groups, which is something we did not have also in
the community 50, 70 years ago. They're something of the products of the
1960s. We may not have some of the other cultural traditions. But the
Portuguese Holy Ghost Festas I think will stay around for many
generations, because it's something that can be passed on and it can be
done obviously in English or in any other aspect. This idea of
celebrating Queen Isabelle of Portugal and what she did during a very
tough time for Portugal, which was the famine, which was that she sold
the jewels of the crown to feed the poor, this idea that we have a
responsibility for our fellow human being independently of one's
ideology, is the basis of the Holy Ghost Festas. And if the Azoreans ever
lose that in California, they lose who they are.
Kelley McCoy: So you mentioned Pentecostal, however, from our interviews
what really loomed large over a lot of this was the Catholic Church. In
fact, one of our interviewees said that he couldn't imagine being
Portuguese without being Catholic or Catholic without being Portuguese.
Can you talk a little bit about the role that the church plays.
Diniz Borges: The church played a very important role. I don't know if it
plays the same role that it played 30 or 40 or 50 or even 100 years ago
in our immigration. I think it stills plays a -- it plays a bigger role
in Portuguese Americans of second and third generation, then it
probably plays a role in the immigrant, especially those who may have
come recent, there have been many of them, but those who have come
recent, because the church does not have the same role in Portugal that
it had when these folks immigrated or when their parents and grandparents
immigrated. The church at that time was the leading figure. There was
obviously some of these folks parents or grandparents, I should say, or
great grandparents that immigrated in the 1800s, up until 1910, well
those immigrated when we had a king and so, he was absolute monarch and
he had no role in the citizen's lives. So the church was the entity that
was close by. Every village had a church and the church priest was kind
of the authority, he was the one who knew how to read and write, no one
else did. After that obviously when we became a republic, our republic
was a very progressive republican because of that in the 1900s it lasted
a very short time. So then we had what we call now in Portugal the second
republic, which was actually a dictatorship, a 50 year dictatorship. A
very conservative 50 year dictatorship that was tied to the
Catholic Church. So those immigrants who came in the 1960s, especially
and the 1970s, up until 1974, were a product of this very conservative
regime that kept education at a very low level. You only went to school
until the 4th grade and the key figure, again, was the priest in the
village. He was the -- he was the intellectual of the village. He was
the one you looked to if you wanted any document done still, him or the
teacher at the time, the elementary teacher. But he or she was subjugated
also actually to the church. So the church had a lot – it was part of
everyone's upbringing. You were -- you were Catholic and that's just what
you were. You went to church every Sunday and even if you're -- if it
happened like your grandfather or my grandfather, for example, who never
went to church, but his daughters had to go to church. He had eight
daughters and his wife and my grandmother, they would all go to church.
He never stepped a foot in the church. But he was Catholic in his own
way, and it was important for him. So it was a social -- it was a social
religious faith. I think people, you know, obviously believed and still
believe in -- in Catholicism and it was -- when they came here, you know,
in a land that was different, in a land that had many different
religions, mainly Christian, but different denominations other than
Catholic, you know, Lutherans, Baptist, etc. And, so, what could you keep
that was yours? Your faith. Okay, what could you keep in America that
you didn't have to let acculturation, you know, grab it from you? Your
faith. The country is still a very Christian country, the United States
of America and you can keep your own brand of faith. In this case,
Catholicism. So, I think it defined Portuguese Americans. I understand
that very well from people who were born here, because they're living
what their parents or their grandparents taught them and I think it -- it
continued to play a very important role. I think it still plays an
important role today. Okay? But -- but today we find younger Portuguese
Americans who don't go to church as often as their parents or their
grandparents as their great grandparents did. They still identify
culturally with the church, but they may not identify religiously. But
the church was very, very important and even providing services for the
early immigrants.
Kelley McCoy: Most of those that we've interviewed have either maintained
or cultivated ties, very close ones with Azores from people who go back
often to see families, to others who purchase property there, to, of
course, those who are legislatures, who establish -- help us to establish
sister cities, relationships between universities, why do you think it is
so important to Portuguese Americans in the valley to nurture these
relationships? What's motivating them?
Diniz Borges: There's something -- there's always been a pride, even when
ethnic pride was something that wasn't in -- popular, let's put it that
way, in the United States. The more the melting pot come here, forget who
you are, you know, and just absorb what's here. There's always been an
ethnic pride about the Azores and about -- about those islands. And I
think it's even bigger with those who are of Azorean ancestry than
those who are Portuguese. People normally say, I'm Portuguese. But they
sometimes will follow up, I'm Portuguese from the Azores or I'm
Portuguese or I'm from the “das ilhs”, which literally translates, from
the islands. And I hear people say, even Azoreans, who are of second and
third generations. Some of them who have not been to the Azores or who
were there once maybe and they say, my grandparent's island, my parent's
island. So it's like a piece of who they are. There's something about the
islands, there's something about the hardness of life that people had.
You know, it sometimes -- it sometimes kind of puts me at aw when I think
of the Azores of the 1960s where I was born and how hard life was for my
parents and for my grandparents who didn't immigrate. And – or for my
grandfather who immigrated, but then went back to the Azores, but he had
a -- my maternal grandfather had it a little bit better because he was
able to purchase land and have employees and things like that. But my
grandparents on my dad's side were very humble people from very humble -worked very, very hard for what they had and was very little and yet
these folks came to America like I did in the 1960s or those whose
parents or grandparents had come in the later -- latter part of 19 -1800s and beginning of the 20th century. And yet they have this wonderful
romantic relationship with this place that was very hard to live. But
it's just, you know, I think -- I one time -- one of the oral histories
I've done for the College of Social Science, one young man, 94 years old,
told me, "I've never been to the Azores and that's the biggest regret I
have in my life. I've done other things that I've regretted, but not like
that. My biggest regret is I've never been to the Azores, because it's
who I am. Those islands are in me." So there's something kind of, I don't
know, mythical, mystical about the islands. People live a time that maybe
was simpler and so they lived that idyllic part in their minds. But I
think when Azoreans become successful, whether it be, as was mentioned,
whether it be in agriculture, in politics, in business, they always want
to contribute to the islands. And I think it is just -- it's been taught
to them, it's been passed on somehow and I think unconsciously by their
parents or their grandparents. I think there's been a lot of talk about
the islands, that they are able to establish these bonds and they want
to contribute. The islands play an important part of who they are by the
way it was passed on by generations. I think by family stories.
Kelley McCoy: If you had to describe what is at the heart of the
Portuguese American community, of course, focusing on those from the
Azores, by that I mean, what makes it the Portuguese and American, what
would you say?
Diniz Borges: Well, if we ask the typical Portuguese American from the
Azores what identifies him or her as a Portuguese American, I think they
-- what they would say, well, the family, strong ties to family and
families changed. Not the same kind of family that it was maybe, you
know, a 100 years ago. But family and working with your family in
good times and in bad. And then, of course, these cultural components
that people associate with many of their ethnic groups, but Portuguese
Americans associate with themselves, as hard workers, trying to, you
know, do the best they can for their society, trying to build something
for their families again. And having the -- and being, I think, as is
probably kind of key throughout this process, being people of faith in
the church. And continuing some of their cultural traditions, whether it
be with music, with the dances, with the food. So being Portuguese
American the way I -- what I've listened through the stories throughout
the years, is something that -- it's a sense of pride in the aspect that
people feel that they need to be American, but there is a need to be
something else. You know, even, you know, when we take some of the
political aspect of us, you know, Portuguese Americans have always been
very strong for the United States and in World War II when it wasn't
popular to fly the any flag of Europe because of all the turmoil,
Portuguese Americans did not fly the Portuguese flag at Portuguese Festas
because it was United States first. But there is this sense that, you
know, there is something -- there is another part of me that came from
another world. So I think it is -- it is a sense of family, culture with
a little bit of the popular aspects of it and also the sense that to be
Portuguese American is to be something that you can add to the
Americaness. So, I don't think people are quite sometimes when
we look at ethnicities and people think that, oh, you know, you want to
be whatever ethnicity you want to be because you want to take away from
being an American. Most of the Portuguese American people I speak with,
no, they think that the Portuguese side of it will add to the American.
It's a positive thing.
Kelley McCoy: I have one more question. We're looking towards the future
now, what do you think the future holds in store for this community?
Diniz Borges: If the Portuguese American community does not create
meaning, it will fade away. I think that happens with all ethnicities and
we are not any exception. So, an old friend of mine, who is not
Portuguese American, who is Jewish American, told me that. You need to
create meaning or you will fade away. And, so, I believe that some of
these values or some of these -- some of these cultural tidbits, let's
put it that way, some of these -- some of these strong beliefs that
people have and the different aspects of cultural language, etc., I think
they need to be passed onto the next generation. But it cannot be done
the same way it was done 50 years ago or 100 years ago. Families have
changed in America and throughout the world. And, so, we cannot just -we have to create -- what I mean create, meaning we'll fade away, we have
to create opportunities within society to continue to be a vital
community and contribute to the multicultural world of California. But we
cannot do the same thing we did 50 years ago. We cannot have a Festa only
for Portuguese Americans. The Festa have to include everyone of all
ethnicities. So, we have to basically really mainstream our presence in
California and the central valley or else – and that's how we're going to
create meaning, because we'll create meaning for our children who are now
married or have partners who are not of Portuguese background. And, so,
we have to create that avenue for it to be a culture that is shared by
everyone else. If we don't create those spaces, then certainly we will
fade away. And if we don't create spaces in the American mainstream
education systems for the Portuguese language to be taught like all the
other world languages are taught, then the language will also fade away.
And with the language completely gone, a lot of the culture will also
disappear. So I think that there has to be a reflection in the
Portuguese American community gone forward. It has to involve everyone,
not just those who immigrated like myself in the 1960s or 70s and
sometimes we think that we own the culture because we are the true ones,
because we came from there. I think the Portuguese American experience
would be very poor experience if it was just an experience of the
immigrants. The Portuguese American experience is an experience of the
first, the second, even the third generation, now the fourth generation
of Portuguese Americans. There is a story in all of this and sometimes we
will discover by going -- having this reflection and listening to those
whose grandparents or great grandparents immigrated, there is a story
there and sometimes we discover there's a little bit of the Portuguese in
them then there is in those who immigrated in the last, you know, 40 or
50 years. So, it's a coming together of the different generations and
opening spaces and opening opportunities to create this meaning so we can
perpetuate it.
Kelley McCoy: I actually lied, I said that that was my last question. I
do have one more. And it has to do with this. Maybe you know it, maybe
you don't.
Diniz Borges: Okay.
Kelley McCoy: But among the most moving aspects of a couple of interviews
that we've had were when people talked about becoming American citizens.
Tearful, they were very tearful when they talked about what that meant to
them. And, so, my question to you is this, do you know in the majority of
cases did immigrants from Portugal or the Azores to the United States did
they become citizens or are there any -- is there any data on that?
Diniz Borges: There's no data that I know of. Anecdotally, let's put it
that way, I think the majority of them did become and in my own family,
all of my family, with an exception of three of my cousins, became
American citizens at the age of 18 or their -- or through their parents
when they became citizens. There was a reason in the early times for
doing that and that was because you wanted to bring family over. So the
Family Reunification Act was all about families reunifying. So if you
came over, you wanted to -- and you wanted to give that opportunity to
your parents or to your – or to your sisters or brothers, your siblings,
then you had to become an American citizen. And I think a lot of people - and that, of course, was -- you had to wait the five year period and
then apply for the citizenship and pass the exam. And a lot of people
were -- it was a very special moment for them for two reasons. Because,
first of all, they did believe in the opportunities that America was
giving to them and because it was also a reason to bring their families.
So, I can now give something back to my family, I can bring them over.
This opportunity -- and no one became wealthy in five years, you know.
So, but people -- many people had a home or they were able to, you know,
live in a rented home that was nicer than what they -- when they first
arrived and they had a little bit of an economic stability. And, so, or
the opportunity to have economic stability if they didn't have it in the
five years, because lots of people didn't. The great majority of them.
But it was an opportunity to become -- to bring others forward, to bring
others into this -- to give others this opportunity that they had and
they felt they were starting to prosper. And I think it was -- it was
very powerful and I understand that, because it was -- now you could be a
full citizen of the country that you felt -- and some people became
citizens later on in life, especially the immigrants who came in the late
1800s and beginning of the 20th century. So those that were second and
third generation talking about when their parents or their grandparents
became citizens, how proud they were, because it was -- there was not,
the Family Reunification Act aside, and it was -- they really wanted to
become a citizen and because of different aspects of life, work,
everything else, they hadn't and when they did they felt really good
about it. My parents I remember that, they were -- in my mom and my dad's
situation it wasn't because of an opportunity for someone else. My father
-- my mother -- my mother's sisters were all American citizens and my
father's only sister did not want to come to America. So it was just
because they wanted to be part of us. And I recall the first and only
time that my dad went to vote. I think he was already in his 60s when he
went to vote, because for a while he didn't, and how important that was
for him, because he said, he said, "I don't know if I'm going to make
the right decision, but I have like 10 people I can vote for." In
Portugal you had to vote -- prior to the revolution -- but it was only
one person. And you had to vote. And, so, it was a total -- for him I
recall taking him to that moment and it was very, very important for him.
And, again, not that he knew anything about politics, I mean I'm sure he
had his opinions, because we talked over it at the kitchen table, but it
was an important part to participate in the system. And I think people
felt very strong about becoming an American citizen because it was also
an opportunity to belong to a country that they felt, and legitimately so
from my perspective, that had given them lots of opportunities.
actually an ancestry question, 2010 did not, and so according to that
there are roughly around 350,000 Americans who identify as being of
Portuguese background. The majority from the islands of the Azores.
Concentrated in various areas. So, southern California, way south, San
Diego, because of the tuna industry. Then in the greater Los Angeles,
metropolitan area the small community of Artesia and the Chino,
originally because of agriculture many years. Then, of course, the San
Joaquin Valley from Tulare County all the way up until Stanislaus County.
So anywhere from Tulare to Modesto. A little bit in the Sacramento, a
very older community basically in the Sacramento area. And then in the
Bay area, East Bay, Freemont, Oakland area, originally a very, very
strong Portuguese American in the Oakland area in all of the East Bay and
then, of course, down into the San Jose area, which is a newer community,
San Jose. And Santa Clara. But there were pockets of Portuguese up in
Santa Rosa and also in Arcata where there's actually a quite older
community as well.
Kelley McCoy: So they're all over California.
Diniz Borges: They're basically all over California, yes.
Kelley McCoy: What would you say in terms of the kinds of contributions
that Portuguese Americans have made, not only locally within the
communities, but across the state, even nationwide?
Diniz Borges: I think we've made some contributions in certain
industries, more than others. In Southern California, San Diego in the
tuna industry, it was pretty much controlled by the Portuguese in the
middle part of the 20th century. And then -- and, of course, in the
San Joaquin Valley in agriculture, in the dairy industry. According to
all data that has been published throughout the years, in the 1970s
especially, the Portuguese controlled about half of the dairy products
that were being manufactured, they were being processed -- producers that
is, in California and from the San Joaquin Valley and from the Chino area
as well, when dairies were still present in that part of the states. And
then in the Sacramento area in agriculture as well, before the
metropolitan areas became popular. In northern California I believe the
Portuguese Americans have been very involved in the services, in
construction, in services, and that's been heavily a community of the
1960s and 70s. The early communities all over the states, other than San
Diego and the Monterey area, were basically involved in agriculture one
way or another. The -- the San Diego and Monterey area were around
fishing and around whaling and around the tuna industry and San Diego as
well. Their contributions, I think, we've made some contributions to the
arts, I think we have some people that are widely known here from the
Valley and throughout the state. We made some contributions in the
political world. It was the early 1900s when we had our very first
Portuguese American elected to the state office. And, also, in -- I think
also in contributing to this multiethnic and this multicultural state of
ours, okay? Sometimes staying a little bit too close and that's been our
fault, but we've participated with going forward with our festivals, you
know, with our parades. Kind of adding a little bit of our own parts of
our culture to the multiethnic world of California.
Kelley McCoy: Tell me why it's important to capture the stories of
Portuguese Americans in the central valley?
Diniz Borges: I believe that it's a story that's been untold by many
ways. We can look at some of the historical data. There's not a whole
bunch historically done of the central valley itself when it comes to
California history. But very little do we open up any of the
publications that have been done or the stories that have been told about
the different ethnic groups in the valley. There's hardly anything about
the Portuguese Americans. Portuguese Americans have come to California
from the Azores Islands, they've blended in, which is a great thing.
Acculturation has been part of our process. And, so, because we blend in,
because we have been able to also construct bonds with other ethnic
groups, there hasn't been the need, I believe, in certain generations
they wanted to blend in a little bit more than the need to tell their
story. And I think their story is part of the American story, but,
however, there is -- there is a cultural component to it that I think is
important to cherish as we go -- as we move forward and I think there's a
little bit different kind of a take now in California and throughout the
United States as far as your ethnicity is concerned. It's something that
wasn't talked about, the concept of the melting pot is kind of given away
to a new concept, with is multiculturalism. And with the multiculturalism
we kind of need to know our story.
Kelley McCoy: As you noted, most Portuguese Americans in the valley, the
vast majority comes from the Azores, can you summarize the waves of
Azorean immigration to California and tell us why California and central
valley was such a popular destination.
Diniz Borges: The first wave of immigrants -- we have immigrants all the
way back to the 1816s and 1820s, but they were, you know, sporadic one
here, one there. For example, the secretary to the governor of
California, when it was a territory of Mexico, Governor Alvarado was
a Portuguese American from the Azores. So, there's been, you know, a
little bit of immigrants, but waves themselves in the late 1800s, so
between the 1870s and 1920, people would come for a better opportunity,
it was all about America. And, so, everyone in the old country, in old
Europe, wanted a taste of the new world. And so there was just get on the
ship and basically, you know, if you were healthy you would go through
Ellis Island. And then the second wave of immigration we -- was basically
after the 1958, '57, '58 eruption of a volcano in the island of Faial in
the Azores. And we convinced John F. Kennedy, we, the Massachusetts
community, convinced the then young senator from Massachusetts to put
forth something called the Azorean Refugee Act, that allowed folks to
come to America. After that the Family Reunification Act of the 1960s,
already with the Johnson administration, and, so, the Family
Reunification Act allowed those who had come either at the beginning of
this century or those who came post Capelinhos volcano in the late 50s to
bring forth their families, their siblings, their mom, their dad. And
that was the last exodus from the 1960s, early 1960s until basically
about 1976 to 1980. Our immigration to California has ceased. There are
families that come, you know, every year, but the last exodus was in
the 1960s and 70s. Why they come to California and not the east coast.
There's quite a few them. That -- did stay in the east coast, but in the
beginning, of course, the gold rush and all that, you know, entailed
that, you know, and the mythical part of the El Dorado and coming
to California and making it. Then the connection with farms, the
connection with the land. Most Azoreans, as mentioned by one of our
interviewees, the Congressman Jim, cause most Azoreans in the 18 and
early 1900s were one of two things, they were either fisherman or they
were farmers. And, so, California, being this land of plenty and where
you could buy land at a very reasonable price, it was a way for people to
come over. In the 1970s the California had a kind of established itself
in the Azores as a place to -- that anyone can make a good living, that
anyone can reinvent themselves, while continuing to be Azoreans or
Portuguese. And, so, it was a mythical place. By this time the Azorean
literature, there's lots of poems, lots of short stories written about
the Californias, which was a way to say, those who were Portuguese
background that lived in California. So it's kind of -- all though
there's a long, much broader immigration also to the -- the New England
states, California was kind of a mythical place. And some people
immigrate to the New England states and worked at a factory maybe six
months or a year, but there was always the opportunity of having land of
having your own business in California.
Kelley McCoy: Now, when -- when the immigrants came, precisely because of
what you were talking about, this presents, in many cases it was an
already established presence of other immigrants who had arrived. So you
had immigrants from the Azores coming into an established Portuguese
community, or Portuguese American communities. Did that make easier for
them, you think, to adjust to life in the United States and to maintain a
distinct Portuguese identity?
Diniz Borges: I believe so. And that – and we can look at that and all
the successive waves of immigrants. So in the early part of the 20th
century, last part of the 19th and early part of the 20th century, there
was a strong Portuguese American presence from the Azores in the Oakland
area. There is not a community or there's a very small community in the
Oakland area, but the Oakland area and the Oakland Hills, because they
were farming communities at the time. And, so, then as folks moved to
Sacramento or they moved into the valley and established
themselves, then, of course, those who came either later part of the 20th
century, what I mean latter part, from the 1960s onward, then, of course,
they would go into areas where they had family or folks from that
particular village that they knew that they could connect with. And
sometimes even to get a job. It was easier to get a job to be
employed if you knew someone who knew someone who could get you a job.
And in the 1960s the Family Reunification Act you had to have something
called the [termo de responsabilidade][a], we called it in Portuguese, or
that is, you have to have someone that was going to furnish you a job.
And, so, and -- so if you went to that area because this is sometimes
someone that you knew that had a dairy or that knew someone who owned a
dairy that could do that. I think having an older generation here that
had been here since the latter parts of the 1800s or the beginning of
the 20th century, gave the Portuguese immigrants that came after the 1960
or in the 60s and 70s, a foothold in the new world, but it also gave
them some -- a building block, let's say, to build what they were going
to do and a connection to the Azores, because there was already some
traditions that were kept alive, especially the Holy Ghost, festas. So it
was easier to maintain some of the cultural ties. Of course, there's
also some negative aspects of that, you know, some discrimination within,
you know, your own community sometimes, that happens. But overall it was
a positive thing, not only to have a foothold in the new world, but also
to maintain some of the cultural traditions that were being already
maintained by the folks who had been here or their parents had
immigrated.
Kelley McCoy: You mentioned discrimination, what do you mean by that?
Diniz Borges: Oh, there -- there was discrimination. I mean, the only -and I think I should use maybe personal aspect in this one, that is, if - I was -- the only time I felt discriminated when I was growing up in
America when I came at the age of 10, was by other Portuguese American.
Portuguese American kids who -- of course, these are kids that were 10,
11 years old, but some of these things come from the home -- who
discriminated against me because I was a Portuguese, not a Portuguese,
because my dad milked the cows and their dads owned the dairy. And, so,
there was some discrimination. We -- amongst communities, I think it's
unfortunately kind of natural that those who have been here, who were
born here or in some cases their parents were born here as well, felt
that they were more Americans and true Portuguese Americans and we
were kind of the newbies. So, that happened and many folks throughout the
state have -- in my involvement with the Portuguese American community
have told me that. The immigration that came in the 1960s and 70s, that
they necessarily did not feel discrimination from Americans in general,
they felt it sometimes within their own community.
Kelley McCoy: So, I'd like now to ask you about the roles and various
traditions in the institutions have played in the Portuguese American
community. First, the Portuguese language. You teach Portuguese, would
you say that it's a language that's experiencing resurgence, do you find
that the farther removed children are from those who immigrated the less
likely they are to be interested in the language, what role is the
language played?
Diniz Borges: The language played a role -- still plays an important
role. In the beginning, obviously, it was a way for people to communicate
with each other. So, even though some of them, whether it be in Northern
California, Southern California Valley, they lived in farms, basically at
that time, even the last part – or the latter part of the 1800s and
beginning of the 20th century, but they still got together because of the
language. So it was a way to communicate and keep the language alive.
It's a total different community today, especially because we've had -we have not had any significant immigration now in over 40 years. So, the
language is having a resurgence, not so much from the Portuguese American
aspect, but a lot of times because it's a global language and we are in
global markets and, so, there are other ethnicities that -- that -- that
compose, you know, our melting pot world. And, so, we -- these ethnic
groups are interested in another language besides -- besides, of course,
English. And, so, they looked at Portuguese for several reasons. However,
in the Portuguese American world there is a little bit of a need to
continue the language. Even if it's not going to be the language that you
communicate at home with your mom and dad or with your grandparents, but
it is important to have some certain words and certain phrases that gets
passed down from generation to generation, because it kind of help you
connect with the culture. Because we all say certain things in certain
ways.
Kelley McCoy: Can you say a few?
Diniz Borges: You know, well, you know, like for example, in Portuguese
we say [Cala a Boca which, you know, literally translates, means shut
up, you know, which we don't say in English, it's rude. But in Portuguese
it's just the way you are. You know, [cala a boca][b] is not a rude
term. It's a term that's used, you know, to be quiet more of, literally
translate. So, in knowing some of these -- some of these terms, [come e
cala-te) which literally translates, eat and shut up, you know. So, or
shut your mouth and eat. You know, we, you know, it's kind of rude to say
that in English, but in Portuguese when your grandmother says, [come e
cala-te), it's a term of endearment, means, enjoy the food. You know, do
be quiet for a little bit and enjoy the food. So, I think it's important
that -- that Portuguese Americans of third, fourth, fifth generation know
some of these terms and how -- and what they mean in the culture itself.
Okay. So I think the language continues to play an important role. I
think having Portuguese language programs, whether it be at community
schools, elementary or high schools or obviously through universities, is
an important way, not just for Portuguese Americans to connect, but also
to connect with other ethnic groups and to have the language present. So
I believe if the language ever totally dies in California, I think
we'll lose a lot of the cultural components.
Kelley McCoy: How about Portuguese language radio, what kind of role has
that played in the community?
Diniz Borges: Portuguese language radio was a very important bond between
the communities. It was more than just giving news of Portugal, from
Portugal or the Azores, it was more than giving -- playing music to keep
people tied. I was a product of that when I came in the 1960s. We
listened to Portuguese radio, not just in a what was happening in
Portugal, because they didn't have a lot of information. This was prior
to the internet. And, so, some of the news that we heard was like a week
old or a week and a half old. But it was a way that Portuguese people
found jobs, so the radio programs had a community calendar that included
jobs. So if a new immigrant came from Portugal, he would listen to [Lúcia
Noia for example on the Portugal radio or Miguel Canto e Castro in the
northern valley and they would listen to him on a daily basis and find
out whose dairy, where there was a dairy is looking for a milker. And
that was a way to connect for economic opportunities here in the valley.
It was also a way to keep the music and some of the traditions alive. And
that's how we also knew about festas about the events that happened in
the community, who died in the community, who was born in the community.
They did -- it was a very, very family and community-based radio. We
didn't listen to it like we listen to radio today, just to listen to
what's going on in national politics or international world, we listened
to it because we needed to know who was born in the community, who had
passed away so we would go to the services. Where was the next festa this
was before -- before Facebook and all the social media world. So it was
our way to connect with the world. And it was our way to connect also to
keep on having contact with the language. I'm a firm believer that if we
did not have Portuguese language in the programs, radio programs, in the
1960s, 70s, 80s and even through the 90s, we would not have folks
speaking Portuguese that they speak today. Because they were taught
mainly by their parents and what they heard. Today it's a different world
and that's why, you know, we are even doing now Portuguese radio in
English, about the Portuguese community, because we need to reach the
second, third and fourth generations who don't -- who don't speak
Portuguese. But it was a very important tool.
Kelley McCoy: Tell me about Festas. Everybody mentioned them, can you
explain what they are and what exactly the role is in the community, why
they're so important.
Diniz Borges: Well, the Festas would be kind of a semester long course.
The Festas are important from a social aspect, but also important from a
community bonding aspect. So, when people talk about Festas they normally
-- it's just our generic word for a celebration. Usually tied around the
Catholic Church and usually tied around the Holy Ghost Festas. And these
began in Portugal and throughout Europe they were popular as well
in different aspects. And they kind of died out in all of Portugal and
all of Europe. But they maintained in the islands of the Azores. So if
you go to communities that are not Azorean, they will not probably have a
Portuguese Festas of the Holy Ghost. If you back east, for example, to
New Jersey, there's no such thing, other than the local Azorean club that
will have a Holy Ghost Festas. They have completely died with -- a couple
of pockets that kind of keep the tradition alive, but they've completely
died in main land Portugal, but they're very, very strong in the Azores.
There was no village in the Azores, literally no village that doesn't
have at least one Festas in honor of the Holy Ghost. These normally
happen between Easter Sunday and the Trinity Sunday in the Catholic
energy. So, they're spring events. And here they're just all over. They
begin after Easter and they go all the way through late July, beginning
of August. And, so, they're kind of part of the idiosyncrasy of who we
are as an Azorean. Even Azoreans who are not religious have -- believe in
the cult of the Holy Spirit. You know, what I mean believe, I mean
believe in some of the things that it ties. Because it ties the idea,
the idea is of sharing. The idea is of having a feast that open to
everyone and that is the idea of the sopas, which are part of the
gastronomic experience of a Festa. It's a very simple meal. It's bread,
broth that comes from the meat, wine. And, so, and then a few -- now
cabbage and some other vegetables. But it's a very, very simple meal.
Then the idea is, anyone can do that and make their promise to the higher
being and are able to partake this meal with their family and friends.
Now, here in California it's taken to a community Festa. So, people don't
normally have Festa in their own house and some people do. But the
Portuguese American associations, all of the Portuguese American
associations throughout the valley just about are DESs, which means
divine, which we've said to our Holy Ghost, halls. So every single hall
has a DES in it somewhere, Pentecostal, you know, the Lamoure Trinity
Hall or the PPAV Visalia, the Portuguese American Pentecostal Association
of Visalia. So, all of them have to do with the Holy Ghost, with the
Trinity and with the Festa. That's how they began. They're still a very
important component. I believe that if -- I think everything may even
die out in the Portuguese American community, we may not have the
Portuguese marching bands that we have today, we didn't have them, you
know, a 100 years ago, so we may not have them 50 years from now. We may
not have the folk lore groups, which is something we did not have also in
the community 50, 70 years ago. They're something of the products of the
1960s. We may not have some of the other cultural traditions. But the
Portuguese Holy Ghost Festas I think will stay around for many
generations, because it's something that can be passed on and it can be
done obviously in English or in any other aspect. This idea of
celebrating Queen Isabelle of Portugal and what she did during a very
tough time for Portugal, which was the famine, which was that she sold
the jewels of the crown to feed the poor, this idea that we have a
responsibility for our fellow human being independently of one's
ideology, is the basis of the Holy Ghost Festas. And if the Azoreans ever
lose that in California, they lose who they are.
Kelley McCoy: So you mentioned Pentecostal, however, from our interviews
what really loomed large over a lot of this was the Catholic Church. In
fact, one of our interviewees said that he couldn't imagine being
Portuguese without being Catholic or Catholic without being Portuguese.
Can you talk a little bit about the role that the church plays.
Diniz Borges: The church played a very important role. I don't know if it
plays the same role that it played 30 or 40 or 50 or even 100 years ago
in our immigration. I think it stills plays a -- it plays a bigger role
in Portuguese Americans of second and third generation, then it
probably plays a role in the immigrant, especially those who may have
come recent, there have been many of them, but those who have come
recent, because the church does not have the same role in Portugal that
it had when these folks immigrated or when their parents and grandparents
immigrated. The church at that time was the leading figure. There was
obviously some of these folks parents or grandparents, I should say, or
great grandparents that immigrated in the 1800s, up until 1910, well
those immigrated when we had a king and so, he was absolute monarch and
he had no role in the citizen's lives. So the church was the entity that
was close by. Every village had a church and the church priest was kind
of the authority, he was the one who knew how to read and write, no one
else did. After that obviously when we became a republic, our republic
was a very progressive republican because of that in the 1900s it lasted
a very short time. So then we had what we call now in Portugal the second
republic, which was actually a dictatorship, a 50 year dictatorship. A
very conservative 50 year dictatorship that was tied to the
Catholic Church. So those immigrants who came in the 1960s, especially
and the 1970s, up until 1974, were a product of this very conservative
regime that kept education at a very low level. You only went to school
until the 4th grade and the key figure, again, was the priest in the
village. He was the -- he was the intellectual of the village. He was
the one you looked to if you wanted any document done still, him or the
teacher at the time, the elementary teacher. But he or she was subjugated
also actually to the church. So the church had a lot – it was part of
everyone's upbringing. You were -- you were Catholic and that's just what
you were. You went to church every Sunday and even if you're -- if it
happened like your grandfather or my grandfather, for example, who never
went to church, but his daughters had to go to church. He had eight
daughters and his wife and my grandmother, they would all go to church.
He never stepped a foot in the church. But he was Catholic in his own
way, and it was important for him. So it was a social -- it was a social
religious faith. I think people, you know, obviously believed and still
believe in -- in Catholicism and it was -- when they came here, you know,
in a land that was different, in a land that had many different
religions, mainly Christian, but different denominations other than
Catholic, you know, Lutherans, Baptist, etc. And, so, what could you keep
that was yours? Your faith. Okay, what could you keep in America that
you didn't have to let acculturation, you know, grab it from you? Your
faith. The country is still a very Christian country, the United States
of America and you can keep your own brand of faith. In this case,
Catholicism. So, I think it defined Portuguese Americans. I understand
that very well from people who were born here, because they're living
what their parents or their grandparents taught them and I think it -- it
continued to play a very important role. I think it still plays an
important role today. Okay? But -- but today we find younger Portuguese
Americans who don't go to church as often as their parents or their
grandparents as their great grandparents did. They still identify
culturally with the church, but they may not identify religiously. But
the church was very, very important and even providing services for the
early immigrants.
Kelley McCoy: Most of those that we've interviewed have either maintained
or cultivated ties, very close ones with Azores from people who go back
often to see families, to others who purchase property there, to, of
course, those who are legislatures, who establish -- help us to establish
sister cities, relationships between universities, why do you think it is
so important to Portuguese Americans in the valley to nurture these
relationships? What's motivating them?
Diniz Borges: There's something -- there's always been a pride, even when
ethnic pride was something that wasn't in -- popular, let's put it that
way, in the United States. The more the melting pot come here, forget who
you are, you know, and just absorb what's here. There's always been an
ethnic pride about the Azores and about -- about those islands. And I
think it's even bigger with those who are of Azorean ancestry than
those who are Portuguese. People normally say, I'm Portuguese. But they
sometimes will follow up, I'm Portuguese from the Azores or I'm
Portuguese or I'm from the “das ilhs”, which literally translates, from
the islands. And I hear people say, even Azoreans, who are of second and
third generations. Some of them who have not been to the Azores or who
were there once maybe and they say, my grandparent's island, my parent's
island. So it's like a piece of who they are. There's something about the
islands, there's something about the hardness of life that people had.
You know, it sometimes -- it sometimes kind of puts me at aw when I think
of the Azores of the 1960s where I was born and how hard life was for my
parents and for my grandparents who didn't immigrate. And – or for my
grandfather who immigrated, but then went back to the Azores, but he had
a -- my maternal grandfather had it a little bit better because he was
able to purchase land and have employees and things like that. But my
grandparents on my dad's side were very humble people from very humble -worked very, very hard for what they had and was very little and yet
these folks came to America like I did in the 1960s or those whose
parents or grandparents had come in the later -- latter part of 19 -1800s and beginning of the 20th century. And yet they have this wonderful
romantic relationship with this place that was very hard to live. But
it's just, you know, I think -- I one time -- one of the oral histories
I've done for the College of Social Science, one young man, 94 years old,
told me, "I've never been to the Azores and that's the biggest regret I
have in my life. I've done other things that I've regretted, but not like
that. My biggest regret is I've never been to the Azores, because it's
who I am. Those islands are in me." So there's something kind of, I don't
know, mythical, mystical about the islands. People live a time that maybe
was simpler and so they lived that idyllic part in their minds. But I
think when Azoreans become successful, whether it be, as was mentioned,
whether it be in agriculture, in politics, in business, they always want
to contribute to the islands. And I think it is just -- it's been taught
to them, it's been passed on somehow and I think unconsciously by their
parents or their grandparents. I think there's been a lot of talk about
the islands, that they are able to establish these bonds and they want
to contribute. The islands play an important part of who they are by the
way it was passed on by generations. I think by family stories.
Kelley McCoy: If you had to describe what is at the heart of the
Portuguese American community, of course, focusing on those from the
Azores, by that I mean, what makes it the Portuguese and American, what
would you say?
Diniz Borges: Well, if we ask the typical Portuguese American from the
Azores what identifies him or her as a Portuguese American, I think they
-- what they would say, well, the family, strong ties to family and
families changed. Not the same kind of family that it was maybe, you
know, a 100 years ago. But family and working with your family in
good times and in bad. And then, of course, these cultural components
that people associate with many of their ethnic groups, but Portuguese
Americans associate with themselves, as hard workers, trying to, you
know, do the best they can for their society, trying to build something
for their families again. And having the -- and being, I think, as is
probably kind of key throughout this process, being people of faith in
the church. And continuing some of their cultural traditions, whether it
be with music, with the dances, with the food. So being Portuguese
American the way I -- what I've listened through the stories throughout
the years, is something that -- it's a sense of pride in the aspect that
people feel that they need to be American, but there is a need to be
something else. You know, even, you know, when we take some of the
political aspect of us, you know, Portuguese Americans have always been
very strong for the United States and in World War II when it wasn't
popular to fly the any flag of Europe because of all the turmoil,
Portuguese Americans did not fly the Portuguese flag at Portuguese Festas
because it was United States first. But there is this sense that, you
know, there is something -- there is another part of me that came from
another world. So I think it is -- it is a sense of family, culture with
a little bit of the popular aspects of it and also the sense that to be
Portuguese American is to be something that you can add to the
Americaness. So, I don't think people are quite sometimes when
we look at ethnicities and people think that, oh, you know, you want to
be whatever ethnicity you want to be because you want to take away from
being an American. Most of the Portuguese American people I speak with,
no, they think that the Portuguese side of it will add to the American.
It's a positive thing.
Kelley McCoy: I have one more question. We're looking towards the future
now, what do you think the future holds in store for this community?
Diniz Borges: If the Portuguese American community does not create
meaning, it will fade away. I think that happens with all ethnicities and
we are not any exception. So, an old friend of mine, who is not
Portuguese American, who is Jewish American, told me that. You need to
create meaning or you will fade away. And, so, I believe that some of
these values or some of these -- some of these cultural tidbits, let's
put it that way, some of these -- some of these strong beliefs that
people have and the different aspects of cultural language, etc., I think
they need to be passed onto the next generation. But it cannot be done
the same way it was done 50 years ago or 100 years ago. Families have
changed in America and throughout the world. And, so, we cannot just -we have to create -- what I mean create, meaning we'll fade away, we have
to create opportunities within society to continue to be a vital
community and contribute to the multicultural world of California. But we
cannot do the same thing we did 50 years ago. We cannot have a Festa only
for Portuguese Americans. The Festa have to include everyone of all
ethnicities. So, we have to basically really mainstream our presence in
California and the central valley or else – and that's how we're going to
create meaning, because we'll create meaning for our children who are now
married or have partners who are not of Portuguese background. And, so,
we have to create that avenue for it to be a culture that is shared by
everyone else. If we don't create those spaces, then certainly we will
fade away. And if we don't create spaces in the American mainstream
education systems for the Portuguese language to be taught like all the
other world languages are taught, then the language will also fade away.
And with the language completely gone, a lot of the culture will also
disappear. So I think that there has to be a reflection in the
Portuguese American community gone forward. It has to involve everyone,
not just those who immigrated like myself in the 1960s or 70s and
sometimes we think that we own the culture because we are the true ones,
because we came from there. I think the Portuguese American experience
would be very poor experience if it was just an experience of the
immigrants. The Portuguese American experience is an experience of the
first, the second, even the third generation, now the fourth generation
of Portuguese Americans. There is a story in all of this and sometimes we
will discover by going -- having this reflection and listening to those
whose grandparents or great grandparents immigrated, there is a story
there and sometimes we discover there's a little bit of the Portuguese in
them then there is in those who immigrated in the last, you know, 40 or
50 years. So, it's a coming together of the different generations and
opening spaces and opening opportunities to create this meaning so we can
perpetuate it.
Kelley McCoy: I actually lied, I said that that was my last question. I
do have one more. And it has to do with this. Maybe you know it, maybe
you don't.
Diniz Borges: Okay.
Kelley McCoy: But among the most moving aspects of a couple of interviews
that we've had were when people talked about becoming American citizens.
Tearful, they were very tearful when they talked about what that meant to
them. And, so, my question to you is this, do you know in the majority of
cases did immigrants from Portugal or the Azores to the United States did
they become citizens or are there any -- is there any data on that?
Diniz Borges: There's no data that I know of. Anecdotally, let's put it
that way, I think the majority of them did become and in my own family,
all of my family, with an exception of three of my cousins, became
American citizens at the age of 18 or their -- or through their parents
when they became citizens. There was a reason in the early times for
doing that and that was because you wanted to bring family over. So the
Family Reunification Act was all about families reunifying. So if you
came over, you wanted to -- and you wanted to give that opportunity to
your parents or to your – or to your sisters or brothers, your siblings,
then you had to become an American citizen. And I think a lot of people - and that, of course, was -- you had to wait the five year period and
then apply for the citizenship and pass the exam. And a lot of people
were -- it was a very special moment for them for two reasons. Because,
first of all, they did believe in the opportunities that America was
giving to them and because it was also a reason to bring their families.
So, I can now give something back to my family, I can bring them over.
This opportunity -- and no one became wealthy in five years, you know.
So, but people -- many people had a home or they were able to, you know,
live in a rented home that was nicer than what they -- when they first
arrived and they had a little bit of an economic stability. And, so, or
the opportunity to have economic stability if they didn't have it in the
five years, because lots of people didn't. The great majority of them.
But it was an opportunity to become -- to bring others forward, to bring
others into this -- to give others this opportunity that they had and
they felt they were starting to prosper. And I think it was -- it was
very powerful and I understand that, because it was -- now you could be a
full citizen of the country that you felt -- and some people became
citizens later on in life, especially the immigrants who came in the late
1800s and beginning of the 20th century. So those that were second and
third generation talking about when their parents or their grandparents
became citizens, how proud they were, because it was -- there was not,
the Family Reunification Act aside, and it was -- they really wanted to
become a citizen and because of different aspects of life, work,
everything else, they hadn't and when they did they felt really good
about it. My parents I remember that, they were -- in my mom and my dad's
situation it wasn't because of an opportunity for someone else. My father
-- my mother -- my mother's sisters were all American citizens and my
father's only sister did not want to come to America. So it was just
because they wanted to be part of us. And I recall the first and only
time that my dad went to vote. I think he was already in his 60s when he
went to vote, because for a while he didn't, and how important that was
for him, because he said, he said, "I don't know if I'm going to make
the right decision, but I have like 10 people I can vote for." In
Portugal you had to vote -- prior to the revolution -- but it was only
one person. And you had to vote. And, so, it was a total -- for him I
recall taking him to that moment and it was very, very important for him.
And, again, not that he knew anything about politics, I mean I'm sure he
had his opinions, because we talked over it at the kitchen table, but it
was an important part to participate in the system. And I think people
felt very strong about becoming an American citizen because it was also
an opportunity to belong to a country that they felt, and legitimately so
from my perspective, that had given them lots of opportunities.