Migrating freely to New England as Portuguese colonials, thereby they initially defined themselves in terms of ethnicity—they were Portuguese—but because of their mixed African and European ancestry, they were looked upon and treated as an inferior racial group. And although the Cape Verdeans initially sought recognition as Portuguese-Americans, in terms of white society, they were excluded from the Portuguese social and religious associations, and the Cape Verdeans also suffered similar discrimination in housing and employment.
Another facet of this complicated identity structure is that Cape Verdeans then chose not to identify with the African-American population that was already here in the New Bedford area. They quickly perceived the adverse affects of racism on the upward-mobility of anyone who was considered non-white in this country. Cape Verdeans, almost from the moment they set foot on U.S. soil, were categorized as African-American, but that didn’t ring true to their own experience. They saw themselves as Cape Verdeans.