Posted on 07/15/2008 4:16:13 PM PDT by radar101
DOWNTOWN SAN DIEGO – The National Council of La Raza spends most of its time protecting and advancing the rights of Latinos through advocacy and community work. But as it wraps up its convention downtown, it has found itself defending its name.
That's because activists who oppose illegal immigration are saying in e-mails, during street protests and through the media that “La Raza” means “The Race,” and have been calling the organization a hate group. The accusations have prompted soul-searching among NCLR supporters as to what the name actually means and stands for. Most say the situation is the result of a word lost in translation.
In the past few days, organizers have addressed the issue at news conferences and on their Web site, where they explain their interpretation of the name.
“While it is true that one meaning of 'raza' in Spanish is indeed 'race,' . . . words can and do have multiple meanings,” reads the statement. “ 'La raza' means 'the people' or 'the community.'
“Translating our name as 'the race' is not only inaccurate, it is factually incorrect. 'Hispanic' is an ethnicity, not a race. . . . Hispanics can be and are members of any and all races.”
Still, raza can mean different things to different people, even Spanish speakers. For some it means family and community, while for others it represents the language and customs of Latinos.
During a speech Sunday, Sen. Barack Obama described “la raza” as “big enough to embrace the notion that we are all part of a greater community.”
“It's a very subjective term,” said Bernardo Ferdman, a professor at the Marshall Goldsmith School of Management at Alliant University, who teaches about diversity in the workplace.
“The concept of race that people use in the United States is not the same as the one used in Latin America. People talk about the human race, the human races, and the race meaning the people, or el pueblo, so it has several meanings.”
Several Latin American countries celebrate Oct. 12 as Dia de la Raza – Columbus Day in the United States – commemorating the beginning of a mixture between Spaniards and the native populations.
The interpretation of the term among protesters outside the convention center was that “raza” stood for exclusion and divisiveness.
“It's flat-out racism,” said Dominique Harkay, who opposes illegal immigration. “If they want to change that perception, they should change their name.”
The NCLR's president, Janet Murguía, has acknowledged that there have been conversations about changing the name. It has been difficult because of the name's historical weight, Murguía said.
The organization was born in 1968 under the name Southwest Council of La Raza during a time when Latinos had little social representation and their issues were mostly ignored.
Many members feel they should be true to their roots and stick with the name.
Hiram Soto: (619) 293-2027; Hiram.Soto@uniontrib.com
I do not want somebody who walked across the border to have the same rights I do.
The only right they should have is a crash course in parachuting back over their homeland.
Second offense leaves them in the water.
They sure do start the weasel-words when the finger they’ve been pointing comes back at them, don’t they? I’m trying to wrap my head around the concept that it’s racism against Hispanics to oppose illegal immigration but it isn’t racist to promote it under the auspices of The Race. That may make sense to a Professor Of Diversity but I’m afraid it’s too subtle for me.
(While it is true that one meaning of ‘raza’ in Spanish is indeed ‘race,’ . . . words can and do have multiple meanings,” reads the statement. “ ‘La raza’ means ‘the people’ or ‘the community)
Sorry. You can parse the word all you want. Tha fact is that your organization promotes things that are harmful to America, Americans and Legal Immigrants from all over the world that want to become AMERICANS
In Mexico, "la raza" is used to specifically refer to the Mestizo "race" formed by the intermarriage of Spaniards with the local Indians. The term has nothing to do with non-Mestizo Spanish-speaking countries.
A Cuban asked about "la raza" would want to know what "raza" you were taking about. The "negros"? The "blancos"? The "Indios"?
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No problemo. Happens all the time, I didn’t mean it as a net nanny. I had just read it a half hour earlier though, so I thought it worth noting.
Hmmmm...Why no mention of La Razas motto, Barack?
How about you, Soto?...
Why no mention of the fact that La Raza’s motto is:
“For the Race: Everything!..For others: Nothing!”
La Raza is a racist, Non-American-Mexican group of Militant Foreign Aliens.
La Raza and MeCHa share the same racist view of “for everyone within the race...everything, for those outside...nothing.” Can’t get any clearer than that.
Isn’t their organization motto “For La Raza, everything; for those outside La Raza, nothing”? Doesn’t sound very community-oriented to me; sounds more like the kind of thing that race-based nationalists would say.
Wow, three within two minutes!
Of course it is professor. And most of us subjectively take La Raza to mean "liar-communist-racist".
Yeah, but not my personal best. Now, excuse me, but I have to get back to the record.
Wonder if the Professor would determine any KKK ideology as “subjective”...
Why is it then that whenever someone protests illegal immigrant members of “la raza” that the protesters are immediately labeled as racists? You can’t have a racist if there is no race.
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