An adept reader pointed out the fact that La Raza is a bit more broad than supposed here:
Reader: Sotomayor is Puerto Rican.
Wiki: "La Raza (literally 'The Race') is sometimes used to denote people of Chicano (i.e. Mexican American) and Mexican descent and the Hispanic world, as well by mestizos who share Native American or national Hispanic heritage."
La Raza is closely allied with MECha, in fact, our L.A. Mayor is La Raza/Aztlan as well and supported a school that most reasonable people would consider dangerous:
http://www.youtube.com/wat
(Libertarian Republican Import)
Calling Bullsh*t on La Raza Pres. Janet Murguia on group's name: Tancredo is right, it does mean "The Race"
by Eric Dondero
Janet Murguia must think us Gringos are stupid. She must think that we'll all just buy her "mierda" because surely none of us speak Spanish.
From CNN, "White House responds as GOP continues Sotomayor attacks":
On CNN Friday, La Raza president Janet Murguia disputed Tancredo's statements about the 40-year-old group. The motto, she said, is not "All for the race, nothing for the rest," the organization is very much "mainstream," the group's name does not translate to "the race" as understood in English.I'm a certified Spanish/English interpreter. I've lived in Mexico, twice, once for 3 months in Tampico, and another stint for 2 months in Guadalajara. I've visited 11 Mexican states from Veracruz in the far southeast, to Baja in the far northeast. I've been to Spain numerous times, and was stationed in Puerto Rico in the Navy. I've even written two books on language learning, one titled "Vacation Spanish." (I speak over a dozen languages, and am fluent in five).
Our name has a long history to it, but the bottom line is that words in English and in Spanish, have different meanings," she said. "Race in Spanish, la raza in Spanish, has a broader meaning. It means the people, the community. And it really is meant to be a very inclusive term. It comes from the term 'la raza cosmica,' the cosmic race, which is a very inclusive term."
I can tell you that completely contrary to what Ms. Murguia is saying, the term "La Raza" is a strictly Mexican term. It's not used by Puerto Ricans, and certainly not Spaniards. In fact, Mexicans are often disdainful of other races, most certainly of Central Americans (Guatemalans, Hondurans, Salvadorans), who they see as purely Indio. Mexicans hold themselves in esteem, for their mostly Spanish blood. Thus the term "La Raza."
What Ms. Murguia is not saying here, and what she expects no Gringo to be privvy too, is that the term "La Raza," is as much about distinguishing Mexicans from Central Americans, than it is about Norteamericanos norte de la frontera.
Mexicans are extremly prideful people. In my own region of South Texas, Tejanos wear their family names on the backs of their pick-ups in big white letters: "Garcias," "Hernandez," "Castros," and "Morales."
Imagine if Euro-Americans did the same with "Smiths," "Johnsons," or "McCains."
That Family pride extends to the entire Nation of Mexico. They view all fellow Mexicans as part of their extended Familia. It doesn't extend to Central Americans or Puerto Ricans, however.
You'll rarely find a dude from El Salvador here in the US with "Espinoza" plastered on the back of his pick-up. And the custom does not extend at all to Caribbean Hispanics or South Americans.
Don't fall for the bullshit line that Ms. Murguia is peddling. Just because you may not speak Spanish, doesn't mean you have to believe everything a native Spanish speaker is trying to feed you.
La Raza, most certainly means The Race. And it is a term fully intended to evoke pride and sectarianism; in other words, if you ain't part of the Mexican! family, you ain't one of us.
