# What does La Raza mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 21, 2004, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-la-raza-mean/265271 "2004-09-21T04:55:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-la-raza-mean/265271/1 "2004-09-21T04:55:54Z")
I believe it to be spanish. I did a search here, but no references to what it actually means. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-la-raza-mean/265271/2 "2004-09-21T05:01:41Z")
_La Raza_ = _The Race_ Spanish speakers will be along to correct me shortly, but it is used as the designator for Hispanic Awareness and Culture. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-la-raza-mean/265271/3 "2004-09-21T05:34:02Z")
Mi Espanol es muy pocito. That said, my Spanish to English dictionary lists raza as race, of people in humans or breed, in animals. **silenus** confused me. I was thinking “foot race.” :smack: sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-la-raza-mean/265271/4 "2004-09-21T06:56:13Z")
Latin Americans, particularly _mestizos_, consider themselves to be the “cosmic” race, a mingling of all the other races in the world, and refer to themselves as “la raza,” “the race.” It’s a bit like most American Indian tribes’ names translating in their own languages as “the people.” It’s not a term that’s inclusive to outsiders. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-la-raza-mean/265271/5 "2004-09-21T06:58:35Z")
I’ve always seen “members” of La Raza protrayed as Latin counterparts of the Aryan Nation. As in, extreme racial pride. Am I watching too many movies or is that not so far off? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-la-raza-mean/265271/6 "2004-09-21T07:18:04Z")
Literally the race in Spanish, it is probably more accurately translated as “the people”. I think the term is not much in vogue these days, but in more radical times (20 -30 yrs ago), it was used as a political term to distinguish “Chicanos” from “Anglos”. It came back into the limelight during the CA recall election last year, because Bustamante, the Lt Gov running against Arnold, was a member of [MEChA](http://www.berkeleymecha.org/documents/bmc.html), _Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán_ back in his college days. The link to _[El Plan de Aztlán](http://www.berkeleymecha.org/documents/epeda.html)_ is especially enlightening, if disturbing. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-la-raza-mean/265271/7 "2004-09-21T09:02:40Z")
Columbus Day in the Latin community isn’t called “El dio de Colon,” it’s called “Dia de la Raza.” So the term isn’t exclusively radical or “Let’s take back Aztlan.” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-la-raza-mean/265271/8 "2004-09-21T15:46:50Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > Columbus Day in the Latin community isn’t called “El dio de Colon,” it’s called “Dia de la Raza.” So the term isn’t exclusively radical or “Let’s take back Aztlan.” While I agree with your conclusion, your evidence is not very persuasive. In fact, the phrase _Dia de la Raza_ can easily be interpreted as being very “pro-Aztaln” wrt Columbus Day. I didn’t mean to imply that the term was exclusively used by radical Aztlan seperatists, so I’m sorry if it came off that way. It was just an example. Different groups use “_la raza_” for different purposes. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-la-raza-mean/265271/9 "2004-09-21T19:20:47Z")
Isn’t there a paper in the DF called “La Raza”? In that context I’d always imagined it as meaning “The People” rather than literally _race_. Think in terms of English’s “The Human Race.” As per Columbus Day, it’s as said above, but other than in strange third world parts of Latin America where they burn effigies, they do use it to celebrate Columbus. ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-la-raza-mean/265271/10 "2004-09-21T19:51:06Z")
[El Vez says “Viva la Raza!”](http://launch.yahoo.com/album/default.asp?albumID=105760) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-la-raza-mean/265271/11 "2004-09-21T20:54:29Z")
There is an organization called “National Council of La Raza”: [http://www.nclr.org/](http://www.nclr.org/) And a Chicago-based newspaper called _La Raza:_[http://www.laraza.com/](http://www.laraza.com/) And a political party called Partido National de La Raza Unida: [http://larazaunida.tripod.com/enter.htm](http://larazaunida.tripod.com/enter.htm) Only the political party seems to be really Hispanic-nationalist. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-la-raza-mean/265271/12 "2004-09-21T22:50:06Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Isn’t there a paper in the DF called “La Raza”? In that context I’d always imagined it as meaning “The People” rather than literally _race_. Think in terms of English’s “The Human Race.” I don’t think so. Although I also translated it as “the people” above, it’s probably more accurate to think of it as “our people”. It is not all-inclusive. What’s “DF”? ---
**Author:** ![vinniepaz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@vinniepaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vinniepaz)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-la-raza-mean/265271/13 "2004-09-21T23:35:19Z")
anecdotal, but at my high school the Latino club is called La Raza ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2004, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-la-raza-mean/265271/14 "2004-09-22T02:10:38Z")
The word “raza”, when used by itslef with no further adjective, can be interpreted as “My People”. It basically means whatever ethnic or racial group the speaker belongs to. A white Spaniard who says “raza” may have other European Spaniards, Iberians, European “Latins” (i.e. Italians), Spanish-Speakers, or the “white race” in mind - depending on their worldview. A mestizo Mexican-American may mean it to signify other Mexican-Americans or Mexicans, especially mestizos. It may or may not include Cubans or Puerto RIcans, also depending on the speakers attitude or point of view. They may use it pointed to exclude black or white Latin Americans as well as Anglo-Americans. Then again, many Spanish speakers use the term to refer to all from the Spanish speaking world, regardless of biological race. This is actually in keeping with the original use of the word “race”, but not one that is common in English. It can be a very politicized label for some Chicanos, but a lot of times it has a very neutral meaning. Just because someone uses this term, it doesn’t make them a firebrand who wants to drive out the “gringos” and make the Southwest Mexico’s 32nd state. For instance, you might hear a Mexican-American in Texas say “hay mucha raza en Laredo” (There are many Mexican in Laredo), or “that dude looks very raza” - he looks very Mexican. In short, raza means ‘people like me’. Which people that may include is a complex affair. While I am not sure of this, I think that term’s usage is a legacy of Spanish colonial rule. People were classified according as whites, blacks, Indians, Asians, and so on. Then there were many categories of mixed people or Mestizos. The Spaniards essentially treated these people based on the amount of Spanish ancestry or ‘raza’ (from the Spaniard’s point of view) they had. People who were mixed, by virtue of being part Spanish were still " de raza" - as opposed to full blooded blacks and Indians. This is an oversimplification, as the racial hierachy in New Spain was very complex. All in all, this is one of those words do not easily translate from one language to another. ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2004, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-la-raza-mean/265271/15 "2004-09-22T02:52:29Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > I don’t think so. Although I also translated it as “the people” above, it’s probably more accurate to think of it as “our people”. It is not all-inclusive. > > What’s “DF”? México, **D** istrito **F** ederal is the capitol of the country. Like Washington **D.C.** La raza can also denote a group of friends or family. _Voy a llevar toda la raza._ I’ll take the whole family. ---
**Author:** ![O\_Desfibrador](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/278dde/32.png) [@O\_Desfibrador](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/O_Desfibrador)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2004, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-la-raza-mean/265271/16 "2004-09-22T10:33:11Z")
The word “raza” sure has a lot of meanings (more in Latin America than in Spain) but it’s principal one is the equivalent of “race” as in whites, blacks, Asian… It also means “breed” when talking of dogs, for example. Of course it has a lot of connotations… As an example the [sarcasm] great literary jewel [\sarcasm] (later made into a movie) written by Francisco Franco Bahamonde and titled _Raza_… Needless to say both are horrible, but if you know something about the man, they can be quite funny, in a pathetic way… Basically is the story of his life as he would have liked it to be. In Spain we don’t call Columbus Day “Día de la Raza”. It’s the day of the “virgen del Pilar” and sometimes called “Día de la Hispanidad”. It’s a very important festivity (military parades, etc.) ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2004, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-la-raza-mean/265271/17 "2004-09-22T10:41:10Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > What’s “DF”? Thanks, **CBEscapee** for covering that. It’s amazing how easy and automatic saying “DF” becomes in lieu of “Mexico City.” The only problem is most people then don’t know what the heck I’m talking about. :smack: