No, Conservative Media, That’s Not What “La Raza” Means In Spanish

[kpete]

During the June 6 edition of his radio show The Sean Hannity Show, Sean Hannity asked, “Why is a judge connected to a lawyers group called ‘the race’?” using a literal but incorrect translation of "la raza." In a piece attempting to justify Trump’s explicitly racist remarks, Breitbart News made the same mistake:

“Judge Curiel is a member of a club or society, very strongly pro-Mexican, which is all fine,” Trump told CBS’s John Dickerson. “But I say he’s got bias.” The club Trump was referring to was La Raza Lawyers; an organization with the stated mission “to promote the interests of the Latino communities throughout the state.”

Translated, “la raza” means “the race.” Imagine the outcry if white attorneys from Mississippi, such as this author, started a a (sic) legal association called “The Race” with the stated mission to promote the interest of white, Southern communities. Hollywood stars and entertainers, such as Bryan Adams, would boycott the state in perpetuity.

The San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association explicitly notes on its website that translating la raza “as ‘the race’ is not only inaccurate, it is factually incorrect” (emphasis added):

Many people incorrectly translate the name, “La Raza,” as “the race.” While it is true that one meaning of “raza” in Spanish is indeed “race,” in Spanish, as in English and any other language, words can and do have multiple meanings. As noted in several online dictionaries, “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. As anyone who has ever met a Dominican American, Mexican American, or Spanish American can attest, Hispanics can be and are members of any and all races.

[...]

Mistranslating “La Raza” to mean “the race” implies that it is a term meant to exclude others. In fact, the full term coined by (Mexican scholar José) Vasconcelos, “La Raza Cósmica,” meaning the “cosmic people,” was developed to reflect not purity but the mixture inherent in the Hispanic people. This is an inclusive concept, meaning that Hispanics share with all other peoples of the world a common heritage and destiny.

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/06/07/no-conservative-media-s-not-what-la-raza-means-spanish/210786

[MisterP]

1. "Volk" is probably the closest calque

[Igel]

4. That's how I translate it.

And Vasconcelos aside, it fits well with the attitude of most of the student, um, "racistas" I've interacted with. (Not as bad as MEChistas, to be sure. No, you couldn't really spell it "razistas". "C" is the spelling for the sound before front vowels i, e; "z" elsewhere. "Raiz, raices"; "fruncir, frunzo".)

[Rex]

2. And cons are always scratching their heads, wondering why everyone calls them racists.

[Blue_Tires]

3. But one of Fox's own is also a member?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimberly_Guilfoyle