La Raza

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2009)

La Raza 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.

The term originated in the 1925 book La Raza Cósmica, which translates to "The Cosmic Race", written by Mexican writer José Vasconcelos. He described La Raza Cosmica as the product of gradual racial mixing that was already underway in the Hispanic world. Vasconcelos believed that eventually all of the people within the Spanish Empire would be completely mixed into a new race.

Hispanic people all around the U.S. have also started using this term to identify themselves. Nonetheless, the term and idea associated with it have been mainly adopted by some Mexican people in the United States to express pride in their nation. In general usage, La Raza implies dignity and pride for these people regarding who they are and their places of origin.

The term is also used by the Hispanic civil rights group known as the National Council of La Raza.

[edit] See also

• Rey Mysterio WWE his tag line is Viva La Raza/Familia, possible reason for its recent popularity due to Eddie Guerrero's death.
• National Council of La Raza
• Raza Unida Party

La Bandera de la Raza, a flag for Hispanic America, created at the 1933 Pan-American Conference.^[1]

[edit] References