la raza

[lah-rah-sah]

noun

(sometimes initial capital letters)

1. (used with a plural verb),  the people of Mexico or Mexican Americans, collectively.

2. (used with a singular verb),  Mexican or Mexican American culture.

Word History and Origins

Origin of la raza¹

First recorded in 1920–25; literally, “the race,” shortening of La raza cósmica “The Cosmic Race,” a 1925 essay by José Vasconcelos Calderón (1882–1959), Mexican writer, philosopher, and politician, in which Vasconcelos Calderón claims that a future worldwide community will develop from the mixture of all the racial and ethnic groups of the world, which he believed had begun in Latin America; from Spanish la, the feminine singular definite article + raza race ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

Lourdes Martinez, co-director of the immigrant rights program at Centro Legal de la Raza, said communities are understandably scared given recent legal rulings that federal immigration agents can stop people based on factors such as the color of their skin, the language they are speaking and the job sectors they work in — and organizers expect more such stops given the latest deployments.

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Someone had scrawled on the ground in chalk: “Abolish ICE” and “Viva La Raza.”

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“We’re doing community patrols before school and after school around the neighborhood,” said Lupe Carrasco Cardona, a member of the Assn. of La Raza Educators.

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A brick wall that faced Cesar E. Chavez was a palimpsest of scrawls — the anti-Trump and anti-ICE tags, “ICE Out of LA” with L.A. in the style of the Dodgers logo, a heart with initials inside, a ghostly red “Viva la Raza,” a “Viva Mexico.”

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“The vandalism includes spray painted ‘Viva La Raza,’ ‘F— Ice’ and ‘F— Trump’ all across the building,” said a spokesperson for the museum in a statement.

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