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

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

From Los Angeles Times

“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.

From Los Angeles Times

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.”

From Los Angeles Times

“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.

From Los Angeles Times

The names of his contemporaries and his family join declarations like “Arte Chicano Existe” and “Que Viva La Raza.”

From Los Angeles Times