http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfg ... y_id=28138

Read Comments section too.

La Raza" defined

The angry mail has been pouring in today from folks who take issue with our reporting that Barack Obama -- addressing the National Council of La Raza -- made the translation of "la raza'' as ''the people.''

He was right.

But let's explain. Literally, yes''la raza'' is ''the race.'' But what it means: ''my people, my community,'' as in ''my peeps,'' or the Italian ''paisanos.'' As a Spanish-speaker myself, I can attest: this is one of those phrases (think outside the box) where the literal translation isn't accurate.

''La Raza" as it is used by organizations, disc jockeys, musicians, and in common conversation doesn't translate into -- as many of the critics in my mailbox suggest -- an Arayan Nation-style racial supremacy reference.


Some writers suggest the name means the organization wants to take over California, the Southwest and the world.

We talked to Janet Murguia, president of the National Council of La Raza, the nation's largest Latino civil rights and advocacy group, who said she hears this all the time.

"Our name means 'the people' or 'the community' -- and we should always be wary of literal translations,'' she said. ''This point is often brought up by those who oppose our point of view on immigration and want to use it to distract people from our message on comprehensive immigration reform.''

Her advice: check out the National Council of La Raza website, which has ''a lot of responses to the ridiculous assertions.''