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

The AFL-CIO has urged the president to pursue both options, as have La Raza and other pro-reform groups.

From The Daily Beast

“This needs to be taken very seriously,” says Daniel Ortega, a Phoenix lawyer who chairs the National Council of La Raza.

From The Daily Beast