https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...a-pro-immigrant-group/?utm_term=.627c4931eeb6
The Facts
As The Post and other media outlets
have pointed outrepeatedly, Curiel is a member of the
San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association, which is a professional organization for Latino lawyers. The group is the San Diego local affiliate of the California La Raza Lawyers Association, whose membership comprises lawyers practicing in California, and is a
501(c)(6) nonprofit trade organization. It has an affiliated
501(c)(3) scholarship fund that awarded
22 scholarships totaling $34,000 in 2014. More on that later.
This group is not the
National Council of La Raza, the Hispanic
civil rights nonprofit organization that has pushed for comprehensive immigration reform in Congress with a pathway to citizenship and legalization for undocumented immigrants. It’s often referred to as simply “La Raza,” especially in the context of the immigration debate.
To recap this simple fact: San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association ≠ National Council of La Raza.
When Trump began his public tirade against Curiel, Trump campaign spokeswoman Katrina Pierson and other supporters conflated the two groups, which both use “La Raza.” But now, even conservative groups have acknowledged that they are separate organizations.
A literal translation for “La Raza” is “the race,” but it’s interpreted as a broader term describing the Latino community. Opponents of immigration note that the term has roots in the Chicano nationalization movement of the 1960s.
But “La Raza” is a common name incorporated throughout the community and often used by Latino organizations and businesses, including restaurants and medical clinics. A search for “la raza” on yellowpages.comturned up more than 3,000 results in California alone.
“The only tie that we have is that we serve the Latino community, and they do as well,” said Luis Osuna, president of the lawyers association. “But they’re a politically driven advocacy group, and we’re just a local diversity Bar association that focuses on both diversity and equality in the legal field, but particularly among Latinos.”