Hick Columnist Writes Hit-Piece About NCLR

http://tinyurl.com/ygzzn4o

In a recent hit-piece, a hick columnist repeats some oft-made comments about the National Council of La Raza (“NCLR” or “La Raza”).

He claims that La Raza calls for 'Reconquista', and the establishment of 'Atzlan'. He claims that La Raza’s motto is “For the Race, everything, outside the Race…Nothing!” Then he compares La Raza to the KKK and suggests that if it were a white organization that its leaders would be jailed.

I’ve heard these accusations before. I didn’t pay much attention to them until now. The fact that these accusations are widely held among anti-Hispanic fanatics is just one more example of how a lie repeated over and over again is considered a fact. An angry internet columnist or talk radio host makes up a lie. It gets posted on the internet and then referenced in a series of blogs and posted on the websites of anti-Hispanic hate groups. Before long it’s accepted as truth.

NCLR has been the victim of so many of these rumors/lies that it has dedicated a webpage to addressing the falsities: http://www.nclr.org/content/viewpoints/detail/42500/

Does La Raza support a reconquista? No. NCLR has never supported this.

Is La Raza’s motto ““For the Race, everything, outside the Race…Nothing!”? No. This statement is not and has never been the motto of NCLR.

Can “La Raza” be translated as “The Race”? While it is true that one meaning of “raza” in Spanish is indeed “race,” in Spanish, as in English and any other language, words can and do have multiple meanings. As noted in several online dictionaries, “La Raza” means “the people” or “the community.” Translating “La Raza” as “the race” is not only inaccurate,it is factually incorrect. “Hispanic” is not a race. Hispanics can be and are members of any and all races.

What about the KKK? Isn’t a group that a group that works for Hispanics just like the KKK which was a group that worked for white people? The KKK is notorious for oppressing non-whites by intimidation, promotion of discriminatory laws and even murder. NCLR doesn’t seek to take rights or benefits from any other group, and it doesn’t seek to oppress or murder people of other ethnic groups.

The fact is that the truth doesn’t matter to many anti-Hispanic fanatics.