Voting Station

National Council of La Raza (NCLR)

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Organization

The Resume

    (1968- )
    Founded by Herman Gallegos, Julian Samora (1920-96) and Ernesto Galarza (1905-84)
    Originally based in Phoenix, Arizona as the Southwest Council of La Raza
    Headquarters moved to Washington, D.C., and renamed the National Council of La Raza (1973)
    Presidents have been Henry Santiestevan (1968-74), Raul Yzaguirre (1974-2004) and Janet Murguia (2005- )
    Largest Latino nonprofit advocacy organization, in the United States
    Regional offices are located in San Antonio, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Miami, and Phoenix,
    Advocates progressive public policy initiatives, mostly regarding immigration reform

Why they might be annoying:

    Cesar Chavez - whose image they’ve since co-opted - vocally criticized their methods.
    Its a stretch, but keeping the Spanish term for ‘The Race’ in your name COULD be read as exclusionary.
    Until the late-70’s, they almost exclusively catered to the needs of the Mexican community (even ignoring other Hispanic ethnic groups).
    They have been accused of starting smear campaigns against immigration enforcement advocates.
    They led the movement to sue the State of California to prevent their Bilingual Education Reform legislation from becoming law.
    They have consistently been party to killing off post-9/11 national security measures, usually painting those who advocate them as ‘racists.’
    They joined the Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee’s failed lawsuit to prevent local police officers from accessing the immigration data on the National Crime Database (2007).
    Their president of thirty years went on record saying ‘US English is to Hispanics as the Ku Klux Klan is to blacks.’
    They regularly rake in federal grants and large shares of earmarked taxpayer money, mostly for ‘housing reform’ and ‘get-out-the-vote’ initiatives.
    They sponsored several ethnic nationalist charter schools (the most famous of which - Aztlan Academy, in Arizona - closed in 2012).
    They are a mainstream front for the Chicano Student Movement of Aztlan (MEChA), which Rep.Charlie Norwood denounced as a ‘radical racist group’ and ‘one of the most anti-American groups in the country.’
    They continue to use their clout to push the controversial DREAM Act, which gives in-state tuition discounts for illegal immigrant students (unavailable either to US citizens or law-abiding legal immigrants).

Why they might not be annoying:

    It provides technical assistance to disadvantaged Hispanic groups.
    It received early financial backing from the Ford Foundation.
    They have considerable bipartisan influence in Washington, D.C.
    They sport a network of nearly 300 affiliated community-based organizations.
    They were among Sonia Sotomayor's most vocal supporters during her 2009 Supreme Court nomination hearing.
    Their advocacy resulted in the granting of amnesty to 3 million illegal immigrants, as part of an otherwise stringent Immigration Bill passed by President Reagan, in 1986.
    They were forced to cut back the scale of their operations after the Reagan Administration reduced available federal funding.
    It shares initials with the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which probably has resulted in confusion.
    They have been tasked with the difficult task of bringing the diverse Latin American community together under a single united 'umbrella.'
    'La Raza' has been translated as 'race' although the group's leaders have claimed that it is referencing 'the people.'

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 66 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 118 Votes: 55.93% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 24 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 721 Votes: 53.54% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 365 Votes: 83.84% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 154 Votes: 79.22% Annoying