As the 2023 New Mexico legislative session winds down, it warrants mention of yet another bill of distraction pushed by GOP members of the House: HB 487. The bill, sponsored by New Mexico reps. Rod Montoya (R-1), Martin Zamora (R-63), Tanya Mirabal (R-7), John Block (R-51), and Alan Martinez (R-23), smacks of attacks on CRT and “wokeness,” but with a New Mexico twist. The bill proposes prohibiting the teaching of Critical Raza Theory in public schools, or subjects relating to Hispanic cancel culture. 

What exactly is Raza Theory?

I must admit I hadn’t heard of Raza Theory before reading this bill, but I assume it refers to the Spanish colloquial term “la raza” which means the “people,” or the “community.” The term first emerged in an essay “La Raza Cosmica” penned by 20th Century philosopher Jose Vasconcelos, in which he responded to white supremacist rhetoric in the U.S. and Europe, claiming that a “fifth race” of people had emerged in the Americas that included all races from around the world, not just those of Hispanic decent.

Vasconcelos’ essay didn’t achieve popularity until the Chicano movement of the late 1960s and 1970s, in which civil rights leaders rejected the view that Mexican-Americans were white, and established the La Raza Unida Party in Texas in 1970. The phrase “Viva La Raza” became a common slogan with activists and at marches in California to support Cesar Chavez’s United Farm Workers, even though Ceasar Chavez himself felt the term excluded non-Hispanics.

In short, “La Raza” is a concept of inclusion, stressing that Hispanics share a common heritage with all cultures and peoples of the world. Perhaps what frightens conservatives about this term is that it has been used as a rallying cry to empower ethnic diversity and Latino empowerment in the U.S. for the last 50 years.

HB 487 doesn’t define what Raza Theory is, but we can make an educated guess that it’s another flavor of Critical Race Theory (CRT), which has become a Republican buzzword to get conservatives all flustered about teaching children U.S. history in schools. In the same vein, the phrase “cancel culture” is shunned by conservatives, claiming that it’s used by liberals to ostracize individuals for actions deemed un “woke-like.” 

Sorry conservatives, “woke” really means being aware of social issues such as systemic racism and inequality. 

The history of the U.S., including the Land of Enchantment, has been both beautiful and ugly, kind and cruel, just and unjust, and both good and evil. The conservative movement to ban CRT (including Raza Theory which has yet to be defined) is an attempt to whitewash the facts, to re-write history, and to cheat our youth of the facts: Our nation has always struggled with bigotry, racism, and injustice. 

In order to find a cure for these woes, we need to know the signs and symptoms: We need to know the history.

HB487 is misdirected, confused, and pointless: La Raza is about inclusion, not exclusion, and cancel culture means that those in power should face the consequences for their actions.