La Raza threatens to cancel convention in KC

[proud2BlibKansan]

La Raza threatens to cancel convention in KC, cites controversial park board appointee
By DEANN SMITH
The Kansas City Star

The nation’s largest Hispanic rights group is warning it may cancel its 2009 convention here because of a controversial Kansas City park board member.

The head of the National Council of La Raza said Thursday that the organization is already looking at several other cities because of the appointment of Frances Semler.

Meanwhile, Kansas City officials have heard that the NAACP might be reconsidering its 2010 convention here, although no one on Thursday said they had heard directly from the national organization.

Losing the two national conventions would cost the local economy $15 million plus the incalculable hit the city’s image would take, said officials, who added that they are working hard to prevent it.

“Hopefully we can work it out,” said City Councilwoman Melba Curls.

Janet Murguía, head of the Washington-based La Raza, said Thursday that Mayor Mark Funkhouser’s appointment of a member of a militant group opposing illegal immigration gave pause to the Hispanic rights organization.

Semler is a member of the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps and has taken a strong stance against illegal immigration and has suggested a moratorium on legal immigration.

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Councilman Terry Riley said the La Raza and NAACP concerns just underscored the council’s decision in June to call for Semler to step down from the parks board.

“I think this is a serious issue,” he said. “The city could lose $15 million.”

more . . . http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/254845-p2.html

[EFerrari]

1. The rubber is hitting the road.

Good.

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. Glad you are seeing this.

Couldn't remember if I told you about this. The new mayor appointed a minuteman to the parks board. Smart, eh?

[EFerrari]

6. You hafta wonder what the real attraction is. Did anyone do

a background check on this guy? I bet you your favorite extra large pizza that he's a wife beater or a dealer or has engaged in some simlar extra curricular activity.

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. It's a lady and she worked on his campaign

He was just elected in March.

He didn't even Google her, much less do a background check. She is not only a minuteman, but she is on the board for the local minuteman organization. We found some of her 'comments' she made at local rallies. Racist begins to describe her. Zenophobic bigot would continue the description.

And a parks board position is this city IS a very big deal. This appointment by the new mayor could end his political career.

[EFerrari]

13. Sorry, I misread. I know that position is a big deal.

I hope the mayor can take corrective action that is effective. :(

[AspenRose]

2. I hope this is the beginning of a long and beautiful friendship

between the NAACP and groups like La Raza, MALDEF, LULAC, etc.

They could really achieve more together than apart....

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. My thoughts exactly

[azurnoir]

5. Personally I suspect

that this is $15 mil the city wanted to lose, so the question would be how to make the city lose a 5 times that. After all the majority of KC voters support Sempler, time to make it cost them more then they thought.

[EFerrari]

7. Do you think so? I think that most people are too busy to dig

into who the Minutemen really are. And consequences like this one come as a surprise.

[azurnoir]

36. I know it's kind of hard line

but maybe this will wake people up.

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. Do you really belive the majority support her?

I don't.

[catmandu57]

14. KC is hurting for every penny they can get

Lots and lots of cuts across the board in every dept. There isn't anyway they can afford losing the business, not to mention the black eye and stained image that might lead to further losses.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. How true

In the last decade, they have lost the FFA convention and the Big 12 tourney. They can't afford to lose any other big conventions.

[azurnoir]

35. Why did those conventions pull out?

A real question, my city is hurting too (St Paul MN) and the GOP convention will bring in much needed money, but I for one would rather they spent their money else where.

[proud2BlibKansan]

38. The FFA got a better deal from another city

That was a huge blow. It had been in KC for over 50 years.

The Big 12 wanted a bigger arena to play in.

[Blue_Tires]

40. re: the big 12

that's the 'official' story...the real story is that the university of texas has a lot of political sway in the conference, and doesn't mind flexing it to get what it wants...not to mention they were also pissed off when the football title game when to arrowhead for a few years and wanted to make a point...

now even with the sprint center, i'm willing to bet the basketball tourney will stay in texas a little longer

[proud2BlibKansan]

41. I sure liked the Big 8 better!

I did hear though, that the Big 12 will be back here in a couple years.

[EFerrari]

16. I'm so sorry to hear that. That beautiful city.

It reminds me so much of San Francisco only without the hills and "no left turn" signs.

We're struggling here, too. (Thank you, GOP!)

[musiclawyer]

10. Calling oneself La Raza is stupid

Yes, I'm going to join a group called "the race!" Give me a break. The ethinic based groups need to band together, pool colelctive resources and wisdom and call themselves "Justice and Opportunity United." Period . Enthicity based anything in the 21st century is lame.

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. I think they should be able to call themselves anything they want.

:shrug:

[EFerrari]

12. No, it's not stupid. And I don't believe we sent you an invitation

but if we did, please feel free to shred it. And "La Raza" doesn't translate to "the race" but to "the people".

It always blows me away when our effort to treasure our culture is discounted by people who know nothing about it and who don't know that they know nothing about it.

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. More of those great progressive comments

Gotta love it. :puke:

[EFerrari]

18. We've been bombarded by the GOP's favorite poison for so many years.

That's what I meant on that other thread. It's going to take a long time to recover. :(

[karlrschneider]

19. "the people"? Not in any brand of Spanish I've heard of.

It means 'race'.
:eyes:

[EFerrari]

22. That's what happens when you mistake literal v. idiomatic usage.

Edit: I used to translate for the DEA, Karl. And we have ways of dealing with people like you. lol :)

[karlrschneider]

29. Conio! El beso de muerto!

Que lastima!

[EFerrari]

30. LOL!

:)

[proud2BlibKansan]

23. This says it translates to "Mexican Americans"

http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dict_en_es/english/La%20Raza;_ylt=AmC2heZYx3Rgxuhllw.auLr_s8sF

[EFerrari]

24. That's wrong. We also talk about "razas" of dogs.

lol

The "raza" of my dog is Labrador Retriever. It literally means "race" but idiomatically means "kind" and in the usage of "La Raza" means "The people".

It's intentionally inclusive, just like the culture is. :)

[proud2BlibKansan]

25. Thanks for the translation!

:hi:

[EFerrari]

26. You're welcome. I have to go wave a Mexican flag

burn my bra and protest hamburgers for a while.


:rofl:

[Maestro]

45. You beat me to it.

I used to translate too sfexpat2000. Idiomatic vs literal usage gets people every time.

[musiclawyer]

27. "no nothing about it":

Listen carefully, I grew up Speaking spanish from latino immigrant parents and am fluent. Don't tell me what words in my native tongue mean. To anyone in the spanish speaking world, who is not mexican, using "la raza" as the title of a group is not efficacious at best, and kind of dumb at worst. They are entitled to call themselves whatever they want. But it's not an ideal name in this day and age, regardless of their mission.

[EFerrari]

28. And that's a subject opinion, not an objective evaluation. n/t

[TahitiNut]

48. So what? It should be clear, even from this small sub-discussion ...

... that it's a name that communicates a disparate meaning to different people. How often do we have this kind of interaction on DU? How often do we hear that the meaning of a word MUST be considered BOTH by what the speaker intends AND what the listener hears?? It cannot be a mystery to ANYONE within the Hispanic community that the meaning conveyed to non-native speakers of Spanish is "the race" or "the breed." (Indeed, I strongly suspect that's ONE of the meanings in Spanish, too - even though it's politically convenient to emphasize the idiomatic rather than the literal.) Even in choosing a name that has such a disparate interpretation, there's the creation/amplification of an "insider vs. outsider" attitude.

The quibbling over the literal vs. the idiomatic meaning smells ... suspiciously like the quibbling over "Aryan Nation" where the skinheads disengenuously claim it's about affirming the positive (pride, etc.) and not about demeaning anyone else. (I don't buy it.)

At the very best, it's a poorly chosen title if the real intention is inclusion and not exclusion - kinship and not alienation.

Again, as has been often proclaimed on DU, there's something to be learned by: "The meaning of any communication is the response it gets."

[proud2BlibKansan]

47. Here's how La Raza explains their name:

The term “La Raza” has its origins in early 20th century Latin American literature and translates into English most closely as “the people,” or, according to some scholars, “the Hispanic people of the New World.” The term was coined by Mexican scholar José Vasconcelos to reflect the fact that the people of Latin America are a mixture of many of the world’s races, cultures, and religions. Some people have mistranslated “La Raza” to mean “The Race,” implying that it is a term meant to exclude others. In fact, the full term coined by Vasconcelos, “La Raza Cósmica,” meaning the “cosmic people,” was developed to reflect not purity but the mixture inherent in the Hispanic people. This is an inclusive concept, meaning that Hispanics share with all other peoples of the world a common heritage and destiny.

http://www.nclr.org/content/faqs/detail/39736/

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

20. Are you a native Spanish speaker?

[TahitiNut]

21. I guess they're concerned about those illegal aliens from China, Poland, Serbia, Canada, Pakistan, .

... Romania, Korea, Haiti, ....

:eyes:

[Rage for Order]

31. The Minutemen are a "Militant Group" now?

"...a member of a militant group opposing illegal immigration..."

[NavyDavy]

32. yes they are...have you not seen any of their videos?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

33. That's insulting to militant groups.

http://www.splcenter.org/intel/news/item.jsp?aid=54

[RB TexLa]

34. When were they NOT a militant group?

[proud2BlibKansan]

37. A violent militant group

http://newmexico.indymedia.org/news/2005/06/123.php

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12599386/

"It should be legal to kill illegals," said one Minutemen volunteer. "Just shoot 'em on sight. That's my immigration policy recommendation." http://subwaycanaries.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2006/10/7/2396304.html

[EFerrari]

39. LinkTV ran a documentary that showed these creeps

were wife beaters, drug dealers, traded illegally in guns and were stupid enough to shoot each other and even THEMSELVES. How anyone can make them out to be heroes is just :crazy:

I think the film was called "Border Wars".

[ulysses]

49. let's see - armed vigilantes running around on an international border.

Uh, yeah, it's a militant group.

[Maestro]

42. Good for them!

Why support a racist appointment? The description of the Minutemen as a militant group opposing illegal immigration is not all truthful. They are simply a hate group that has found an easy target.

[proud2BlibKansan]

43. And they are huge here in KC

They have been joining our protests lately. :mad:

[proud2BlibKansan]

44. Great cartoon in today's paper:

[treestar]

46. Interesting how people who are so against immigrants on account

of being illegal and "breaking our laws" always happen to want to restrict legal immigration even further, too.