Formed in 1979 with a handful of Latino attorneys, San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association (SDLRLA) has grown to represent over three hundred Latino and Latina lawyers practicing in San Diego County. About us, SDLRLA is one of 18 affiliate bar associations of the California La Raza Lawyers Association, which serves several thousand Latino lawyers practicing in the State of California.
Our purpose is to advance the cause of equality, empowerment and justice for Latino attorneys and the Latino community in San Diego County through service and advocacy. We are dedicated to promoting diversity on both the bench and bar. We support law students with mentorship programs and scholarships.
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Many people incorrectly translate the name, “La Raza,” 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 our name as “the race” is not only inaccurate, it is factually incorrect. “Hispanic” is an ethnicity, not a race. As anyone who has ever met a Dominican American, Mexican American, or Spanish American can attest, Hispanics can be and are members of any and all races.
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, as “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. In contrast, the term “Hispanic” has its origins in the 1970 U.S. Census, and the term “Latino” was officially adopted in 1997 by the U.S. Government in the ethnonym “Hispanic or Latino.”
Mistranslating “La Raza” to mean “the race” implies 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. And this is not just SDLRLA’s interpretation.
According to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, “La Raza” means:
“…Mexicans or Mexican Americans considered as a group, sometimes extending to all Spanish-speaking people of the Americas.”
And this is not just SDLRLA’s interpretation.
Furthermore, MSNBC’s online Spanish-English website, Encarta, translates the term this way:
“Hispanic Spanish-speakers in the Americas: Mexicans, Mexican Americans, or Spanish-speaking people of the Americas, considered as a group.”
The Free Dictionary, available online, similarly finds that the term “La Raza”:
“…embodies the notion that traditional, exclusive concepts of race and nationality can be transcended in the name of humanity’s common destiny.”
San Diego La Raza Lawyers (SDLRLA) had its first organizational meeting in 1976 at the Pioneer Room of the San Diego County Public Law Library. It was then an unincorporated association, made up of approximately 12 attorneys (only about 5 of whom were female). The organization was formed with a desire to effect change in San Diego by representing the interests of the Latino community, identifying issues which involved the Latino community, and advocating for those issues. Presidents of the unincorporated organization were Hon. Rafael Arreola and Hon. Roy B. Cazares. The first networking function ever thrown by SDLRLA was hosted at the home of Ramon Castro, a well known criminal defense attorney.
The organization incorporated as a 501 (c)(6) in 1979 and was led at the time by President Nick Aguilar, Secretary Henry Baray and Treasurer Dan Guevara. The organization chose to become a 501 (c)(6) so that it could continue to further its goals to advance the Latino community through political activity and advocacy. After surviving the ’80s, an era where Latinos were commonly ignored for political and judicial appointments, SDLRLA realized that the only way to effect change was to demand change by engaging the political system. This led to the creation of the first political endorsement committee in the early 1990′s, which committee continues to the present.
In 2001, SDLRLA began to discuss how to increase the charitable aspect of the organization. The organization began to give out small scholarships to law students as a way to let the students know that the organization was there for them and supported them. In 2005, a separate entity and 501(c)(3) the San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association Scholarship Fund was created and incorporated. From 2005 to the present, the Scholarship Fund provides scholarships to Latino students and those with ties to the Latino community. In 2011, the Scholarship Fund began also providing scholarships for prospective Bar Examination takers.
In 2021, SDLRLA created the Public Benefit Fund (PBF), a separate 501(c)(3) entity designed to create a direct bridge to the organization for our community. For the legal profession: the PBF promotes diversity and education in both the San Diego judiciary and attorney bar. For the larger San Diego Latino/a/x community and diverse peoples: the PBF promotes justice, equality, equity, and empowerment through access to justice programs, community service programs, education, leadership development, and mentorship; This includes supporting the delivery of and access to legal services to San Diego County’s Latino/a/x and Spanish-speaking community.
SDLRLA is one of 18 affiliate bar associations of La Raza Lawyers of California, a non-profit association organized in 1977 to support Chicano and Latino Lawyers in California and serve as a statewide network for local affiliate La Raza Lawyers Groups.
Nationally, SDLRLA is also an affiliate of the Hispanic National Bar Association.