美国国家公共电台 NPR The Largest U.S. Latino Advocacy Group Changes Its Name, Sparking Debate

 

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

One of the country's biggest Latino advocacy groups has a new name. This month, the National Council of La Raza became UnidosUS. As NPR's Jessica Diaz-Hurtado reports, the group hopes to appeal to a new generation.

JESSICA DIAZ-HURTADO, BYLINE¹: National Council of La Raza began almost 50 years ago. It grew out of the Chicano civil rights movement as Mexican-Americans sought equality. La raza is literally² the race, but the meaning behind it is the people, and it became a symbol of pride and perseverance³.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing in Spanish).

MARICELA MONROY: La raza for me when I was growing up - it was always, like, you know, the people that are up at 5 a.m., you know, trying to get jobs, the people cleaning the stores, the people picking the food, you know, the working-class folks. Like, that is who la raza was.

DIAZ-HURTADO: That's 26-year-old Maricela Monroy - born in Mexico, raised in Milwaukee. She said she was shocked when she heard of the name change, especially since it's happening under the Trump⁴ administration.

MONROY: Because right now a lot of the Latino community, a lot of the immigrant community - I mean, like, we clearly feel under attack. And so in circumstances like that, we would expect leadership to take a firm stance and to go on the offensive. And this - like, this seemed like the exact opposite of that.

JANET MURGUIA: We're not the same Latino community that existed in 1968 when we began.

DIAZ-HURTADO: Janet Murguia is president and CEO of UnidosUS. She says Latinos today are younger and more diverse. The organization did research and found that the name National Council of La Raza is outdated⁶.

MURGUIA: We learned that our name appeared to be a barrier to our own community in understanding our mission and what we do and who we are.

DIAZ-HURTADO: That's the case with 23-year-old Luz Martinez. She's an Afro-Puerto Rican woman raised in Mississippi.

LUZ MARTINEZ: The term la raza is something that not everyone has been able to relate to, particularly people of Caribbean descent like me or Afro-Latinos. It's not a term that we use.

DIAZ-HURTADO: Attorney and NBC contributor Raul Reyes says the term la raza has also been a flashpoint and a distraction⁷.

RAUL REYES: What's happened over the years is many critics of the organization have taken the literal meaning of the word and tried to twist it into some type of moniker of racial superiority or saying that Mexicans wanted to somehow take back the Western United States and made all these crazy arguments.

DIAZ-HURTADO: The new name, UnidosUS, is meant to symbolize⁸ inclusiveness and unity⁵. The group hopes to have a broader appeal as it advocates on issues like education, immigration and the economy. But Luz Martinez wonders if a name change will be enough.

MARTINEZ: As far as my friends that are also millennials, I'm not sure that they would recognize the name before, and I'm not sure if they'll be reached with the new name.

DIAZ-HURTADO: UnidosUS seems to recognize that challenge. As part of its rebranding, it plans to do more with social media to reach those young people. Jessica Diaz-Hurtado, NPR News.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

3 perseverance   

n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠

参考例句：

• It may take some perseverance to find the right people.要找到合适的人也许需要有点锲而不舍的精神。
• Perseverance leads to success.有恒心就能胜利。

4 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

5 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

6 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。

7 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

8 symbolize   

vt.作为...的象征，用符号代表

参考例句：

• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。
• Dolphins symbolize the breath of life.海豚象征着生命的气息。