page_title: La Raza (newspaper)
section_title: La Raza Unida
hierarchical_section_title: La Raza (newspaper) / La Raza magazine (1970-1977) / La Raza Unida
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Flagge von Aztlán, verwendet von der Raza Unida Party und anderen Chicano-Aktivisten. English: Flag Of Aztlan used by La Raza Unida and other Chicano activists.
context_page_description: La Raza was a bilingual newspaper and magazine published by Chicano activists in East Los Angeles from 1967-1977. The paper played a seminal role in the Chicano Movement, providing activists a platform to document the abuses and inequalities faced by Mexican-Americans in Southern California. Taking a photojournalistic approach, the editors and contributors at La Raza were able to capture images of police brutality, segregation, and protests that rallied support to the Chicano cause.
  La Raza was founded in the basement of an East L.A. church with the objective of driving community organization for the Chicano movement, which was still on the rise, and improving awareness of the Mexican-American experience in Los Angeles, which the editors felt was neglected by the large media outlets. During its first three years, La Raza was published as an eight-page tabloid. The paper quickly grew in popularity, though, as the growth of the Chicano movement prompted the dispersal of copies of La Raza across the United States. In June 1970, the publication changed to a 20-page magazine format to gain more revenue and provide its readers with more content.
context_section_description: La Raza played a substantial role in the development of El Partido de la Raza Unida in Los Angeles, a Chicano nationalist political party that gained prominence in Texas and Southern California in the 1970s. As the magazine shifted its focus towards L.A. politics in the early 1970s, it began to call for increased Chicano influence in government affairs. A 1971 La Raza article, likely written by Ruíz, argued that this influence could only be achieved through the creation of a new political party and demanded that the Chicano community break away from the Democratic and Republican parties to join La Raza Unida, which had recently established a foothold in the city. Although Chicanos had traditionally voted Democrat, the community was sick of being a "hip-pocket vote" that had been heavily gerrymandered to serve the interests of the Democratic party. By the end of 1971, La Raza was working to register as many Partido voters as possible in order to gain statewide access to the ballot, with the ultimate goal of electing Ruíz as a state assemblyman in the state's 48th district. The Party used La Raza's office as its headquarters, and La Raza suspended publication until after the election so the magazine's staff members could work for the Party.
  The Party failed to register enough voters by the November 1971 special election for state assembly, forcing Ruíz to run as an independent. Even so, Ruíz earned 7% of the vote. Furthermore, Republican Bill Brophy upset Democrat Richard Alatorre in the election despite Democrats outnumbering Republicans 2-to-1 in the district; La Raza Unida and Ruíz claimed responsibility for Alatorre's loss and argued that the election was a victory for the Party, as it had succeeded in taking votes from the "Democratic machine" and raising political awareness for Chicanos. Two years later, however, reports surfaced that the Republican party had provided under-the-table funding to La Raza Unida to defeat Alatorre. In 1972, the magazine again suspended publication in the latter half of the year to support another Ruíz campaign for state assembly, this time in the 40th district. Ruíz obtained 13% of the vote, but despite performing better than he did in 1971, this election loss prompted Ruíz to take a more pessimistic view of Chicano unity in Los Angeles and give up on his quest to be elected to the state government.
  La Raza Unida launched one last-ditch effort to gain political influence in L.A. in 1974 when it fought for Proposition X, a measure to incorporate East Los Angeles as its own city. In December, an incorporation election was held in which voters voted both on the proposition and the city council members who, if the proposition passed, would lead the new city. Three La Raza staff members ran in the election - Ruíz, Arturo Sanchez, and Daniel Zapata - but Proposition X was ultimately defeated. This defeat marked the end of La Raza Unida's run in Los Angeles and dashed any remaining political aspirations held by La Raza
caption: La Raza Unida Party Flag
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