May 28, 2009: Republican Smears Supreme Court Nominee’s Association with Hispanic Civil Rights Organization, Compares Group to KKK

National Council of La Raza logo. [Source: National Council of La Raza]Former House member Tom Tancredo (R-CO—see September 9, 2006) continues his attacks on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor (see May 26, 2009). As in his earlier commentary, Tancredo vilifies Sotomayor over her supposed racism. On CNN, Tancredo says that her affiliation with the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), a Hispanic civil rights group, is the equivalent of a white person belonging to the Ku Klux Klan. “If you belong to an organization called La Raza, in this case, which is, from my point of view anyway, nothing more than a Latino—it’s a counterpart—a Latino KKK without the hoods or the nooses,” he says. “If you belong to something like that in a way that’s going to convince me and a lot of other people that it’s got nothing to do with race. Even though the logo of La Raza is ‘All for the race. Nothing for the rest.’ What does that tell you?” When host Rick Sanchez attempts to redirect Tancredo from his statements about the civil rights group, Tancredo shouts: “She’s a member! She’s a member of La Raza!” [Think Progress, 5/28/2009; NewsMax, 5/28/2009] Liberal news website Think Progress notes that La Raza has been targeted by conservative critics since the 2006 immigration rallies, with some making the false claim that La Raza advocates the secession of the Western United States “as a Hispanic-only homeland,” and right-wing blogs calling the organization “an anti-white extremist group.” In reality, La Raza is the nation’s largest Latino civil rights and advocacy group, focusing primarily on “civil rights/immigration, education, employment and economic status, and health.” The name “La Raza” translates to “the people,” not “the race,” as Tancredo insists. And the group’s motto is not “All for the race, nothing for the rest,” as Tancredo says, it is actually “Strengthening America by promoting the advancement of Latino families.” La Raza, or NCLR as it is officially known, points to its recognition by the Office of the Surgeon General and the Leadership Council for Civil Rights for its efforts on behalf of underprivileged Hispanic-Americans, and its work alongside Habitat for Humanity and the Heritage Foundation as a nonprofit organization working for positive social change. [National Council of La Raza, 2009; Think Progress, 5/28/2009]