La Raza Unida Positions 

Submitted 6/16/22 

Approved on Sep 17, 2022

2022 National Congreso Denver, CO.

Table of Contents 

1. Domestic USA Policy/Colonialism 
2. USA’s Foriegn Policy/Imperialism 
3. Environment and Climate Change 
4. Sexism 
5. Homophobia and Transphobia 
6. Native Nations 
7. Education 
8. Labor 
9. Food/Water 
10. Healthcare 
11. Prison Abolition/Political Prisoner 
12. US Occupation Forces International and Domestic (Police/ICE) 
13. La Frontera Falsa 
14. The Continent: Cemanahuac/Turtle Island/Ixachitlan 

1. Domestic USA Policy/Colonialism 

The domestic policy of the USA is the continuation of European colonialism and occupation. Therefore, La Raza Unida takes the following positions: 

1. Consumerism impairs culture and the free exchange of ideas. 
2. La Familia and human rights are more important than property rights. 
3. The USA domestic policy works as intended: to disrupt and exploit our labor, land and sense of being. 
4. La Raza Unida supports our own institutions for our own people. 

2. USA Foriegn Policy/Imperialism 

La Raza Unida takes these positions against the Imperialism of the United States of America. 

1. La Raza Unida believes in the self-determination of all people. 
2. La Raza Unida believes in peaceful coexistence. 
3. Indigenous peoples and developing nations must be self-sufficient and not exploited or manipulated. 
4. La Raza Unida believes in international worker solidarity, which Imperialism prevents through competition between countries. 
5. La Raza Unida stands for social change. Imperialism creates dictatorships that repress dissent, social change and self-determination. 

3. Environment and Climate Change 

Immediate action must be taken against the destruction of the environment by turning to the land-healing practices of indigneous cultures across the world. La Raza Unida maintains: 

1. The legacy of settler colonialism poisoned the Earth and its people. 
2. We have the right to live and work on land that is not polluted. 
3. The war industry must return Native sacred places defiled by uranium mines and bombing ranges. 
4. Crimes against the Earth, Air and Water must be prosecuted. 

4. Sexism 

Chicanas suffer not only colonial settler oppression, but misogyny from our own community. Therefore, La Raza Unida takes the following positions: 

1. Women have full control of their bodies and reproductive process. 
2. One-year maternity leave must be available to all parents. 
3. La Raza Unida recognizes the leadership of women within Indigenous Liberation Movements. 
4. Women must be paid equally to men and the right to work is a universal right across the gender spectrum. 

5. Homophobia and Transphobia 

La Raza includes all of us and we struggle for self-determination as a whole. Therefore we take the following positions: 

1. La Raza Unida recognizes the leadership of LGBTQIA+ in our history, present and future.
2. Transphobic and homophobic attacks on Raza are attacks on all Raza.
3. La Raza Unida rejects gender binaries that have been imposed on Indigneous peoples. 
4. Each person deserves complete control over their own bodies, sexuality and sexual expression. 

6. Native Nations 

La Raza Unida supports indigenous sovereignty. We affirm: 

1. Land belongs to Indigenous peoples. 
2. We reject the colonial tactic of creating wedges between detribalized people and people with tribal affiliation. 
3. Centuries of trauma between tribal people and detribalized people must be healed.
4. Place names, statues and other symbols of racism and colonialism must be removed.
5. Chicanos are an Indigenous people. 

7. Education 

La Raza Unida maintains that Chicano Studies/Ethnic Studies is the true history of the United States of America. 

1. Education must be culturally relevant and directed by our people. 
2. Our languages, no matter their origin, are the methods of native expression and should be taught and not outlawed or dismissed. 
3. School education, including learning materials, should be free and accessible to everyone and anyone. 

8. Labor 

La Raza Unida believes all workers should be treated with respect and human dignity and maintains: 

1. All work is dignified.
2. No worker should be dependent on a wage for their existence. 
3. All workers should be able to participate in deciding how their work is produced.
4. Workers must share equally in the wealth created by their labor. 
5. Everyone should benefit from each other’s labor. 
6. Each person should work according to their ability. 

9. Food/Water 

Access to healthy food and clean water is a basic human right. La Raza Unida takes a stand on this issue because: 

1. The Chicano community is constantly bombarded with unhealthy foods by monopoly corporations that benefit from our poor health. 
2. Lack of access to healthy foods leads to disease and shortens our lifespan and quality of life. 
3. The exploitation and monopolization of water by corporations must end. 
4. La Raza Unida advocates the communal use of acequias, ejidos, and other natural resource sharing. 

10. Healthcare 

La Raza Unida believes all people should have access to quality healthcare because: 

1. It is a basic human right to care for one’s own health—physically, mentally and emotionally. 
2. Western medicine and mental health care excludes Indiginous perspectives and practices. 
3. Adequate health care should not be restricted by ability to pay. 

11. Prison Abolition/Political Prisoner 

La Raza Unida affirms mass incarceration is a tactic employed by the settler government against Raza, and calls for the immediate abolition of prisons and the release of all political prisoners because: 

1. People are able to peacekeep their own community. 
2. People with mental health conditions should not be criminalized and subjected to traumatic conditions. 
3. The “School to Prison Pipeline” sets our youth on a direct pathway to prison.
4. People should not be incarcerated for participating in liberation struggles. Free All Political Prisoners!

12. USA Occupation Forces International and Domestic (Militant/Police/ICE) 

La Raza Unida recognizes the US Military and its police forces as the armed wing of the settler colonizer. We stand in solidarity with all liberation struggles. 

1. The USA armed forces are designed to keep our people terrorized, exploited and controlled. 
2. The USA armed forces take advantage of the dire economic realities of our people with false promises. 
3. USA Veterans experience trauma and betrayal. La Raza Unida supports them in their healing. Their experience can be an asset to the true liberation of our people. 
4. Technology used abroad by the USA military today will be used against Raza tomorrow. 
5. La Raza Unida supports the right for our own people to develop a force to “serve, observe and protect” ourselves. 

13. La Frontera Falsa 

La Raza Unida does not recognize the “USA/Mexico” border as legitimate. It was imposed by military invasion and held by occupational forces. Therefore: 

1. No Human being is illegal. 
2. La Raza Unida opposes any militarization of la frontera falsa. 
3. USA immigration policy is designed to enrich the elite through the suffering of Raza and as a weapon against the Chicano people. 
4. The construction or expansion of any physical barrier at la frontera falsa must be opposed. 
5. We oppose the separation of families and the caging of children. 
6. Our Raza, whether Mexicano or CentroAmericano, must be allowed to migrate on their own continent in search of a better life for themselves and their children. 

14. The Continent: Cemanahuac/Turtle Island/Ixachitlan 

Our struggle is a part of the much larger struggle of the entire continent. Therefore: 

1. La Raza Unida is opposed to any economic, cultural or military intervention by the USA into “La Patria Grande,” the Americas. 
2. The USA must end its embargo on Cuba, Venezuela and any other embargo that aims at choking a nation. 
3. We recognize the right of every one of our sister nations, including Boricua, Metis, Mohawk, and all other First nations, to self-determination and liberation by any means necessary.