What's the translation of "Por La Raza todo. Fuera de la Raza Nada"? Alert reader W.M. suggests that kf (and the LAT, and Michelle Malkin) have been mistranslating this MEChA slogan, and I think he has a point. Instead of "For the Race, everything. For those outside the Race nothing," (Translation #1) the phrase may mean either

"By means of the Race, everything. Outside the Race, nothing." (Translation #2)

or

"On behalf of the Race, everything. Outside the Race, nothing." (Translation #3)

Either of those translations would be considerably more benign than the wildly offensive one that's been given. They would be more typical and precise expressions of a virulent and misguided identity politics--e.g. that the ethnic background of Chicanos is the most important thing about them, and that the only route to political and personal advancement is through ethnic solidarity as Chicanos (as opposed to, say, as Americans or as individuals). ... The context is ambiguous, however. It's a pretty strident passage, with distinctly unfriendly references to the "foreign Europeans" and the "foreigner 'gabacho' who exploits our riches and destroys our culture." Maybe the slogan is ambiguous too. ... Reader feedback requested: Further consultation with better Spanish speakers more familiar with 1960's Chicano radicalism is required--if that means any of you, please fill me in. ... But it seems very possible at least that the importation of the nasty reference to "those outside the race"--e.g., non-Chicanos--was unwarranted. I've corrected the text and appended updates below. ... Still ... : Either way, the LAT was still wrong in suggesting that the slogan wasn't part of the MEChA philosophy, and it's still true that an Anglo group with an equivalent slogan would be pilloried (by the Times and others). I still want ex-Mechista Cruz Bustamante to say whether or not he agrees with it, and if he says he agrees, or if--as I suspect--he disagrees and doesn't have the minimal courage to say he disagrees, I don't think I want him to be governor. ...
What's the difference between #1 and #3? The difference between saying, "Those outside the Race should wind up with nothing" (#1) and, "We'll do nothing outside of what we do to help the Race--i.e., we won't work to benefit outsiders or ourselves as individuals" (#3).

The phrase is: "Por la raza todos. Fuera de la raza nada."
"Por" in this context means "by", as in "done by" or "with the help of".
One of Mickey's alternative translations is to this effect. Yet he reads the most malevolent sense into it. To me, someone who actually KNOWS Spanish-speaking people (and is married to one), it most logically means, "Anything we can do will have to be through ourselves. We can't expect any help from whites." Which would in fact validate Mickey's pet theory of self-reliance -- though he can't see it, being too bigoted, too insulated in his world of right-wing ideology and the very lucrative, whites-only life that it brings him.