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Bronze race (Spanish:raza de bronce) is a term used since the early 20th century byHispanic American writers of theindigenista andamericanista schools to refer to themestizo population that arose in theAmericas with the arrival ofLatin European (particularlySpanish) settlers and their intermingling with theNew World'sAmerindian peoples.
Mexican poetAmado Nervo wrote "La Raza de Bronce" ("TheBronze Race") as anelegiac poem in honor of former presidentBenito Juárez in 1902.Bolivianindigenista writerAlcides Arguedas used the term in his 1919 work,La Raza de Bronce,[1] a study of the natives of theAndean Altiplano. It was later used by Mexican luminaryJosé Vasconcelos inLa Raza Cósmica (1925).
The term was revived in the 1960s byChicano ethnic groupMEChA to refer toMexican Americans in theUnited States and the people in Mexico as a unified "race", similar to the black and white races. In this sense it is largely synonymous to the notion of the Chicano nation. The decision to call it a separate "race" may have been influenced by the contemporary negative views of "ethnic" or "nation" based nationalism and positive views of "race" based nationalism. The notion was first enunciated in thePlan Espiritual de Aztlán document.
