Origins and Historical Significance of Día de la Raza

Abstract

ABSTRACT IN ENGLISH: This paper traces the launching of a holiday known in the Spanish American nations as Día de la Raza, celebrated on 12 October, date of the discovery of America. It describes how the new holiday took shape in the years 1912 to 1921, and how the circumstances created by World War I hastened its introduction. The holiday surely signalled a rapprochement with Spain, and was indeed particularly promoted by communities of Spanish immigrants in Cuba, Chile and Argentina.However its Spanish version, as it is claimed here, was also a responce to, and a rejection of, the Columbus Day celebrations, which had become a prominent event in the civic calendar of the United States some years earlier. By tracing the beginnings of the holiday, we gain a better insight of the cultural as well as the incipient political trends of that period. Reprinted by permission of CEDLA Edita, Amsterdam