Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defended use of the term ‘Latinx’ as more gender-inclusive language and telling her fellow Democrats who cringe at the term it’s ‘not about your re-election prospects.’
‘In the spirit of pride, I wanted to have a note on gender inclusivity in the Spanish language,’ Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said in a diatribe posted to her Instagram story. ‘People sometimes like to make a lot of drama over the term ‘Latinx.’ But even before ‘Latinx,’ people were trying to do this, like, use an at [@ symbol] to have the ‘A’ and the ‘O’ [in ‘Latino’ and ‘Latina’] together.’
‘Gender is fluid, language is fluid,’ she added. ‘[You] don’t have to make drama over it.’
‘There are some politicians — including Democratic politicians — that rail against the term ‘Latinx.’ And they’re like, ‘This is so bad. This is so bad for the party like, blah, blah blah.’ And like, it’s almost as though it has not struck some of these folks that another person’s identity is not about your re-election prospects,’ she said. ‘Like, this is not about you.’
The term Latinx gained popularity in left-leaning academic circles to refer to Hispanics without using the gendered ‘Latino’ or ‘Latina’ terms.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defended use of the term ‘Latinx’ as more gender-inclusive language and telling her fellow Democrats who cringe at the term it’s ‘not about your re-election prospects’
Last week New York Rep. Ritchie Torres called out the Yankees for using ‘Latinx’ in a tweet about gun violence
A recent Politico poll of Hispanic voters found that only 2 percent of those polled refer to themselves as ‘Latinx,’ 68 percent prefer ‘Hispanic,’ and 21 percent favored ‘Latino’ or ‘Latina.’
At the same time 40 percent said Latinx bothers or offends them while 30 percent said that use of the term would make them less likely to vote for a candidate.
Ocasio-Cortez, whose mother is from Puerto Rico and father is from the Bronx, said that politicians who are bothered by the term need to rethink their priorities.
‘You need to talk about health care more, you need to raise people’s wages, you need to talk more about issues that also matter to people,’ she said.
‘That being said, if you don’t want to use it, no one’s forcing you to,’ Ocasio-Cortez concluded. ‘But for people who enjoy trying to figure out language and have it meet the modern age, that’s kind of where it’s at.’
Meanwhile Democratic Arizona Rep. Ruben Gallego, who is of Colombian and Mexican descent, announced that his office was not allowed to use Latinx in official communications after the Politico poll.
‘To be clear, my office is not allowed to use “Latinx” in official communications,’ wrote Gallego, who is of Columbian and Mexican descent.
‘When Latino politicos use the term, it is largely to appease white rich progressives who think that is the term we use,’ he continued. ‘It is a vicious circle of confirmation bias.’
Last week New York Rep. Ritchie Torres called out the Yankees for using ‘Latinx’ in a tweet about gun violence.
‘I represent the South Bronx, home to the Yankees. Never heard anyone locally use the term ‘Latinx.’ Does a majority of Hispanics actually use the term ‘Latinx’? Torres asked in a tweet on Friday in response to the Yankees.
‘If the answer is ‘no’, how did ‘Latinx’ come to be the term to use in government and Corporate America?
New York Rep. Ritchie Torres called out the New York Yankees for using the term ‘Latinx’ in a tweet about gun violence
Torres added that a community should have the right to label itself
Torres tweeted that ‘if you are speaking to a particular person who prefers ‘Latinx,’ then, by all means, use the term’
Torres pointed to recent polls that indicate show many Hispanics have never heard the term and some who don’t use it or are offended by it
The young Democrat’s tweet was in response to a New York Yankees tweet that claimed thousands of ‘Latinx’ people are killed or injured by gun violence every year.
‘Latinx’ is a term popularized by woke progressives that is intended to be gender neutral, and inclusive of people who are transgender or non-binary. But critics say it is difficult for Spanish-speakers to pronounce.
‘Each year, more than 4,100 Latinx people die from gun violence in the U.S. and 13,300 are shot and wounded,’ the New York Yankees tweeted on Friday.
Torres, 34, who is among the first openly gay, black members of Congress, and identifies as Afro-Latino, continued on about the issue in a series of tweets.
‘If you are speaking to a particular person who prefers ‘Latinx,’ then, by all means, use the term.’
A Gallup poll from 2021 found that fewer than 5 percent of Hispanics and Latinos in the U.S. use the term ‘Latinx’
‘But if you are referring to the Hispanic community in general, why not use the term that the majority itself predominantly uses?’
‘Every community should have the right to label itself, rather than have a label imposed on them by others.’
Torres’ district, New York’s 15th, which is home to Yankees Stadium, is 66 percent Hispanic or Latino, according to the U.S. Census.
Torres pointed to recent polls that indicate show many Hispanics have never heard the term and some who don’t use it.
‘I never said there should be a ban on the term ‘Latinx.’ Quite the opposite,’ he continued to tweet.
‘I mostly use the term ‘Latino’ whereas Corporate America & government almost exclusively uses the term ‘Latinx’.
‘I am simply wondering why in light of the following study.’
Another Gallup poll from 2021 found that fewer than 5 percent of Hispanics and Latinos in the U.S. use the term ‘Latinx.’