LOS ANGELES (KNX) — Not long ago the "usual" terms were Hispanic, Latino, Chicano...and then came LatinX. A phrase that many who the term intends to encompass say they've never fully understood.
Early after the term's creation, Democratic activists of all ethnicities pushed the it as a more respectful and inclusive way to describe Latinos, but it turns out — not that many Latinos actually use, like or understand it.
A new national poll showed that 40% of voters are bothered or offended by the term, while 30% said they less likely to support a candidate who uses the term.
Giancarlo Sopo, a Republican media strategist, directed national Hispanic advertising for the Trump 2020 campaign. He said “no one” is really sure where the term came from, but the best idea most people have is that it came up in the mid-2000s as a way to abbreviate “Latinos” and “Latinas.”
“Then it started appearing in academic literature and somehow it skipped over to corporate diversity and inclusion departments and the DNC,” Sopo, who is Cuban, said.
He explained that the phenomenon of LatinX is “bizarre” since, by nature, the spanish language is grammatically gendered — much like French or Italian.
“So to your average person, especially people who are spanish speakers who want to conserve the language… it just feels like a very inauthentic imposition on them,” Sopo said.
“And culturally insensitive. Almost as a way of telling people that ‘your language or your culture is insufficiently progressive, we know better’ and that just really rubs Latinos in the wrong way.”
So if there’s no more LatinX, what term works?
As a plural, the term “Latinos” covers anyone of any gender — so there’s no need to say “Latino and Latinas,” Sopo said. Other terms like “Hispanic” are preferred by some.
“Or you could just be more precise and refer to people as Mexican Americans, Puerto Rican or Dominican Americans,” he said.
“Usually people prefer to be identified by their country of origin or just ‘American,’ I mean that’s what we’re here for after all,” Sopo added.
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Related
