AOC criticises Democrats’ refusal to use ‘Latinx’ despite divide over the term

Many Democrats worry the term ‘Latinx’ alienates voters of Latin American descent

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticised other Democrats for their opposition to using the term “Latinx”, as many Democrats worry that using the term alienates voters.

The democratic socialist congresswoman from New York spoke about the identity while speaking about her trip to Puerto Rico regarding her legislation to resolve the island’s status. She said she wanted to speak about it in light of Pride month and how people use the term “Latine” or “Latinx”.

“People sometimes like to make a lot of drama over the term Latinx,” she said, but noted how some had used the “@” symbol to be more inclusive before them.

“Gender is fluid, language is fluid, and I think people right now are using the ‘e’ term as gender-neutraled in order to be as inclusive as possible,” she said. “Don’t have to make drama over it.”

Ms Ocasio-Cortez also said she had a “mini-rant” about the term “Latinx” since many politicians, including Democrats, worry that using the the term “Latinx” is bad for the party as a whole.

“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.”

After former president Donald Trump improved his margin with Hispanics voters – particularly in the heavily Cuban-American Miami-Dade region of Florida and the largley Mexican-American Rio Grande Valley of South Texas – many Democrats have pointed to the term “Latinx” as a reason why Democrats have faltered with Latino voters.

Data show that few Americans of Latin-American descent use the term. A Gallup poll from last year found that while a 57 per cent said it did not matter what term should be used the describe the ethnic subgroup, 23 per cent preferred “Hispanic,” 15 per cent preferred “Latino” and only 4 per cent of people from the group prefer the term “Latinx.” The survey also found that only 5 per cent would pick “Latinx” if they had to choose between the three terms.

Democratic Representative Ruben Gallego of Arizona, who like Ms Ocasio-Cortez is also part of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told The Independent last year that Democrats shouldn’t use the term since it shows that Democrats are not very in touch with the community.

“It shows that a lot of your consultants are being driven I think by wrong indicators,” he said. “Now, is someone going to vote against a Democrat because they use the term Latinx? No, I don’t think so. But you’re missing an opportunity to connect with a voter because you’re trying to take care of another constituency that really has no interplay and interconnection with this other constituency.”

But Ms Ocasio-Cortez objected to the idea that the term would alienate voters.

“If putting a little ‘X’ on your campaign literature is what you think is the difference between winning or losing an election, you need to talk about health care more,” she said. “You need to raise people’s wages. You need to talk about more issues that also matter to people.”