It’s not necessarily “new,” mind you, but the term “Latinx” is just insanely unpopular among the Hispanic/Latino community.
We have known for a while that Hispanic/Latino voters simply aren’t using the term for themselves. An August Gallup poll found that only 5% of respondents actually use the term. What’s more, Hispanic Democrats in Florida really dislike the term. Hispanic voters aren’t just not adopting the term, they’re rejecting it outright. It would appear that the Democratic Party deciding to label a minority group themselves, rather than the minority choosing how to identify themselves, isn’t super popular. However, far-progressive Democrats like Alexandria OcasioCortez have started using this term more often than others.
The recent gubernatorial election in Virginia provided more evidence that the Democrats are struggling to hold on to those voters, however, and it’s going to continue to get worse. Politico’s Morning Report explains: Democrats insist that they use a term which actually OffensesNearly half the Hispanic/Latino vote.
Only 2% refer to themselves as Latinx, while 68% call themselves “Hispanic” and 21% favored “Latino”/“Latina”
40% said Latinx bothers or offends them to a degree & 30% said they’d be less likely to support a politician or organization that uses ithttps://t.co/w5uzYBxT3n
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) December 6, 2021
As Democrats seek to reach out to Latino voters in a more gender-neutral way, they’ve increasingly begun using the word Latinx, a term that first began to get traction among academics and activists on the left.
But that very effort could be counterproductive in courting those of Latin American descent, according to a new nationwide poll of Hispanic voters.
Only 2 percent of those polled refer to themselves as Latinx, while 68 percent call themselves “Hispanic” and 21 percent favored “Latino” or “Latina” to describe their ethnic background, according to the survey from Bendixen & Amandi International, a top Democratic firm specializing in Latino outreach.
Democrats face more problems: 44% said Latinx is bothering or offending them, and 30% stated that Latinx would make it less likely for them to vote for a politician/organization using this term.
Hispanic voters are not shifting to the right solely because of the term “Latinx,” mind you. However, it’s a sign that Democrats are losing those voters.
Spanish, as the Politico piece points out, is a gendered languages. Many words can be divided into masculine or feminine versions. The language itself doesn’t really support the gendered language of the modern progressive left, which seeks to be inclusive of those who identify as trans and non-binary.
There’s also a bit of a language barrier there.
But Spanish words do not end in the letter X, which is pronounced “eh-kees,” and some Spanish speakers argue it’s tricky to know how to pronounce Latinx in their native tongue.
The term “Latinx” is used by a handful of far-left Hispanic politicians and activists, but its primary usage is perceived to be from rich, white elites who are out of touch with the Hispanic community and its needs. A more “inclusive” designation isn’t needed right now.
What’s more, the Democrats have repeatedly misread the room where Hispanic/Latino voters are concerned. They aren’t a single, unified group of voters. Their diversity is perhaps what makes them the largest minority in America, as they come from many different countries. Mexican-American voters differ from Cuban Americans voters. They are also different from the many immigrants and descendants from South American countries. These matters matter.
The deeper cultural problem is that Hispanic/Latino voters often share certain traits, despite having different origins. Due to their religious heritage, they tend to be more socially conservative that the progressive left. They don’t accept the LGBT+ cultural war as easily as the (largely black) progressive left. “Latinx” is a word that further divides the Hispanic community from the Democratic Party and, yes, the Republicans have seized on this fact.
Socialist policies are also a concern to them, as many of their relatives have come here to escape the oppressive regimes. As long as they continue pushing for such agendas, these voters will be less supportive of the left. They are supporting the very ideologies that chased their families out of their home countries, and the Democrats don’t seem to realize that not only are those policies not working here, but they are also actually hurting their own chances to hold on to power.
It’s always funny to hear Democrats take about the Republican culture war, by the way, when this is just more evidence that the Democrats are the ones constantly at war with culture. They oppose Christian culture. They have declared war on American culture. They are also at war with Hispanic/Latino culture.
They appear to be losing, they say.
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