By Noah Rothman
Tuesday, December 07, 2021
As if more evidence were needed, yet another poll of Hispanic
voters released on Monday demonstrated what any sentient observer of political
trends already knew: “Latinx” is a loser.
The survey of 800 Hispanic voters conducted in late
November found that just 2 percent of this ethnic group self-identify as
“Latinx.” By contrast, two-thirds call themselves “Hispanic” and just over
one-fifth prefer “Latina/Latino.” This recently innovated ethnic identifier
isn’t just underutilized by the group it ostensibly describes; it is a source
of resentment among many in that very group. While 57 percent of Hispanics are
ambivalent toward the phrase, 40 percent are “a little,” “somewhat,” or very
offended by the term (including 39 percent of self-described Democratic
Hispanics). Though a plurality of Hispanic voters said that their vote would
not be influenced by the word, 30 percent said they would be less likely to
support a politician who described Hispanic voters as “Latinx.”
Democrats invested in winning political office know this
is a problem, particularly as Republicans are making electoral inroads with
Latino voters. Kristian Ramos, a Democratic strategist focused on Hispanic outreach,
told Politico that the “general population” finds a
phrase that native Romance language speakers cannot even pronounce “mystifying
and ridiculous.” “Democrats are helping Republicans make them look out of
touch,” former Univision president Joaquin Blaya confessed. “To be clear my
office is not allowed to use ‘Latinx’ in official communications,” Democratic
Congressman Ruben Gallego averred. “When Latino politicos use the
term, it is largely to appease white rich progressives who think that is the
term we use.”
This a valuable diagnosis. If, however, the Democratic
Party resolves to banish a phrase that has become a metaphor for the party’s
attachment to an obscure ideology that flattens the complexities of identity
into discrete and immutable political categories, it’s not enough to focus on
political venues. If every politician and media outlet in America stopped using
the word tomorrow, it would still be a ubiquitous feature of apolitical life.
If you’re an HBO Max subscriber, you were confronted with
a vertical featuring short films deemed “Latinx” despite the fact
that they were distributed in partnership with the “Official Latino Film and
Arts Festival.” Hulu subscribers can filter their preferences to select for
entertainment with “Latinx leads.” Disney+ hopes viewers will tune in for their
offerings that celebrate “Latinx Heritage Month.” The commitment to “LatinX” programming among entertainment providers remains
total, as is the industry committed to catering to Hispanic media
consumers.
Creatives, too, have endorsed this new linguistic display
of fealty to the tenets of modern progressivism. In late 2020, 270 prominent
creators, producers, writers, and performers in the Hispanic community affixed
their names to a statement affirming their membership in the “Latinx
community” and assuming ownership of those non-Hispanic communities in which
“many…identify as Latinx” while demanding more representation in Hollywood.
Ahead of a new and highly-anticipated film adaptation of the Broadway
musical West Side Story, Stephen Spielberg promised that a “100 percent Latinx”
cast would portray the members of the fictional Puerto Rican gang the Sharks.
The font from which the highest-grossing genre of major motion pictures
springs, Marvel Comics, has turned “the spotlight to Latinx heroes.” In 2022, a new installment
of the “Doctor Strange” series will feature America Chavez, a character
Marvel.com brands as a representation of “queer
Latinx” in America.
Restaurant-goers in major metros such as downtown Austin,
Texas, enjoy the fare provided by famed restaurateurs like Gabriela Bucio. “I represent the Latinx community down
here,” said the owner of Gabriella’s Group, which includes a variety of
restaurants, bars, and nightclubs. San Diego, too, has what the city’s tourism authority describes as “Latinx and
Hispanic owned” restaurants—a distinction with a previously indistinguishable
difference. Seattle’s Convention and Visitors Bureau is just as
invested in promoting local proprietors offering traditional “Latinx flavors.”
Even lifestyle brands that supposedly exist outside
politics have been sucked in the vortex of left-wing identity politics. The
e-commerce company Esty promotes “Latinx
clothing.” Good Housekeeping admonishes readers who prefer conventional
descriptions for people of Hispanic origin because they can be “exclusionary
and inequitable.” Better Homes & Gardens advertises
“Latinx”-branded activist chic throw pillows. National Geographic prefaces
the section of its resource library dedicated to “Hispanic Latinx Heritage” with a throat-clearing
acknowledgment of “the systemic discrimination Latinx/a/o and Hispanic people
face in our nation.” As Oprah’s flagship website explains to its credulous
readers, “Latinx” is supposed to extirpate conventions such as the genders that
Romance languages assign to nouns and adjectives. If there is a backlash
against the term, it is “hatred” that “generally comes from conservative
members of the community,” said Dr. Luisa
Ortiz Pérez.
From its inception, “Latinx” was designed to be
provocative. As the writer and activist, César Vargas, wrote of his fellow Hispanics who reject the term: “You are our
weakest link toward true progress, reciprocity, and inclusivity. And for that,
you are dismissed. Vamoose. Begone. Get to steppin’. Corran camino.
And take your shitty misogynistic, homophobic, and transphobic family members
with you.” The tables have turned. Hispanics, and the institutions with an
instinct toward self-preservation who seek their support, are now seeking to
extirpate the phrase from all but the most radicalized venues. But the left’s
cultural dominance ensured that this word proliferated across the American
cultural landscape before a consensus around its usefulness had been
established. Relegating it to the ash heap of bad ideas won’t be so easy.
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