A group of Hispanic state lawmakers in Connecticut is trying to ban the use of the word “Latino” in official government documents — claiming the term is “offensive” to Spanish speakers.
The state’s five Hispanic Democrats have proposed legislation to outlaw the gender-neutral alternatives to “Latino” or “Latino” that describe people of Latin American descent.
The bill’s chief sponsor, Rep. Geraldo Reyes Jr., called Latino a “woke” term that insults Connecticut’s large Puerto Rican community.
“I’m of Puerto Rican descent and I find it offensive,” Reyes said.
However, proponents argue that the descriptor is more inclusive for both women and gender non-affirming individuals. The masculine plural “Latinos” is used in Spanish for a group of both men and women.
Reyes said “Latino” is already included.
“Spanish, which is centuries old, defaults to Latin for everybody,” he said. “It’s all in. They didn’t have to create a word, it’s already there.
Republicans have also come a long way in their battle against the so-called “woke.”
Last month, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders — a former Trump White House press secretary — banned government officials from using Latin on state documents within hours of the Republican taking office.
However, the move seemed more for political show than action. “Latinx” does not appear to be widely used among Arkansas public officials.
In Connecticut, a keyword search for the term on the state government portal returned 945 hits in documents including press releases, blogs and reports.
Many Latin Americans have rejected the self-descriptor — especially older generations.
In 2021, the oldest Hispanic civil rights group in the United States – the League of United Latin American Citizens – announced that it would no longer use the term Latino.
Using an “x” to replace an “a” or “o” breaks with the specific grammar of the language and is unfamiliar to native speakers, said David Farez, professor of Spanish at the University of Florida.
“Latinx was clearly a solution that was proposed outside the Spanish-speaking world,” Pharies said.
He added that “Latin,” which is sometimes used for the same person, is more intuitive to Spanish speakers.
However, Maya Giladdy, assistant professor of “Latino and Multiethnic Literature” at Boston University, said the term actually originated in the 1990s with Latin American youth and queer culture.
The “x”, he said, is a nod to many people’s indigenous roots.
“The word Latina is incredibly exclusionary, both for women and for non-gender-conforming people,” she said. “And the term Latino is really useful because it challenges those notions.”
With post wires
Read full article here