AOC continues to champion 'Latinx' despite backlash

Progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) defended the term “Latinx” to describe Hispanic Americans on Monday, despite polls showing that they object to or are even offended by it. 

The New York City Democrat said in an Instagram story Monday that gender and language were “fluid” and that Democrats who dislike it are putting re-election over people’s identities.

“Language is fluid”: @AOC says people need to stop getting mad at the term “Latinx.” pic.twitter.com/nynUqHUBkt

— John Gage (@johnrobertgage) June 6, 2022

“In the spirit of pride, I wanted to have a note on gender inclusivity in the Spanish language,” Ocasio-Cortez began.  

“People sometimes like to make a lot of drama over the term ‘Latinx.’ But even before ‘Latinx,’ people were trying to do this, like, use an at [@ symbol] to have the ‘A’ and the ‘O’ [in ‘Latino’ and ‘Latina’] together,” she claimed.

The Royal Spanish Academy rejected the use of “x” and “e” as gender-neutral alternatives in 2018.

“Gender is fluid, language is fluid,” Ocasio-Cortez continued. “[You] don’t have to make drama over it.”

A poll in November by a firm specializing in Latino outreach found only 2% of those polled refer to themselves as Latinx, with the overwhelming majority preferring “Hispanic” (68%) or “Latino” or “Latina” (21%).

40% of survey respondents said Latinx bothers or offends them while 30% said they would be less likely to support a politician or organization that uses the term.

AOC blasted politicians, including Democrats, who “rail against the term,” saying: “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.”

“Like, this is not about you,” she told her audience.

The congresswoman is at odds with fellow New York Democrat Ritchie Torres, who represents the Bronx with her and called out the New York Yankees in May for using Latinx in a tweet about gun violence.

“I represent the South Bronx, home to the Yankees. Never heard anyone locally use the term ‘Latinx.’ Does a majority of Hispanics actually use the term ‘Latinx’?” Torres tweeted.

“Every community should have the right to label itself, rather than have a label imposed on them by others,” he said in a follow-up tweet.