education
Hispanic Democrats ban term ‘Latinx’ used ‘to appease white rich progressives’
Lawmakers in Connecticut which are both Hispanic and Democrats, have proposed a new state law to ban the term “Latinx” from all government documents. The term is deemed offensive by the lawmakers who want to end the practice.
“I’m of Puerto Rican descent and I find it offensive,” Democratic state representative Geraldo Reyes told the Associated Press.
“The Spanish language, which is centuries old, defaults to Latino for everybody,” Reyes added. “It’s all-inclusive. They didn’t need to create a word, it already exists.”
Reyes is the bill’s chief sponsor, and was joined by four other Hispanic Democrats who are also members of then Black and Puerto Rican Caucus in the Connecticut Legislature.
The Connecticut lawmakers are not alone in their sentiment. In 2021, Democratic Representative Ruben Gallego of Arizona tweeted “When Latino politicos use the term it is largely to appease white rich progressives who think that is the term we use.” Gallego added that his office was not allowed to use the term in any official communications.
To be clear my office is not allowed to use “Latinx” in official communications.
When Latino politicos use the term it is largely to appease white rich progressives who think that is the term we use. It is a vicious circle of confirmation bias. https://t.co/kMty6q7UQn— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) December 6, 2021
National Review reports:
The same year, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the oldest community organization in the United States, declared it would no longer use Latinx. The term has also been rejected by Real Academia Española, a governing body that oversees the Spanish language.
While the term has been enthusiastically adopted by progressive academics and far-left activists, polling reveals it has not gained traction within the broader Hispanic population.
“The word Latino is incredibly exclusionary, both for women and for non-gender conforming people,” Maia Gil’adi, a professor at Boston University, told the AP. “And the term Latinx is really useful because of the way it challenges those conceptions.”
The House Education and the Workforce Committee announced Thursday it will investigate Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Pennsylvania over allegations that the prestigious colleges have failed to address rampant antisemitism on their campuses.
The announcement comes after Representative Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.) and fellow committee Republicans questioned Harvard president Claudine Gay, University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill, and MIT President Sally Kornbluth Tuesday in a hearing on the rise of antisemitism in the wake of the Hamas attack of October 7.
“After this week’s pathetic and morally bankrupt testimony by university presidents when answering my questions, the Education and Workforce Committee is launching an official Congressional investigation with the full force of subpoena power into Penn, MIT, & Harvard and others,” Stefanik said in a statement.
Pressed on whether calls for “intifada” and chants such as “from the river to the sea Palestine will be free,” which calls for the destruction of the Jewish state, violate campus codes of conduct, the university presidents argued that the slogans fell within the bounds of protected speech and said they could not interfere unless demonstrations degenerated into physical violence.
Asked specifically whether “calling for Jewish genocide” constitutes an infringement of school policy, the presidents argued that such a statement would also fall within the bounds of protected speech. But their administrations have staked out a different position with respect to speech that allegedly threatens the safety of so-called marginalized communities on campus. Harvard is ranked dead last on the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s free-speech ranking list.
National Review reports:
Within 24 hours, following public backlash to their blasé attitudes, Gay and Magill issued supplementary statements assuring that they condemn calls for genocide against the Jewish community.
House Education and Workforce chairwoman Virginia Foxx said the presidents’ poor showing has created “deep concerns with their leadership.” Demands that the presidents resign have circulated on X. The committee’s probe will look into the college’s learning environments, policies, and disciplinary protocols.
“This investigation will include substantial document requests, and the Committee will not hesitate to utilize compulsory measures including subpoenas if a full response is not immediately forthcoming,” Foxx said in a statement.“Other universities should expect investigations as well, as their litany of similar failures has not gone unnoticed.”
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