AOC Blasts Fellow Democrats for Resisting Term Latinx: ‘Not About Your Reelection Prospects’
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) blasted critics of the term Latinx, including fellow Democrats who resist using it and think it’s “bad for the party.”
After a brief discussion of the term on Sunday night in her Instagram stories, Ocasio-Cortez launched into a “mini-rant,” in which she targeted unidentified Democrats.
I also have a mini-rant about this because there are some politicians, including Democratic politicians, that rail against the term ‘Latinx.’ And they’re like, ‘this is so bad, this is so bad for the party,’ like blah blah blah. And it’s almost like it hasn’t struck some of these folks that another person’s identity is not about your reelection prospects.
The gender-neutral term has been hit with resistance in recent years. A December poll from a Democratic firm found that 30 percent are actually less likely to vote for a politician that takes Ocasio-Cortez’s advice and uses the term. The polling also found only 2 percent of Hispanic respondents actually said they use the term themselves.
Rep. Ruben Gallego, chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, is among the Democratic critics of the term. In a December tweet, he said the term is banned in official communications in his office and said it is used to appease “rich progressives.”
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
Ocasio-Cortez accused people of creating “drama” over Latinx and other “inclusive” variations of the term. She argued language is fluid” like gender.
“Gender is fluid, language is fluid, and I think people right now are using the ‘e’ term as gender-neutral in order to be as inclusive as possible. Don’t have to make drama over it,” the congresswoman said.
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