Rep. AOC goes on ‘mini-rant’ criticizing Democrats for refusing to use ‘Latinx’ terminology

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is criticizing members of her own party who have argued using gender-neutral language to describe members of the Hispanic American community is bad for the Democratic Party’s brand.

“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 like it’s almost like it hasn’t struck some of these folks that another person’s identity is not about your re-election prospects,” Ocasio-Cortez said during a video message posted to her Instagram account.

“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,” she added.

After former president Donald Trump improved his margin with Hispanics voters, particularly in the heavily Cuban-American Miami-Dade region of Florida and the largley Mexican American Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, many Democrats have pointed to the term “Latinx” as a reason why Democrats have lost votes from Latin residents.

Data shows that few Americans of Latin-American descent use the term. A Gallup poll from last year found that while a 57 per cent said it did not matter what term should be used the describe the ethnic subgroup, 23 per cent preferred “Hispanic,” 15 per cent preferred “Latino” and only 4 per cent of people from the group prefer the term “Latinx.” The survey also found that only 5 per cent would pick “Latinx” if they had to choose between the three terms.

Arizona’s Democratic Representative Ruben Galego believes it should not be used by the Democratic Party last year. He said the term indicates that Democrats have little contact with the community.

“It shows that many of your consultants are driven by the wrong indicators,” he said. “Well, since we’re using the term Latin, is anyone going to oppose the Democratic Party? No, I don’t think so, but there really isn’t any interaction or interconnection with other members. I’m missing out on the opportunity to connect with voters because I’m trying to take care of another member.”

Ocasio-Cortez disagreed with the idea that the term keeps voters away. “If you think that adding a small” X “to your campaign material is the difference between winning and losing an election, you need to talk more about healthcare,” she said. “You need to raise people’s wages. We need to talk more about issues that are also important to people.”