In one of her first orders of business, new Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders banned the term “Latinx” from state documents, marking a new battle in the culture war over the gender-neutral term.
The term, meant to be inclusive, has not caught on among most Latinos. A quarter of Hispanics have heard of the term, but only 3% use it, according to a 2020 Pew Research report.
The term is embraced by the LGBTQ community and some liberal Democrats, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom. But native and older Spanish speakers are typically adverse to its use. The California Latino Caucus, an influential organization in the Legislature, has made no indication of recommending the term.
Sanders’ ban may be another example of Republicans aiming to take advantage of a rightward trend among working-class Latino voters. But some see it as an attack on the growing Hispanic community in her state.
“She’s calling out a culture war with those very residents of her state that are central to its economic future,” said Sonja Diaz, director of the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute.
Diaz cited her institute’s recent report on the growth of the U.S. Latino population from 2000 to 2020. In Arkansas, the Latino population increased by 162%.
Diaz also called the ban a “failure to evolve from the Trump White House.” Sanders served as the press secretary for former President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2019.
“She’s creating an administration defined by exclusion,” said Diaz. “There are so many things to be thinking about right now, with the climate crisis, with infrastructure opportunity, with what it means to have a female governor of Arkansas and instead she’s using her first day in office to essentially continue forward with a culture war.”
Sanders justified the ban by citing the Pew Research report in her executive order.
“Ethnically insensitive and pejorative language has no place in official government documents or government employee titles,” Sanders' executive order states. “The government has a responsibility to respect its citizens and use ethnically appropriate language, particularly when referring to ethnic minorities.”
Arkansas state agencies and departments will now have 60 days to revise written materials and replace the term “Latinx” with Hispanic, Latino or Latina.
Sanders signed six other executive orders after taking her oath of office including banning critical race theory in public schools and prohibiting the use of TikTok on state devices.
_____
