Matthew Yglesias: The Latinx problem

[Sympthsical]

7. My Latino friends and family hate that word. I refuse to use it or type it

A family member (through marriage) bristles at this term. She told me she feels it actually works against her heritage. In her view, the Spanish language is gendered. It's part of their linguistic heritage.

There is such a thing as wokeness being taken to Level Stupid. This is one of those things. No one wanted this word. No one actually uses it. But some people in academia and then Twitter decided it needed to be a thing. Then well-meaning non-Latinos figured, "Well, this is what we're being asked to say, so I guess we're going to say it now." Especially the media.

Out of respect to my friends and family, I refuse to adopt it.

When only 3% of the pertinent population bothers about it, I don't think anyone else has to go along either.

Everything in this wide world is "problematic" if you talk to a Twitter user sensitive enough and with too much time on their hands.

I have seen Latine. It's also very rare, however. Every time I see it, I think people are talking about a toilet. Takes me a second.