Arkansas Gov.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders
(R) signed an
executive order
banning the word ”
Latinx
” from all government documents.
The order framed the term as an ethnic slur and banned its use on grounds that the government should not use pejorative terms against ethnic minorities.
GOV. SARAH SANDERS TO BAN CRITICAL RACE THEORY WITH NEW EXECUTIVE ORDER
“Ethnically insensitive and pejorative language has no place in official government documents or government employee titles,” the order read. “The government has a responsibility to respect its citizens and use ethnically appropriate language, particularly when referring to ethnic minorities.”
It went on to cite a study by Pew Research, showing that only 3% of American
Hispanics
use the term. It also cited the rejection of the term by the Madrid-based Real Academia Espanola, which governs the Spanish language.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders talks to reporters outside the White House, Wednesday, March 6, 2019, in Washington.
(Evan Vucci/AP)
“All state offices, departments, and agencies, unless granted an exemption by the Governor, shall review official documents of their respective entities regarding the use of the term ‘Latinx,’ ‘latinx,’ ‘Latinxs,’ or ‘latinxs’ in official state documents,” Sanders wrote.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“Within sixty (60) days of this Order, all state offices, departments, and agencies shall revise all existing written materials by replacing the terms ‘Latinx,’ ‘latinx,’ ‘Latinxs,’ or ‘latinxs’ with ‘Hispanic,’ ‘Hispanics,’ ‘Latino,’ ‘Latinos,’ ‘Latina,’ or ‘Latinas.’ If the changes to the revised documents require promulgation under Arkansas law, then the requisite state office, department, or agency shall promulgate the revised document in accordance with Arkansas law,” she continued.
Liberals have attempted to introduce the term Latinx into the cultural lexicon as a gender-neutral alternative to Latino or Latina. However, the use of the term has backfired, with Hispanics widely viewing the word as an attempt at
cultural imperialism
and as nonsensical within the rules of the Spanish language. As stated in Sanders’s order, Pew Research found that only 3% of polled Hispanics said they used the term, with many more describing it as offensive.
