Just when we thought the linguistic mockery of the term Latinx had been starved from the lexicon, it crawled back like a rabid zombie, refusing to stay buried in the graveyard of discarded language trends. If we thought the logic behind using “Latinos” as already inclusive of all genders, since the word encompasses all Latinos, had been grasped, we’re now facing a deja vu of Spanish 101. Enter “Latine,” a reincarnation that seems to miss the memo on linguistic basics.
The little nightmare of “Latine” (pronounced la-TEEN-eh) is making its rounds in all the usual liberal-leaning institutions, injecting its fangs and sucking out the integrity of the Spanish Language at our university campuses, museums, and among researchers and media outlets.
In response to the effort to “foster an inclusive community,” 41 percent of Latinos polled in the United States reported feeling comfortable with the term “Latine.” For clarity, this means that the so-called inclusive fostering is making the majority of Latinos in America uncomfortable.
The linguistic pillaging of “Latino,” a perfectly good word in both English and Spanish, is not a stand-alone example of a purely willful disconnect in spell-bound academia and progressive realms. They’re taking the Spanish word “todos,” meaning “everyone,” and transforming it into “todes” because, according to these zombie-brained linguistic experts, it magically makes the word “everyone” more inclusive by… well, including everyone.
While the younger generation embraces the Frankenstein of “Latine” with open arms, with 43 percent of respondents aged 18-29 comfortable using it, older individuals seem to view it with skepticism as only 33 percent of those 65 and older find comfort in “Latine’s” stitched-together form. In states along the U.S.-Mexico border or in the Midwest, over half of respondents expressed discomfort with the term “Latine,” echoing similar sentiments from more than 60 percent of respondents aged 65 and older.
Despite “Latine’s” attempt at rebranding from its ancestral terror, “Latinx” the tried and tested labels of Latino/a and Hispanic reign supreme among the majority of respondents, encompassing over 80 percent of the population. Following closely behind are preferences for descriptors tied to specific countries of origin, adding layers of undead national identity such as “Mexican-American” or “Cuban-American.”
This resistance extends beyond America’s borders into Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries, where critics argue that the term is unnecessary and disrupts established grammar rules, haunting the corridors of linguistic tradition and threatening to unravel centuries-old norms.
The unearthing of “Latine” comes as President Joe Biden’s administration changed guidelines for the Census and other federal forms to move Hispanic/Latino into a racial category instead of an ethnicity. The inclusion of a racial checkbox on federal forms may arise as a monstrosity for Afro-Latinos, who often identify with both Black racial and Hispanic/Latino ethnic backgrounds. Indeed, similar issues arise among predominantly Caucasian Hispanics of mostly Spanish descent, as Spain is situated in Europe and does not represent a racial novelty in itself.
While the new criteria on federal forms serve to mask intricate nuances of racial categorization, the lexical looting of the left continues to stalk the Latino community and speakers of the sovereign Spanish Language.
