Thread by @alvarombedoya

The first time I heard the word Latinx I was like “wait, what did you call me? Yeah, no, whatever that is I am not that.”

But then they explained it to me. And I came around. So, here’s a few thoughts why I use it myself and for the people I feel a part of.

I call myself Latinx for the same reason I *don’t* call my wife "Mrs. Alvaro M. Bedoya”: women and non-binary people exist and deserve the same respect I do.

Also, I don't want to call people of Latin American descent a term that erases most people of Latin American descent.

“It doesn’t respect the rules of the Spanish language.”

I’d take this seriously if I wasn’t called Al-VAH-ro daily, if we didn’t cross the border to “MeCKSico,” or if there was literally more than one (1) show on TV where supposed Spanish-speakers actually spoke Spanish.

“It’s a term invented by activists. Only 3% of people use it.”

This feels like a headline from a turn of the century newspaper that describes the women’s suffrage movement as "a few uppity ladies in rural upstate New York.”

Here are some other ideas that were first brought to you by a small number of wild-eyed “activists”:

- Abolition
- Civil rights
- Gay people are people
- The 5 day work week
- The minimum wage

“People in Latin America don’t use it.”

Sure, I agree. But that misses the point. It's not like I plan to call my centenarian grandmother to be like “ABUELITA EVITA ESCUCHAME NO ERES LATINA NI HISPANA NI LATINOAMERICANA ERES LATINEX OKAY?? LAAA-TIII-NEX"

The whole point of trying to find the right word to describe people of Latin American descent in this country is that they are more than just “people of Latin American descent.”

We are something new, something separate and not beholden to where we are "from."

If you think I’m full of it, google the origins of salsa music. Or ask your friend if, when they go back to Mexico/El Salvador/Peru etc. people *there* consider them Mexican/El Salvadorian/Peruvian, etc. I love my primos but I could care less what they think I should call myself.

If you don’t want to use it to describe yourself, no problem. If it sounds weird, I hear you. It is different. And it is particularly jarring when your first see it in some corporate America pablum. It's got a real "Jeff Bezos wants to tell you Black Lives Matter" vibe.

But I think that the heart of “Latinx” is in the right place. And whether it is that word or another we choose to adopt (Latine?), I doubt we’ll be using “Latino” or “Hispanic” 50 years from now. It'll sound like the people who call me "Spanish" after I tell them I'm from Peru.

NB. My Abuelita Evita is most definitely not alive. But she lived to 98, okay? And she didn't trust banks, and thought I was literally incapable of wrong, and so I think it is okay right

NB2. I realize that some people do envision Latinx as a Pan-American self-identifier. I am not one of them.

NB3. Here is a poem all of you should read okay hyperallergic.com/400145/one-poe…

NB4. IT’S PRONOUNCED YAMA ***YAAAA-MAAAA**** NOT “LAMA” THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL ANIMALS NOT TIBETAN DEITIES

NB5. I NOW UNDERSTAND THAT LAMAS ARE NOT DEITIES BUT RATHER BEST THOUGHT OF AS TEACHERS MY SINCERE APOLOGIES

NB6. Agree with Roberto

https://mobile.twitter.com/hashtagRoberto/status/1330627571558526976