The History of the Letter X and the Term Latinx

• In Event: Discursive Moves in the Racialization and Education of Latinx Students

Abstract

Objectives: This paper provides an overview of the history and evolution of the term Latinx and the letter “x”, followed by final conclusions regarding the definition of the Latinx term and its impact within education.

Perspective: The term Latin, which traditionally encompassed both male and female genders according to the rules of the Spanish language, has evolved within the literature and in daily conversations as Latino, Latino/a, Latin@, Latinx (Salinas & Lozano, 2019), and most recently as Latin* (Salinas, 2020). The emerging term Latinx – like Latino and Hispanic–is often misunderstood and misused in higher education settings. As people grapple with the meaning and use of the term Latinx, it is important for researchers, particularly those who identify as Latinx/a/o/*, to engage in self-reflection regarding their intersecting identities related to power, privilege, and oppression.

Modes of inquiry: Using Latinx as a marker of social identity continues to be a contested issue in higher education, the authors use the historical data to present the history of the letter x and the term Latinx.

Sources/materials: The use of pan-ethnic labels to self-identify can be a fraught process for people whose ancestry is Latin American based. In fact, a Pew Research Center survey found that a majority of “Hispanic” adults preferred to identify themselves based on their family’s country of origin (e.g. Colombian, Guatemalan); only 24% preferred to use a pan-ethnic label (Cohn, 2012). Over the past 50 years, pan-ethnic labels for this population continue to evolve. One must recognize that people live in the borderlands of gender, between the man and woman gender binary, and identities that intersect.

Conclusions: The “X” in Latinx has been used to reclaim history of racial and ethnic resistance (Vidal-Ortiz & Martinez, 2018). Yet, other people have reclaimed Latiné, Latinu, and Latini to resist the term Latinx. While the term Latinx interlocks with race, gender and language, there is a need for more research that aims to examine how race, gender and language influence other identities. Terms and labels are important to people and are connected to the politics of identity, and other emotional attachments.

Scholarly significance: The “x” in Latinx has disrupted language and culture norms and created opportunity to validate and recognize individuals who do not identify within the gender binary of man/woman. There is not enough evidence to explain how the term Latinx is related to other Indigenous communities outside of Mexico. For example, the Quechua language – spoken primarily in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, and Columbia; and Garifuna – spoken primarily in Belize, Guatemala, and Nicaragua – does not have the “x” in their alphabet. Throughout the analysis of the literature there is inconsistency on how and to whom is the term inclusive of. From the language perspective, Hispanic and Latinx – dismiss people from Latin American countries (Belize, Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, and Suriname) because they speak a language other than Spanish or speak an Indigenous language.

Authors

• Cristobal Salinas Jr, Florida Atlantic University

• Adele Lozano, University of Wisconsin - LaCrosse