Not much has gone wrong for the Yankees so far this season, but they swung and missed with their local member of Congress last week by using the term “Latinx” in a tweet about gun violence.
Amid nationwide shock over the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas that killed 19 elementary school students and two teachers, the Yankees announced on their Twitter page Thursday that they would “offer facts about the impacts of gun violence” in lieu of providing updates on that night’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays.
One of those facts went like this: “Each year, more than 4,100 Latinx people die from gun violence in the U.S. and 13,300 are shot and wounded.”
The post caused outrage among some Twitter users, who described “Latinx” as a redundant or even offensive term.
Polls have found that fewer than 5 percent of Hispanics or Latinos in the US use the term Latinx. Another poll said that 40 found Latinx offensive. The term was created by activists who wanted a gender-neutral word for Latino/Latina.
“Try asking your Hispanic players if they like being called ‘Latinx,’” user Nicholas S. Brisco responded.
“We are Latinos, you gringo,” another user said.
“Latinx is by far the most insulting thing I’ve ever been called even worse than any slur combined and [I know] I’m not alone in this,” a third chimed in. “Literally proves that Latino voices can’t be heard and a——s just talk over us.”
Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres, whose 15th Congressional District includes Yankee Stadium, waded into the pile-on Friday.
“I represent the South Bronx, home to the Yankees. Never heard anyone locally use the term ‘Latinx.’ Does a majority of Hispanics actually use the term ‘Latinx’?” Torres posted in a Twitter thread on Friday. “If the answer is ‘no’, how did ‘Latinx’ come to be the term to use in government and Corporate America?”
I represent the South Bronx, home to the Yankees. Never heard anyone locally use the term ‘Latinx.’
Does a majority of Hispanics actually use the term ‘Latinx’?
If the answer is ‘no’, how did ‘Latinx’ come to be the term to use in government and Corporate America? https://t.co/4EYR1ksywx
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) May 27, 2022
While he criticized the Yankees for using the term, Torres later clarified: “If you are speaking to a particular person who prefers ‘Latinx,’ then, by all means, use the term. But if you are referring to the Hispanic community in general, why not use the term that the majority itself predominantly uses?”
“Every community should have the right to label itself, rather than have a label imposed on them by others,” Torres continued.
The lawmaker revisited the issue on more time on Saturday, tweeting: “I never said there should be a ban on the term ‘Latinx.’ Quite the opposite. I mostly use the term ‘Latino’ whereas Corporate America & government almost exclusively uses the term ‘Latinx’.”
“I am simply wondering why in light of the following study,” he added, linking to a 2020 Pew Research poll that found fewer than one in four Hispanics have heard of the term “Latinx” while only 3% use it.
Another poll, done by Gallup last summer, found that only 4% of Hispanic adults preferred “Latinx” for a label, 15% liked “Latino,” 23% preferred “Hispanic,” and the majority – 57% – said they had no preference.
In November, a Bendizen and Amandi International survey found that only 2% of Hispanic voters refer to themselves as “Latinx.” The poll found that the majority – 68% – described themselves as “Hispanic” while 21% used the terms “Latino” or “Latina.”
That survey also found that 40% of respondents said the term “Latinx” bothers or offends either a little, somewhat, or a lot.
Neither the Yankees nor Torres immediately responded to The Post’s request for additional comment.
