New Republican Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed an executive order this week banning the use of “Latinx” in government documents because it is “culturally insensitive” to the Latino community.
“Ethnically insensitive and pejorative language has no place in official government documents or government employee titles,” Sanders’ executive order stated. “The government has a responsibility to respect its citizens and use ethnically appropriate language, particularly when referring to ethnic minorities.”
The executive order noted that polling from the Pew Research Center has found that roughly only 2-3% of Latinos even use the word “Latinx” to describe themselves and that the Real Academia Española, a Madrid-based institution that serves as a guide for the Spanish language, has officially rejected the use of “x” as an alternative to “o” and “a” in Spanish.
Sanders said that it was the official policy of her administration to “prohibit the use of culturally insensitive words for official state government business.”
“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,” the order said.
The state entities are to report back to the Governor’s office highlighting all instances in which the word is used and “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.'”
Sanders also signed an executive order targeting woke indoctrination in schools, specifically Critical Race Theory, which the order described as “antithetical to the traditional American values of neutrality, equality, and fairness.”
“It emphasizes skin color as a person’s primary characteristic, thereby resurrecting segregationist values, which America has fought so hard to reject,” the order said. “It is the policy of this administration that CRT, discrimination, and indoctrination have no place in Arkansas classrooms.”
Sanders, 40, was sworn into office in Little Rock on Tuesday where she follows in the footsteps of her father, Mike Huckabee, who served as governor of the state from 1996 to 2007.
“I am incredibly honored to be the 47th Governor, and the first woman governor, of the great state of Arkansas,” Sanders said in a statement. “We will show the world that there is still a place in America where freedom reigns and liberty will never die, and that place is Arkansas. Now, let’s get to work.”
Post a Comment