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'Latinos' is out, 'Latinx' is in at UC San Diego in nod to evolving gender and sexuality terms

Geisel Library on the campus of UC San Diego. (Los Angeles Times)

UC San Diego has begun using new words to refer to Latinos and Chicanos in a move that reflects the profound change that's occurring nationally in the way many people define their gender and sexuality.

The gender-specific terms Latino and Chicano are being selectively replaced with Latinx and Chicanx to promote acceptance of virtually anyone who falls under the headings. The change is being promoted by students, social justice activists and the LGBTQ community, which are trying to get people to look beyond conventional notions of gender, sex and appearance. As broadly used, Latino refers to people of Latin American origin or descent.

Latinx includes men and women of Latin American descent, people who are not exclusively male or female, people who don't think of themselves as a man or a woman, and people who don't act or dress in ways that are common to people of their gender. The same basic definition applies to Chicanx, with the exception of heritage. Chicanos are Americans of Mexican descent.

“This is about making the university more inclusive,” said Becky Pettit, UC San Diego's vice chancellor of equity, diversity and inclusion. “We're meeting students where they are.”

The university also is trying to more broadly appeal to Latinos, an area where it has lagged behind some University of California campuses. The new word changes, made this week, mean that the school will use Latinx and Chicanx in a lot of its official communications, such as news releases and publicity. The words also might end up being used in the naming of certain campus events.

Schools like Grossmont and MiraCosta colleges already use those terms in their publicity. So does UC Irvine. The University of San Diego holds a Chicanx/Latinx graduation.

But deeper change is being sought. And it involves two words — Latinx and Chicanx — that are not widely used by the general public, partly because there's confusion about what the words mean and how they are pronounced.

People are especially perplexed by Latinx, which was reflected in a reader survey published this year by Remezcla, a media company.

The survey found that readers were almost evenly divided between pronouncing Latinx as latin-x and la-teen-x. A small percentage preferred lah-tinks. Still others have suggested referring to Latinos as Latin@, a gender-neutral term that hasn't caught on.

Colleges and universities are often among the first places for new language to appear. That's precisely what's been happening over the last couple of years.

At UC San Diego, it is no longer uncommon for a person to announce their “personal pronouns” when they introduce themselves at a meeting.

For example, a person might say, “My pronouns are he/him/his” or “she/her/hers.” Or the person could ask to simply be referred to as “they” because their gender identity doesn't neatly match that of a man or a woman.

The issue of gender identity also has surfaced in the way students apply for undergraduate admission to the University of California system.

Students can now choose from heterosexual/straight, bisexual, gay and lesbian to describe their sexuality.

Under gender, they can select gender nonconforming, genderqueer, transgender, trans man, trans male, trans woman or trans female.

Making a selection — which is voluntary — can be confusing. Some of the terms aren't well known to the general public, and some have multiple meanings.

The UC says that genderqueer refers to “a person whose gender identity and/or gender expression falls outside of the dominant social norm of the assigned sex, is beyond genders, or is some combination.”

The new California Gender Recognition Act is likely to make all of these terms more familiar to a wider audience. The act, which begins to take effect Jan. 1, will make it easier for people who are transgender, nonbinary or intersex to obtain state-issued IDs that specify their gender.

“Terms and practices change over time,” said Dayo F. Gore, an ethnic studies professor at UC San Diego. “It doesn't mean it is a zero-sum game. The important thing is how do we think about the changes. It gives us a chance to be open and speak.”

The San Diego Union-Tribune asked Pettit whether some people will view words such as Latinx as an act of political correctness, leading to blowback against the campus.

“I think the nature of higher education as institutions is to create spaces for resistance and for people to redefine themselves and for people to redefine the world that they want to live in,” Pettit said.

“I don't mean to sound flippant, but that's what universities exist for: to allow people to think freely, to allow people to redefine and shift culture.”

Robbins writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Source: Published originally on latimes.com, 'Latinos' is out, 'Latinx' is in at UC San Diego in nod to evolving gender and sexuality terms, by Gary Robbins, December 2nd, 2018.

Posted on Monday, December 10, 2018 at 7:34 AM
  • Author: Latimes.com by Gary Robbins

Hispanic Millennials Seek a Cultural Connection at Grocery

Millennials are more “multicultural” than any previous generation. In the U.S., approximately 40% of the generation identify as Hispanic, African-American or Asian American. And over a quarter of all U.S. Millennials are first- or second-generation immigrants—many of whom have strong ties to their global origins.

This diversity is shifting their attitudes—71% of all Millennials say they appreciate the influence of other cultures on American way of life. It's also shaping their consumer habits—from brand loyalty and product purchasing to language and media usage.

To better understand how the influence of other cultures affects Millennial shopping habits, a recent Nielsen study focused on the largest Millennial multicultural group—Hispanic Millennials. This group makes up more than half multicultural Millennials (21% of the generation's total U.S. population). And some markets have an even higher concentration of young Hispanic consumers. For example, one quarter of Los Angeles' population is Millennial, and half these young consumers are Latino.

When it comes to grocery, Latino Millennials are true to their heritage, attracted by cultural touch stones of smell, taste and familiarity. At the national level, 61% of Hispanic Millennials say they've shopped at Hispanic supermarkets at least once over the past year. But while these young Latinos value their roots, they're also open to other cultures—22% have shopped at an Asian supermarket.

Language plays a big role in whether these young Latinos shop culturally specific stores. As would be expected, the majority of Spanish-dominant and bilingual Hispanic Millennials across the U.S. have shopped at Hispanic groceries. But almost half of English-dominant Hispanic Millennials have also visited these stores. Hispanic Millennials' desire to shop at Hispanic groceries stores—despite language barriers—also reflects this generation's openness to different cultures.

The Los Angeles (LA) market, in particular, illustrates the opportunity these attitudes present. In the city, the percentage of Latino Millennials shopping at Hispanic grocery chains jumps to 74%. And even more importantly, while 46% of LA Latino Millennials are English-dominant, almost 60% shop at Hispanic food stores. This is a testament to the sheer number of Latino stores in LA but also the draw and appeal of these stores.

While the value proposition for these stores is clear, such grocery options are not always available to them. At the national level, the No. 1 reason all Hispanics and the Millennial sub-segment give for not shopping at Hispanic grocers is the lack of nearby stores. Meanwhile, in LA, 36% of Hispanic Millennials say their main reason for not shopping at Hispanic grocers is because they can find their ethnic products in mainstream retailers. 

Hispanic millennials in Los Angeles find proximity to Hispanic grocery stores

In LA, mainstream retailers have taken note of the needs and desires of Latino Millennials and are responding with options that appeal to these young shoppers. Across the country, food stores overall—not just Hispanic grocers—have the same opportunity to attract shoppers in high density Latino neighborhoods by better understanding their needs and gearing their store's product offerings to satisfy these desires.    

Methodology

The insights in this article were derived from “Shopping For My Culture,” a Nielsen Hispanic Grocery Survey. The survey was in field for three weeks (from 6/30/15 to 7/21/15) and achieved 3,307 responses, supporting the levels of analysis required for reporting. It included English-preferred, Spanish-preferred, and bilingual Hispanic households on the Nielsen Homescan Panel. The age range for Millennials is 18-34. Hispanic Grocery/Supermarket is a grocery supermarket that offers a substantial amount of products from Hispanic/Latin origin, carries Hispanic produce (fruits/vegetables), and may offer Latino bakery items, tortillas, Hispanic meat cuts or specialty products (horchata, batidos), as well as outlets also known as ethnic supermarkets.

Source: Published originally on Nielsen.com as Hispanic millennials seek a cultural connection at grocery by the editors of Nielsen, April 25, 2016

Posted on Monday, September 19, 2016 at 12:00 PM

The growing population of Latinos will redefine U.S.-Mexico relations

The Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas, or CIDE, the Center for American Progress, and the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations published a new report, in collaboration with the ongoing “U.S.-Mexico Moving Forward” series, that is designed to generate a debate about the two societies' shared future. For far too long, the traditional U.S.-Mexico narrative has centered only on immigration, drug policy, violence, and crime instead of looking for solutions to policies that focus on a broader approach, encompassing the full range of political, economic, and energy issues facing both nations.

The Latino community is becoming increasingly important to the economy, culture, and politics of the United States. Today, more than 55 million people—almost one-fifth of the U.S. population—are Hispanic, two-thirds of whom are of Mexican origin. Latinos in the United States are reaching new heights in educational attainment, making significant economic gains, and dramatically changing the political landscape. Within the next two decades, these developments will have profound implications for the United States, Mexico, and the rest of the Americas. How large of an asset U.S. Hispanics can be—and the extent of their impact on relations across the hemisphere—depends on actions related to immigration and trade in the United States and across the Americas, particularly in Mexico.

The historic tensions and internal politics of the Latino diaspora are increasingly significant given the rising political influence of Latinos in the United States: The development of Latinos as the fastest growing segment of the nation's population will change the way election campaigns are run, local and state officials are elected, and the United States defines its political traditions. In 2012, more than 11 million Latinos voted and 40 million Latinos are expected to be eligible voters by 2030. The political impact is clear, and Mexican leaders can no longer ignore Latino leaders or the issues Latinos face in the United States. As Latinos assume greater political power within the United States, the U.S. relationship with the rest of the Americas will become an increasingly important issue in U.S. domestic politics.

Building political, social, and economic connections between Mexico, as well as the rest of Latin America, will require business investments and cultural and education exchanges in order to develop a stronger sense of shared interest—which will only benefit the Americas.

Likewise, the expanding role of Hispanic-owned businesses and Latino consumers in the world's largest economy will create enormous opportunities to foster deeper  between the United States and Mexico and to create jobs in both countries. As the U.S. Hispanic population continues to increase and its influence grows—both electorally and economically—other nations in the Western Hemisphere will have to adjust their policies to accommodate the demographic shift. Given the cultural, economic, and political ties between Mexico and the United States, it is particularly important for Mexico to recognize the economic and political rise of Latinos—particularly Mexican Americans—within the United States.

“Increasingly, Mexico's future is determined not only in Mexico, but also in the United States. Our countries are growing together at a rapid pace—a process that has its challenges but presents tremendous opportunities,” said Michael Werz and Dan Restrepo, Senior Fellows for the National Security and International Policy team at the Center for American Progress.

As the nature of the Latino diaspora populations has changed, so have the perspectives in their countries of origin. For instance, Mexicans and their diaspora in the United States have largely taken each other for granted. Although the two populations have ethnic, religious, linguistic, and cultural roots in common, prejudice and stereotypes have long prevailed in what has amounted to an “us” and “them” relationship.

Mexicans can no longer afford to turn our backs on Mexican-Americans. In order to make the best of our shared heritage, we must move beyond the us and them mindset to build joint solutions to shared challenges. Mexican-Americans and Latinos can and should become our strategic partners for a common future in North America,” said Carlos Heredia, head of CIDE's Program for the Study of the United States.

Source: Center for American Progressand Centro de Investigacio´n y Docencia Econo´micas, Latinos Are Shaping the Future of the United States, November 30, 2015.

Posted on Tuesday, December 1, 2015 at 7:40 AM

Beyond Heritage and Identity

In one of my earlier blogs I discussed the distinction between the ideas of ethnic heritage and ethnic identity. In brief, all Americans have ethnic heritage, sometimes multiple heritages through their various ancestries. Yet not all Americans have ethnic identity, which takes root when one dimension of your heritage evolves into an integral part of your very being. Identity, in short, is not something you choose. It's something you feel.

Recent events, however, have caused me to consider still another possible option, although at this point I'm not sure what to label it. For now, I'll simply call it an ethnic special interest. Let me explain.

My father was raised in Guadalajara, Mexico. His family fled to the United States in 1913 during the Mexican Revolution. Growing up in early post-World War II Kansas City, Missouri, I was immersed in Mexican lore by my father, who wanted to develop in me a robust Mexican identity. But he also helped imbue in me a deep love for my country, the United States. Maybe that's the reason I don't see any inherent conflict between having both a strong ethnic identity and a strong dedication to one's nation.

My mother's parents were immigrants, too: my grandmother from Austria; and my grandfather from Ukraine. They also raised me in an ethnic tradition, but not a nation-based one: a Jewish ethnic tradition. They seldom talked about Austria or Ukraine, places that mainly brought painful memories of anti-Jewish oppression, from which their families had fled. This brings me back to my earlier ethnic categorical musing.

Current events – the ousting of the Russian-leaning president of Ukraine, Russia's occupation of Crimea, and continuing tensions involving the two nations – have provoked in me a sense of connection spawned by my ancestry. It's not a Ukrainian ethnic identity, of which I have none. Rather it's a special interest because events there may connect, in some yet-undetermined way, with part of my personal heritage.

I raise this topic because a rapidly-increasing number of U.S. Latinos have mixed heritages. Sometimes these are people with two or more national-origin Latino heritages. Sometimes they involve non-Latino along with Latino heritages. As we move further into the twenty-first century, issues of heritage and identity are likely to become even more complex.

The basic question is this: in what respects will future Latinos grow up as Americans with Latino identity, Americans with specific Hispanic national-origin identities, or merely Americans of Hispanic heritage? This question will become even more challenging as Latinos continue to intermarry and mixed Latinos – people like me – become an increasing part of the U.S. cultural kaleidoscope. The ways that Latinos address and wrestle with the complexities of ethnic identity amid multiple heritages could play a significant role in the future Hispanic trajectory.

Source: Univision's Hispanic Insights Blog, Beyond Heritage and Identity by Dr. Carlos E. Cortés, Professor Emeritus of History at the University of California, Riverside, June 27, 2014.

Posted on Monday, August 4, 2014 at 9:34 AM

How Latinos celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and beyond

Over 52 million strong, Latinos are affecting every aspect of the national landscape—pop culture, the workforce, consumption, politics and America’s identity as a nation. And from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, Hispanic Heritage Month recognizes and celebrates the Latino culture and heritage, as well as the contributions U.S. Hispanics have made to the nation.

During the month, Latinos celebrate Hispanic heritage through festivities that highlight the music and food that extol the countries’ history and rich culture. To learn more about how Latinos revel this month and during other celebrations, Nielsen conducted a survey among the Hispanic community in the U.S. to glean deeper insight. Here are some highlights:

  • Only 30 percent of respondents said they celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, including the Independence Day of their country of origin.
  • The affinity to celebrate main Hispanic celebrations differs among English and Spanish preferred Hispanics. Spanish-preferred Latinos are more likely to celebrate Thanksgiving, Easter Day, Holy Week and 3 Kings Day, while English-preferred Hispanics are less likely to celebrate these holidays. Cinco de Mayo is the Hispanic celebration that attracts the biggest engagement, at 48 percent.
  • Even though respondents largely don’t celebrate this month, 73 percent consider it extremely important or very important that companies and organizations recognize and celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and the contributions Hispanics have made to the U.S.
  • When it comes to celebrating Heritage Hispanic Month or Independence Day for their country of origin, Latinos mainly organize parties at home, attend Latino music concerts, and in smaller proportion, attend festivals and celebrations organized by governments, academic organizations and employers (10%).
    When it comes to food, the most popular dishes are rice (84%), beans (71%), chicken (66%), beef (60%) and guacamole (60%). These are followed by tacos, pork, tamales, enchiladas and fish.
  • Latinos love fruit and natural ingredients, and Aguas frescas, or fresh waters (a combination of fruits, cereals, flowers, or seeds blended with sugar and water to make light non-alcoholic beverages), are always a key ingredient of these celebrations: Tamarindo, chia, horchata, jaimaica, agua de melón, sandía, lima, limonada, fresa, and piña are some of the most popular aguas frescas flavors.
  • When researching beverage preferences, Nielsen found that soft drinks are the big winners. Sixty-five percent of Hispanics drink soda, making it the most-consumed beverage, even above fruit or fresh water drinks, juices and/or flavored water. Fresh water drinks are a staple beverage type for Latinos, and some of the most common flavors are tamarind, horchata, jamaica and lima.

Source: Published originally on Nielsen.com as How Latinos celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and beyond, October 11, 2013.

Posted on Thursday, October 24, 2013 at 8:24 AM
  • Author: Nielsen.com

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