Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders bans ‘Latinx’ from Arkansas govt. docs
Arkansas Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders will ban the use of the term “Latinx” in government documents through an executive order.
Sanders, who was sworn in as Arkansas’ first female governor on Tuesday, justified banning the word “Latinx” from government documents and name titles by citing a Pew Research poll that found only 3% of Latinos and Hispanics used term. to describe yourself.
“Ethnically insensitive and derogatory language has no place on official government documents or the titles of government employees,” Sanders’ executive order said. “The government has a responsibility to respect its citizens and use appropriate ethnic language, especially when referring to ethnic minorities.”
Progressive groups and some politicians have pushed the term “latinx” in recent years as a gender-neutral alternative to the Spanish words Latina and Latino.
Sanders noted in the executive order that the Real Academia Española, a Madrid-based institution that serves as a language guide for Spanish, officially rejects the use of “x” to replace “o” and “a” as a way to identify gender in language.
“Gender cannot be removed from Spanish and other Romance languages any more easily than vowels and verbs can be removed from English,” the executive order states. “It is the policy of the Governor’s administration to prohibit the use of culturally insensitive language on official state government business.”
Sarah Huckabee Sanders speaks during her election night party on Nov. 8, 2022 in Little Rock, Arkansas.AP
Sanders now serves in the same post as her father, Mike Huckabee, who was governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. She is the youngest governor in the country at age 40.
Another executive order to be signed by Sanders will ban the use of TikTok on government equipment and government networks — a move first reported by Fox News Digital. The order follows similar bans by the federal government and more than 20 other states.
Sanders previously worked as press secretary for former President Donald Trump in 2019. She told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview that as a mother, education will be a key issue in her governorship.
“I have made no secret that my top priority for this session is a comprehensive education reform package,” Sanders said. “I’m living it every day with a fifth grader, a third grader and a first grader and I feel the impact of education and what it means and what it means to every child.”
