Poll: Mexican Americans are more comfortable with "Latinx" than other groups
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Latino demonstrators in Los Angeles. Photo: David McNew/Getty Images
A majority of Mexican Americans polled say they are comfortable with the term "Latinx" while nearly two out of three Central Americans say they are not, according to an Axios-Ipsos Latino Poll in partnership with Noticias Telemundo.
The big picture: Latinx, a term meant to be gender-neutral and inclusive, has grown in popularity among younger people in the U.S. while facing backlash from others.
- Academic, LGBTQ activists and social media circles began using Latinx over the last decade, saying it is more inclusive of members of the LGBTQ community and women.
By the numbers: About 50% of the 1,005 U.S. Latino adults surveyed said they were comfortable with people using Latinx to refer to people of Spanish-speaking origin in the United States, the poll shows.
- Around 53% of Mexican Americans say the gender-neutral term was fine, the only majority of the Latino ethnic groups surveyed to endorse the identification. Mexican Americans are the largest Latino group in the U.S.
- Just 35% of Central Americans said they were comfortable with Latinx.
- 47% of Puerto Ricans and 42% of Cuban Americans said they approved.
Yes, but: Other surveys show that only around 3% actually use the term.
- Elected officials, a major newspaper and the oldest Latino civil rights organization in recent months have spoken out against the continued use of Latinx.
- "When Latino politicos use the term it is largely to appease white rich progressives who think that is the term we use. It is a vicious circle of confirmation bias," Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus' campaign arm, tweeted in December.
The intrigue: The Axios-Ipsos Latino Poll also showed that 89% of those surveyed were comfortable with the term Latino.
- 89% were also comfortable with the term Hispanic.
- Only 34% were comfortable with the term BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color).
Go deeper: Latinos are highly accepting of members of LGBTQ community, poll finds
Methodology: This Axios/Ipsos Latino Poll, in partnership with Noticias Telemundo, was conducted March 7-18 2021, by Ipsos' KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,005 Hispanic/Latino adults age 18 or older.
- The margin of sampling error is ±3.7 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample.
Subscribe to Axios Latino and get more news that matters about Latinos and Latin America, delivered right to your inbox on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
