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HISPANIC AND LATINX EXPLAINED BY: CHARLEIGH REID AND MAYA GREENHOLT
Note from the Editors: In our creation of this month’s issue of the Culture Talk magazine, we decided to take the time to explore and assess the terminology associated with the United States’ “Hispanic Heritage Month” and its impact on the community that is described by the term “Hispanic.” What we found guided us to rename the issue to “Hispanic and Latinx Heritage,” both removing the idea that the Latin American culture should only be celebrated for one month of the year, and adding the term “Latinx” to more accurately represent the terms the United States’ Latin American community uses to describe itself. Below is more information on the thought process and research behind the “Latinx” portion of this decision. In 2020, United States residents use the words “Hispanic” and “Latinx” largely interchangeably, even though they actually have pretty specific definitions. The roots of these words are based in different purposes and different groups of people, but have now been assigned to an overlapping population. Since they are both used colloquially in the English language, it is worth exploring how exactly they came to be, and discuss the controversy behind the usage of each term.
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