The ‘Latinx’ Label Centers European Heritage. We Should Stop Using It.

Let’s rethink an identity built on destruction, conquest, and the plundering of the Spanish empire

Dancers march down 5th Avenue in traditional Spanish costumes during the 55th Hispanic Day Parade on October 13, 2019. Photo: Ira L. Black/Corbis/Getty Images

As we approach Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from September 15 to October 15, various organizations, politicians, and corporations celebrate Hispanization or Latinidad. September 15 was chosen as the day to begin this celebratory month because it is the anniversary of independence for Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Mexico’s independence day is September 16. The government’s website for Hispanic Heritage Month notes that Columbus Day, October 12, falls within this month. On the eve of these calendar markers, conversations are occurring within the Latinx community about identity and the colonial concepts that supposedly link Romance language speakers and their descendants throughout the Americas. The concept of Latinx and Hispanic communities center a common European heritage. In celebrating Hispanic or Latino Heritage Month, we are celebrating colonialism.

Both Latinx (or any of its variants) and Hispanic take on different meanings in different locations and within various groups throughout the U.S. But many whose identities may fall under these umbrella terms openly question whether they should cancel…