Opinion: What Sarah Huckabee Sanders misses with her ‘Latinx’ executive order

Editor’s Note: Ed Morales (@SpanglishKid) is a journalist and lecturer at Columbia University’s Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race and the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. He’s the author of the book “Latinx: The New Force in American Politics and Culture.” The views expressed are his own. View more opinion articles on CNN.

CNN
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In her first week as governor of Arkansas, Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared the use of the word “Latinx” must be eliminated from official government document use. Her executive order “to respect the Latino community by eliminating culturally insensitive words from official use in government” is part of a thinly disguised “anti-woke” agenda adopted by a number of conservative Republicans.

For those who do use the term – or for those who object to its use – there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to the question that would warrant an oversimplified approach like Sanders’ order. What Sanders has characterized as “respect” is actually a patronizing attempt to shut down a debate among Latin American descended people in the US about how to name themselves.

The executive order banning “Latinx” was one of eight that she signed in the 48 hours since taking office. Some of the orders concern hiring freezes on government agencies. But the “Latinx” order, as well one prohibiting “indoctrination and critical race theory in schools,” represent a new brand of red meat in the Republican agenda.

Sanders isn’t alone – Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order on his first day in office “to restore excellence in education by ending the use of divisive concepts, including Critical Race Theory, in public education.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has become the anti-woke national leader, having successfully championed and signed into law the dystopian “Stop WOKE Act,” prohibiting teaching or instruction that “espouses, promotes, advances, inculcates, or compels” students or employees’ race-based thinking or analysis. The law is already creating uncertainty and anxiety among students and professors in Florida universities.

While Sanders’ move against “Latinx” is not explicitly calling out race-based thinking, it performs an interesting maneuver by asserting that…