Xicanx (/ˈtʃiːkæŋks, ˈʃiː-/ CHEE-kanks, SHEE-,^[1] /ʃɪˈkænʃ/ shih-KANSH^[2]) is an English-language gender-neutral neologism and identity referring to people of Mexican descent in the United States. The ⟨-x⟩ suffix replaces the ⟨-o/-a⟩ ending of Chicano and Chicana that are typical of grammatical gender in Spanish. The term references a connection to Indigeneity, decolonial consciousness, inclusion of genders outside the Western gender binary imposed through colonialism, and transnationality.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} In contrast, most Latinos tend to define themselves in nationalist terms, such as by a Latin American country of origin (i.e. "Mexican-American").^[6]

Xicanx started to emerge in the 2010s and media outlets started using the term in 2016.^[7][8][6] Its emergence has been described as reflecting a shift within the Chicano Movement.^[2][9] The term has sometimes been used to encompass all related identifiers of Latino/a, Latin@, Latinx, Chicano/a, Chican@, Latin American, or Hispanic,^[3] and to replace what have been called colonizing and assimilationist terms, like Latino/a, Mexican American, Mestizo, and Hispanic.^[10] Xicanx has also sometimes been used to include colonized people outside of just Mexican descent, such as people from Central and South America.^[1]

Similar to Xicana and Xicano, the meaning of the X- in Xicanx is also reflected in Xicanisma, an intervention in Chicana feminism by Ana Castillo.^[11][12] It symbolizes the colonial encounter of Spanish colonizers and Indigenous peoples that came to produce the state name of México. Whereas older Spanish spellings of the country appeared as Méjico, the Mexican state used the X in reference to the Mexica in its project of Indigenismo.^[2] Jennie Luna and Gabriel S. Estrada wrote that "this state reclamation of Indigenismo was a racialized logic that favored modern mestizo identity rather than supporting the living Nahua and Indigenous pueblos."^[2] Luna and Estrada cite indigenous peoples of Mexico who see the Mexican state as an agent of violence and destructive assimilationist practices in their communities. Recognizing this state violence, Luna and Estrada argue that it is important to deconstruct the notion that the X is only related to the Mexica people or "Aztec empire" (who the Mexican state has centered in its project of Indigenismo and who Chicano nationalists centered in the Chicano Movement), stating that "the Nahuatl language existed before the Mexica migrated south into what is now Mexico City."^[2]

Contemporary usage of the term Xicanx has been described as taking on new meanings. Luna and Estrada state that it has transformed to "reject Mexica-centrism, and instead can be viewed from a broader perspective, one that more widely embraces the Uto-Nahuatl, Mayan, and other Indigenous language families spoken throughout the Americas."^[2] Mariel M. Acosta Matos states that some speakers have suggested pronouncing -x with its phonetic value in the Mayan language (/ʃ/ or ‘sh’), where Xicanx is then pronounced as Shi-kan-sh.^[13] The X may be perceived then as "symbolic return to Nahuatl and Maya usage and pronunciation and thus retains potential for Indigenous reclamation."^[2] Luna and Estrada argue that Xicanas, Xicanos, and Xicanxs adopted the X "not only as a respelling, but also as a conscious resistance to further Hispanicization/colonization."^[2] This includes the Xicanisma principle of reinserting the feminine into one's consciousness that has been subordinated by Spanish colonization via the imposition of the coloniality of gender.^[12][14]

The rejection of this coloniality in Xicanx forefronts gender neutrality, which is represented in the second x in Xicanx. As noted by Acosta Matos, "the fact that Nahuatl and the Mayan languages do not have grammatical gender classes has also influenced the deployment of gender neutral forms" of terminology.^[13] As a result, Acosta Matos argues that "the use of -x reveals the intersection of race/ethnicity and (grammatical) gender politics: it ‘symbolizes’ efforts to decolonize language. Adopting and using gender neutral nouns and pronouns reclaims Mesoamerican activists’ Indigenous languages, as their linguistic systems do not conform with grammatical gender as codified in Spanish."^[13] Luna and Estrada refer to the second x as an "Indigenized genderqueer" representation that interrupts "colonization and male/female hierarchies" while still acknowledging that it operates within a "partially European construction of language."^[2] Xicanx has been referred to as a term that "moves closer to more Indigenous words, spellings, and identities."^[15]

Some grassroots activist organizations use the term Xicanx. The Xicanx Institute for Teaching & Organizing (XITO) emerged as a strategy to continue the legacy of the Mexican American Studies Department Programs (MAS) in Tucson Unified School District. After the unconstitutional ban of the MAS programs, XITO developed "a decolonizing and re-humanizing model of Ethnic Studies professional development to counter the deficit model of current teacher education by infusing critical identity work—a critical analysis of race, power, and systems of oppression—together with an Indigenous epistemological framework formerly implemented in the highly successful MAS program."^[21][22] XITO has inspired teachers of color to develop pedagogical approaches using concepts such as Nahui Ollin and In Lak'ech.^[23] This methodology has been described as reframing education in a way that acknowledges Xicanx and Latino perspectives.^[24]

XicanX: New Visions was a national art exhibit curated by Dos Mestizx from February to June 2020 that featured the work of 34 artists. The exhibit received notable coverage after Xandra Ibarra's work was removed by city officials in San Antonio, Texas. The exhibition sought to challenge "previous and existing surveys of Chicano and Latino identity-based exhibitions."^[25]

The Raza Resource Centro at UC San Diego has hosted an annual Xicanx/Latinx Graduation ceremony since 2017.^[26]

• Tupac Enrique Acosta
• Arizona ban on ethnic studies