Stereotypes of Hispanic and Latino Americans
Stereotypical representations of Hispanic and Latino Americans are often manifested in United States mass media, literature, theater and other creative expressions, with very real repercussions for the group in daily interactions and in current events.
In 2003, Serafín Méndez-Méndez and Diane Alverio of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists reported the following findings:[1]
- Latino-related stories make up less than 1% of all the stories that appear on network newscasts, even though Latinos make up more than 13% of the U.S. population.
- Crime, terrorism, poverty and welfare, and illegal immigration accounted for 66% of all network stories about Latinos in 2001.
- The arrest of suspected terrorist Jose Padilla, for allegedly plotting to detonate a "dirty bomb", occupied a central role in the coverage of Latinos in 2001, with 21 network stories or 18% of all stories that aired on Latinos.
- "The number of Latino-related crime and youth gang stories in 2002 was grossly excessive when compared to statistics on crimes involving Latinos."
- "Illegal immigration continues to be an important focus of network news coverage of Latinos."
EthnicMajority.com, a minority empowerment organization, states: "Who we see, hear, and read on television, radio, newspapers, and in movies has a great deal of influence on shaping the attitudes of all Americans. How African, Hispanic (Latino), and Asian Americans are portrayed in these mediums often stereotypes and reinforces negative images of each ethnic group."[2]
National media watch group Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) points out that in contrast to the media's overrepresentation of minorities as criminals and druggies is their underrepresentation as experts and analysts. FAIR's studies in the late 1980s and early 1990s documented that 92% of Nightline's U.S. guests were white, 90% of the NewsHour's guests were white, and 26 out of 27 repeat commentators on National Public Radio over a four-month period were white.[3]
White U.S. Hispanics and Latinos are often overlooked in the U.S. mass media and in general American social perceptions, where being "Hispanic or Latino" is often incorrectly given a racial value, usually mixed-race, such as Mestizo,[4][5][6] while, in turn, are overrepresented and admired in the U.S. Hispanic mass media and social perceptions.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13] [14] Latinos in general are often depicted as all being part of one homogeneous cultural or ethnic group and/or having no defining characteristics; if a country of origin is specified, it is almost invariably either Mexico or Puerto Rico, regardless of whence the individual or group in question actually hails. Spaniards and Americans of Spanish blood are often overlooked in the U.S. mass media and in general American social perceptions as separate from whites and Europeans, they are mostly categorized as Latin Americans and Latino Americans.
Latin americans in popular culture
Most depictions of Latin America in the US media includes a number of common mistakes and misunderstandings, as most US writers know little or nothing about it, besides similar tropes used in other US works. Geography is usually messed up, highly distant places as the Iguazu Falls and the Amazon Rainforest are treated as if they were close to each other, cities may be depicted with features they do not have or even at the wrong countries. The cities are depicted as shanty towns, with monkeys, felids and alligators roaming free. Most times a fictional character visits Brazil, it will be during the Brazilian Carnival.[15]
As for the Latin American people, they are depicted as being poor, and women with weird hats or hats with fruits, in a Carmen Miranda style. Fashion, technology and architecture is depicted between a colonial and a 1950s style.[15]
See also
References
- ^ Serafín Méndez-Méndez; Diane Alverio (December, 2003). "Network Brownout 2003: The Portrayal of Latinos in Network Television News, 2002". National Association of Hispanic Journalists. http://www.nahj.org/NAHJbrownoutreport03.pdf. Retrieved 2008-06-04.
- ^ "Diversity in the Media and Entertainment Industries". EthnicMajority.com. http://www.ethnicmajority.com/media_home.htm. Retrieved 2008-06-04.
- ^ Cohen, Jeff (1999-10-01). "Racism and Mainstream Media". Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting. http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2527. Retrieved 2008-06-04.
- ^ Richard Rodriguez. "A CULTURAL IDENTITY". http://www.pbs.org/newshour/essays/june97/rodriguez_6-18.html.
- ^ "Separated by a common language: The case of the white Hispanic". http://www.rawstory.com/exclusives/tryferis/hispanic.htm.
- ^ "Hispanics:A Culture, Not a Race". Campello.tripod.com. http://campello.tripod.com/hispanic.html. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
- ^ "Y Tu Black Mama Tambien". Newsweek. June 18, 2003. http://www.newsweek.com/2003/06/18/y-tu-black-mama-tambien.html. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
- ^ "The Blond, Blue-Eyed Face of Spanish TV". The Washington Post. August 3, 2000. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A19009-2000Aug1¬Found=true. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
- ^ "Blonde, Blue-Eyed Euro-Cute Latinos on Spanish TV". Latinheat.com. August 2, 2010. http://www.latinheat.com/news/2689/blonde-blue-eyed-euro-cute-latinos-on-spanish-tv. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
- ^ "What are Telenovelas? – Hispanic Culture". Bellaonline.com. http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art40221.asp. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
- ^ "Racial Bias Charged On Spanish-Language TV". Articles.sun-sentinel.com. August 6, 2000. http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2000-08-06/news/0008060066_1_spanish-latino-leaders-caste. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
- ^ "Black Electorate". Black Electorate. http://www.blackelectorate.com/articles.asp?ID=281. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
- ^ "Skin tone consciousness in Asian and Latin American populations". Boston Globe. August 19, 2004. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2004/08/19/pride_or_prejudice/. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
- ^ "Differences Between American and Castilian Spanish". Antimoon.com. http://www.antimoon.com/forum/2004/5104-9.htm. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
- ^ a b "The capital of Brazil is Buenos Aires". Tvtropes.org. April 21, 1960. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheCapitalOfBrazilIsBuenosAires. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
Further reading