2015 Fall TV Preview: Has the Latino Media Gap Been Bridged?

Posted on 08/25/2015 @ 07:45 PM

Tags: blog

Photo Credit: Getty / Maarten de Boer

By: Aurora de Peralta, Education and Youth Leadership Programs Intern, LULAC National

As the 2015 Fall TV season approaches, network television is boasting a variety of new shows with more racial diversity. What’s even better is that Latinos haven’t been excluded from this boost in non-white casts. Three NBC series featuring Latina leads are scheduled to premiere this fall: Jennifer Lopez as a New York detective in Shades of Blue, America Ferrera as a retail employee in Superstore, and Eva Longoria as a telenovela star in Hot & Bothered.

These Latina-led television series follow what has been a groundbreaking year for Latino representation in mainstream media: Gina Rodriguez won a Golden Globe for her role in the CW’s Jane the Virgin; Cristela Alonzo premiered her eponymous ABC show as the only network series starring, created and produced by a Latina; and Sofia Vergara was ranked by Forbes--for the third year in a row--as the highest paid television actress.

But each of these landmark moments in entertainment still comes with a downside: despite Rodriguez’s Golden Globe, it’s still less than a handful of Latinos that get nominated for Academy Awards each year. Cristela Alonzo’s show was cancelled after one season due to lackluster ratings, and Sofia Vergara’s Modern Family character continues to represent no more than a caricature of the sexy Latina, complete with a thick accent and a sketchy immigrant heritage.

Worse still, these examples of Latino mainstream media representation are the exception to the rule: any Latino participation in mainstream English-language media is still stunningly low. According to a report by filmmaker/scholar Frances Negron-Mutaner, a review of top movies and television programs reveal that there are fewer Latino lead actors in the entertainment industry today than there were seventy years ago. And, whereas the Latino population grew 43% from 2000-2010, the rate of Latino media representation grew stagnant or declined proportionately. Even further, when Latinos are visible, they tend to be portrayed through decades-old stereotypes like law enforcement officers, cheap labor, and hypersexualized beings.

Negron-Mutaner bills this conundrum as “The Latino Media Gap”, and these upcoming network series aren’t doing a convincing job of bridging this divide: America Ferrera is starring as a low-wage service worker; Jennifer Lopez is advertised as a “sexy New York detective” gone bad; and Eva Longoria(who was placed under fire in 2013 for perpetuating stereotypes in her show, Devious Maids) seems set to turn the Latino cultural facet of the telenovela into cheap laughs for English-language audiences.

Yes, the success of a handful of stars like Gina Rodriguez is noteworthy, and there’s something to be said for the mere fact that network programs with Latino leads exist at all. But the rate of incorporation is still out of step with the growth of the Latino population, and those incorporated are still relegated to stereotypical portrayals that skews the public’s perception of this community.

It’s not easy to foster mainstream media representation that accurately reflects the Latino community without stereotyping and prejudice. ABC’s Cristela wasn’t just a show that featured a non-white cast: it challenged how television handles characters of color while still being entertaining, but it got cancelled.

In a blog post in response to the Cristela cancellation, Mexican-American Alonzo detailed the challenge of honest portrayals of race on television.

“I got messages from people that said I need to add ‘that crazy chola cousin we all have’ or telling me that I sold out my culture because my mom has a thick accent,” she wrote. “I didn’t have the ‘crazy cousin’ so I can’t write about that. And my mom had a thick accent on the show because she was from Mexico and couldn’t speak English.”

But despite the criticisms and low ratings, Alonzo’s show still managed to positively impact the community.

“I’ve also gotten messages from people that told me how much my show inspired them to do something with their lives. People told me that they decided to go to college for the first time, others told me that they’re going back to school.” she wrote. “I have to admit, I cried at some of those messages...If these people made these changes because of Cristela, then the show has served its purpose.”

Alonzo’s challenge is part of the constant struggle to create television that reflects the racial diversity of America without amplifying its problems with stereotyping and prejudice. Maybe the upcoming Fall 2015 network series will rise to the challenge, have stellar ratings and spur the creation of more Latino-focused programs in mainstream media--effectively bridging the Latino Media Gap.

Then again, maybe it’s safer to hold our breath until the premieres.

Aurora de Peralta is an Education & Youth Leadership Intern at the LULAC National Office in Washington, D.C. She graduated from American University in May 2015 with a degree in Spanish and Print Journalism, where she regularly wrote pieces aimed at improving racial representation in media.

Pushing for Change Through Community Action

Posted on 08/06/2015 @ 07:45 PM

Tags: Education, Civic Participation, Advocacy

By: Samantha Preciado, Policy and Legislation Intern, LULAC National

Did you know that there are more than 1.2 million homeless children and youth attending public schools in the United States? In fact, according to the National Center for Homeless Education there were 259,656 homeless students in California during the 2012-2013 school year. The number of homeless children in the past couple of years has skyrocketed not only in California, but also across the nation. With the 2015 fall school year fast-approaching, our communities must get involved to ensure these students are prepared for a successful academic year.

Operation Backpack is one of the many different volunteer programs that you can get involved in to help homeless families and children. The annual community involvement program is dedicated to helping kids start their school year prepared, with all the new school supplies necessary to ensure educational success. Operation Backpack volunteers assemble brand new backpacks and donate school supplies to kids ranging in grade levels from pre-K to high school seniors. The program encourages contributors to host backpack drives at churches, schools, offices and other institutions to help collect backpacks and supplies for those who cannot afford them. By hosting a drive, more individuals are given the opportunity to donate supplies, making this program a true community effort.

This is the second year my family and I have been involved with Operation Backpack through UC Davis Medical Center in California where my mother works. Last year, my mother’s work hosted a backpack drive that resulted in the donation of over 40 backpacks just from our family alone. My sister, brother, mother and I assembled 15 backpacks and even more were donated by our friends and extended family.

We advertised the backpack drive to our extended family and friends through Facebook, Instagram and text messages, receiving a great response from many people who were more than happy to help contribute supplies and backpacks. The feedback we received from our family and friends was so overwhelmingly supportive, that we had people dropping off backpacks on our doorstep.

Part of LULAC’s mission is to advance the educational attainment of the Hispanic population, and as an intern at the LULAC National Office, I learned there are many different ways to do this. While policies are important to addressing systemic issues in the educational system, we also need community efforts to remedy some of the disparities we see on the local level. There are many programs that can help homeless kids across the United States, like Operation Backpack, that can make a difference in a student’s educational outcome whether in kindergarten or high school. This issue affects more than one million kids and families across the nation, and I encourage the community to help more children by giving them the necessary tools to ensure success in the classroom and beyond.

Samantha Preciado is a Policy and Legislation Intern at the LULAC National Office in Washington, D.C. She is currently working towards getting a Master's in Political Science and Government from California State University-Northridge.

Engaging in Conversations about Mental Health

Posted on 08/04/2015 @ 07:45 PM

Tags: Education, Health

By: Rebecca Toro Condori, Corporate Relations and Development Intern, LULAC National

Growing up in a Latino household, I noticed that various cultural and ethnic factors exist that influence the perceptions of mental health in our community. Coming from a family of Bolivian immigrants, I often noticed the stigma associated with mental health and the lack of knowledge among Latino families on how to adequately address these issues.

The National Resource Center for Hispanic Mental Health has found that Latinos are at a high risk for depression, substance abuse and anxiety and that 1 in 7 Hispanics have attempted suicide. According to the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, suicide is the third leading cause of death for Latino males 18-34.

Within the Latino community, most symptoms of depression are overlooked as simply nervios (nerves), tiredness, physical weakness, or--when talking about youth-- it is simply a phase that they will grow out of. Many of my parents’ Latino friends would belittle psychologists and psychiatrists, saying that they weren’t real doctors or that they would not provide any "real" help.

Even though this problem may be dismissed as minor issues by Latinos, the facts say otherwise, and the stressors that could lead to depression and other mental health issues are numerous.

During the time of the recession, the service industry was hit hard, with thousands of people losing their jobs. With Latinos making up a sizeable portion of the service industry, this resulted in a hard, stressful time period for the Latino community. The 2008 Emotional Health Index (EHI), created by disease management companies Gallop and Healthways, showed that the Hispanic population had the worst emotional health compared to other races.

Latinos work hard to maintain good financial standing in order to take care of their families. When the recession hit, they felt shame and ultimately blamed themselves for their financial troubles. During this time period, my family foreclosed on our home because my father couldn’t keep up with the monthly payments since the construction industry was slow. I could feel the pressure he was experiencing, see his anxiety, and heard many arguments between my parents due to the financial stress.

Another prime stressor for Latino families can be the cultural adaptations that come through immigrating to a new country. When Hispanics learn to adapt to living in the U.S., their traditional values and beliefs often clash with a completely new culture. Others face language barriers and the emotional stress that comes with an insecure immigration status. Knowing that you are at risk of deportation and the sense of helplessness that accompanies it can quickly spiral into depression. Immigration raids can traumatize both parents and children, even if the children were born in the U.S. Many of my childhood friends lived each day in various states of fear and stress, fearing that they would be separated from their loved ones and placed in the foster care system because their parents and/or siblings were undocumented.

It is also difficult for Hispanic youth to cope with being caught in the middle of American culture and the values from home that their parents have taught them. These youth may also face discrimination and marginalization due to struggling to live within two distinct cultures. As a child, I was somewhat oblivious to the fact that I was Bolivian. Being born in the US and spending most of my time at school--my first language was English--I never embraced my heritage until I was much older. When I was in the 6th grade, one of my classmates blatantly told me I wasn’t American. I told him otherwise, but he continued degrading me as if I was less than he was. I simply ignored him, but others may not overcome this ridicule so easily.

Hispanic youth also face other stressful factors such as graduating and attending college. The difficulty of course work and maintaining decent grades alone can cause some to sink into depression. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s youth risk survey found that Latino youth were at a higher risk of “feeling sad or hopeless (36.3%), to seriously consider suicide (15.9%), and to attempt suicide (10.2%) than white (26.2%, 14.0%, and 5.6%, respectively) and African American (29.2%, 13.2%, and 7.7%) youth”.

During my four years of high school, six students committed suicide. Seeing the halls filled with students crying and having to close off the library to counseling was saddening. Knowing that one of your own classmates would not be sitting in their seat the next day was a strange feeling. The impact on the morale of our community was extensive.

In recognition of Minority Mental Health Month last month, it’s important that we encourage more constructive conversations about mental health in minority communities. With the suicide rate being the tenth leading cause of death and depression affecting 20%-25% of those above the age of 18, this is not an issue to take lightly. Although there are several stressors and situations that Latinos must deal with and overcome, asking for help or informing someone of your thoughts and feelings can be tremendously helpful. No one wants to lose a loved one due to suicide, especially with the variety of different treatment methods we have at our disposal.

Rebecca Toro Condori is currently a Corporate Relations and Development Intern at the LULAC National Office in Washington, D.C. Rebecca will enter her sophomore year this upcoming fall at Virginia Tech with majors in Marketing and Finance. After graduating, she hopes to go into a career that focuses on multicultural marketing or international economic development.