Should Latinos Be Regulated In The Media
Should the portrayal of Latinos be regulated in the media?
Anthony Hernández
California State University, Fullerton
The largest and fastest growing minority population in the United States today is commonly referred to as “Latinos,” (Peterson-Iyer, 2008). Latinos are hard working people that come to this country searching for better opportunities. Since the 1946 the Anglo media have been using stereotypes to portray Latinos as a treat to the country. Latinos are often seen as illegal aliens, criminals, terrorist, poor and lazy people. Richard Henry Dana reported in his book that Mexicans in California were too lazy to develop their own lands, he also quoted that, “Nothing but the character of the people prevents Monterey from becoming a great town.” (1949, pg. 83). Also politics use metaphors like “the sleepy giant never woke up,” to depict Latinos lack of intelligence. The government …show more content…
In a control group Latinos held by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists participants were shown a taped compilation of 13 randomly selected Latino-related stories that represented the entire array of topical areas that the networks aired in 2002. In total, participants watched approximately 37 minutes of airtime and were asked in a guided discussion to react to the images and portrayals that they had seen. Latinos in the group thought that their depiction in network news was extremely negative. In the views of New York participants, “Hispanics are poor, we are cheaters, gang members, and rapists.” Another said, “I did not see one positive thing about Latinos.” One New York participant said that the networks “still
Anthony Hernández
California State University, Fullerton
The largest and fastest growing minority population in the United States today is commonly referred to as “Latinos,” (Peterson-Iyer, 2008). Latinos are hard working people that come to this country searching for better opportunities. Since the 1946 the Anglo media have been using stereotypes to portray Latinos as a treat to the country. Latinos are often seen as illegal aliens, criminals, terrorist, poor and lazy people. Richard Henry Dana reported in his book that Mexicans in California were too lazy to develop their own lands, he also quoted that, “Nothing but the character of the people prevents Monterey from becoming a great town.” (1949, pg. 83). Also politics use metaphors like “the sleepy giant never woke up,” to depict Latinos lack of intelligence. The government …show more content…
In a control group Latinos held by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists participants were shown a taped compilation of 13 randomly selected Latino-related stories that represented the entire array of topical areas that the networks aired in 2002. In total, participants watched approximately 37 minutes of airtime and were asked in a guided discussion to react to the images and portrayals that they had seen. Latinos in the group thought that their depiction in network news was extremely negative. In the views of New York participants, “Hispanics are poor, we are cheaters, gang members, and rapists.” Another said, “I did not see one positive thing about Latinos.” One New York participant said that the networks “still