Discrimination Against Latinos

Racism has always been the “elephant in the room”: everyone knows it’s there but no one really seems to acknowledge its. It has been affecting Latinos for a very long time now and it is something that people are still trying to fight against today. Latinos have been stereotyped, hated against, and treated badly simply for being of a different race. It seems like the discrimination against them can be seen everywhere. Many had hoped that by now racism would have stopped being a problem but the fact is that it 's still a relevant issue that affects millions of Latinos. While it is evident that racism against the Latino community is still a problem that impacts Latinos negatively, there are many forces that are doing all they can to put a stop

In 1943 the suit zoot riots occurred, this is the event where “a mob of U.S. servicemen took to the streets in taxicabs and began attacking Latinos and stripping them of their suits”. In the local papers it was made seem like the racial attacks were a vigilante respond to an immigrant crime wave and police would mostly only arrest the Latinos who fought back. These riots demonstrates how unfair the law enforcement was to the Latinos being attacked and how badly Latinos were treated by their peers. This type of mistreatment and discrimination towards them was not uncommon In the 1900s, in fact latinos were heavily discriminated against in the 1900s. Schools were segregated and many public establishments would have signs that read “we serve whites only, no spanish or mexicans.” Not only that but they were often punished for speaking their native language in school and they were not given the same learning opportunities as their caucasian classmates. In the workforce Latinos were also mistreated heavily and worked very hard jobs under very poor conditions. The discrimination and mistreatment of Latinos was tough on them and made their lives exceptionally

The way the media portrays Latinos hasn 't been a very good one and it doesn 't seem to be improving much. In the media latinos are represented or stereotyped most commonly as maids, gangbangers, immigrants and drug dealer. None of which are particularly a good way to be portrayed as and “non-Latinos commonly believe many negative stereotypes about Latinos are true.” The way that the media represents Latinos really leaves an impact on the way that the audience will end up viewing them as. If the only way the media portrays Latinos is as negative stereotypes then that 's the way most of the public will see latinos as. According to a study conducted by National Hispanic Media Coalition shows that people who watch entertainment or news programs about Latinos that convey negative images hold the most unfavorable and hostile views” towards them. The study also showed that even the people who are inclined “to hold positive views about Hispanics are adversely influenced when exposed to negative media images.” In addition to this we rarely see Latinos playing a leading role in a film or tv show where we can see them being portrayed positively and even though there are character who are beginning to break the stereotypes there is still a long