Stereotypes Of Latinos

Stereotypical Images of Minority Groups in the Contemporary Media
Visual media, especially television, are powerful sources of information that help us understand ourselves and others in society. They define what normal and acceptable behaviors are. They tell us who are to be admired and who are to be ridiculed. They teach us who are of a higher status and who are of a lower status. Throughout history minority groups have faced prejudice and racism. Even today’s media is biased toward minorities. Every day it is easy to see that racial and ethnic stereotypes still dominate much of reporting today. On television shows and films, African-Americans, and Latinos are shown in stereotypical ways. These media stereotypes penetrate American audiences,

Latinos have not only been portrayed negatively through stereotypes, but they have also been largely ignored and excluded from most American Media. However, nowadays there is more representation of Latinos on television screen than there has been in recent years. Hispanics are likely to find familiar faces on nearly every network. Yet, Latinos continue to be bound by stereotypical roles, prejudice and racism in the American media. Latinos remain playing the role of forgivable housewife, cold-blooded and calculating drug dealers, and seductive housemaids. But more often, some of the negative stereotypes are that Latinos are welfare recipients, have too many children, are less educated, and take away jobs from Americans. In fact, crime, immigration, and welfare are themes that reinforce the assumption that Latinos represent a big problem for the American culture. These negatively portrayals, while they obviously aren’t representative of the entire community, are first impressions to members who are not personally familiar with the Latino community. Consequently, they are more likely to believe in these negative

We can clearly observe how in television shows and films, African Americans are generally viewed as house cleaners or postal workers. In addition, media often portrayed African Americans in occupational roles, such as a servant, a crook, a cook, a musician, an athlete, or a corrupt individual. Moreover, researches have shown that media, such as television and the internet can affect viewer’s thoughts and actions (Frisby 2015). Frisby found that media stories about African Americans athletes focus primarily on criminal actions while stories about white athletes are overwhelmingly positive. According to Frisby, about 66 percent of the crime stories involved black athletes while only 22 percent involved white athletes. More than 70 percent of domestic violence stories involved black athletes and only 17 percent involved white athletes. Frisby said. "Not only does negative media coverage serve to legitimize social power inequalities, but also it is likely to undermine black athletes' achievements and contribute to stereotype threat." These stereotypes represent harm to our society because due to the fact that minority groups are discriminated against, they are held back, and tend to not succeed in this country due to unfair