Latinos in Media Workshop

During a lecture last week, Dr. Fredrico Subervi, professor and director at the Center for the Study of Latino Media and Markets in Texas, asked a small group of students and faculty to name the first Latino child star that came to mind. Most everyone in the room responded, “Dora the Explorer.” I found it quite disturbing that a cartoon character was the first to come to mind. Dr. Subervi then revealed that the first major motion picture starring a Latino child, playing a Latino child, was Spy Kids. Alexa Vega played Carmen Cortez. This dumbfounded me because, I thought said movie would be older; I remembered going to see Spy Kids when it came out in 2001.

Dr. Subervi used this question to illustrate the point that although Latinos are now the largest minority in the nation, they are still greatly under served. As future media professionals, it is essential for us to understand that every major city in the country now has a significant Latino population. We will have to learn the most effective ways of communicating with that population.

Dr. Subervi shared several statistics with the class. In California, over half of the children born are of Latino decent, which means they cannot be deported. This affects not only voting and electoral patterns in one a state with the highest number of electoral in the country but also advertising in some of the nation’s top markets, Los Angeles.

For me, it was eye-opening  to hear about another ethnic minority’s challenge. So often, African Americans get caught up and begin to think that we are the only minority that suffers discrimination or indignities. Other minorities face similar challenges and have the same battles to fight and win. Maybe, we  should just fight for justice together. As media professionals it is our responsibility to serve all minorities fairly.  Knowledge of the challenge is the first step.