Stereotypes In Latino Culture

Society has focus on stereotyping every group based on myths, Ramirez explains how stereotyping can lead to a reality “A primary function of stereotypes, says Richard Dyers, is “to make fast, firm and separate what is in reality fluid” (Ramirez p.16), people tend to just judge the book by its cover before they even read the tile of it. Latinos are being portrayed as the bad, ugly, and the ones who can’t speak the language on the U.S films as Ramirez proves “Yes, there indeed were and are Mexican badits, lazy African Americans and Italian American gangsters. But banditry, laziness and criminality are not culture specific, nor do those qualities represent the group’s complete experience” (Ramirez p.16). It gives a better understanding of the different stereotypes of just not Latinos but other races too. In the film “The Bronze Screen” it elaborates about Latino until this day, they use them as the bad ones

“We all use stereotypes, all the time, without knowing it. We have met the enemy of equality, and the enemy is us,” said Annie Murphy Paul who is a magazine journalist and book author that writes about the biological and social sciences. Stereotypes are a part of everyday life. Every person, young or old, has been labeled with a positive or negative stereotype. They are heard everyday and sometimes label certain groups of people. As Martina Navratilova said, “Labels are for clothing. Labels are not for people.” A lot of time stereotypes don’t fit what they are labeling. They can have a bad effect on people’s emotions, the way people interact with each other and their social lives. A common stereotype of many U.S. citizens is that all Mexican immigrants are criminals and have come to the U.S. illegally; therefore, this stereotype has a bad affect on the way Mexicans and other people think and act.

The stereotype on Latinos el Bandido is based not only on ethnic but also behavioral, where they are deemed violent and antisocial, different nationality, as in not belonging to the North America and psychological where they are associated with alcoholic, prostitution and being unstable. With this stereotype, Hollywood is seen as a perfect example of the filmmaking and professionalism, in a way this demeans the Latinos effort in the film.

Latinos are all illegal immigrants/dangerous thugs who sleep around, do drugs, and break the law, universal generalizations seen in the twenty-first century. Stereotypes have become a method of systematic suppression in America, a way to judge Latino immigrants and their children, to trap them in an endless cycle of misery and discrimination. Michael Dorris perfectly explains negative stereotypes influencing a minority in “Crazy Horse Malt Liquor”. Dorris describes the stereotypical views of Native Americans, and how they have a pattern of being negative, similar to how stereotypes about Latinos tend to be negative. The people of America form opinions based on stereotypes, stereotypes about Latinos that aren’t necessarily true. Stereotypes have become part of a system;Hollywood exploits them and then used as a form of judgment, which harms both the physical and mental health of both Latino immigrants and Latino citizens.

I love whenever President Trump says something about Mexicans in any of his speeches. Taken from “Fear and Latino Stereotypes on the Campaign Trail” on Media Education Foundation, one such amazing quote is from Trump’s presidential announcement speech, in which he states that Mexico is “sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems [to] us. They’re bringing drugs, They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.” I feel like I fall short of these views Trump has on Mexicans, but also as a Mexican American in general. Apparently, the correct way to view any Mexican man is to go by the fact that we are criminals.

Culture is according to Zimmermann (2015), “the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts”. One culture that I am not affiliated with and did not grow up in is the Hispanic/Latino culture. Today, this culture is one of the fastest-growing cultures in the United States of America (“Understanding the Hispanic/Latino,” n.d.).

The works of Nancy Foner and other scholars inform readers that, during the 1880-1920 and 1965-present waves of immigration to New York City, new immigrant arrivals have assimilated into New York life through collective and divergent histories of ascribed stereotypes and achieved identities. Many so-called native New Yorkers, usually people of Northern European ancestry whose local roots have spanned several generations, have labeled newcomers mostly from Southern and Eastern Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa with a range of positive and negative stereotypes. Such ascribed stereotypes have both privileged and disadvantaged immigrant groups. Immigrants belonging to certain nationalities and ethnicities with cultural practices

As we have read in Healey’s (2011) textbook, the term “Hispanic” has been used to describe all different kinds of minority races, such as, Puerto Ricans and Cubans , etc., under the same token (pg. 318). The government identifies Mexican Americans and other minority races that have similarities in both appearance and cultural characteristics under one term (Healey, 2011, pg. 318). This causes the perception that they are all the same, taking away the individualistic origins of their place, culture, beliefs, etc. Most of all, this classifies false/mistaken assumptions that they are all immigrants, poor and same language speaking individuals, damaging each race’s individuality. Socially, the term Hispanic technically only classifies groups as

This article begins by reviewing the literature highlighting the ways crime news typically reinforces stereotypes of blacks and other nonwhites, particularly Latinos, and contributes to more generalized racial biases. Media stereotypes consist of recurring messages that associate persons of color with traits, behaviors, and values generally considered undesirable, inferior, or dangerous. In terms of speaking about crime coverage, there is considerable evidence that media portray blacks and Latinos as criminal and violent. These images matter because they are a central component in the on going cycle by which the media adds racial and ethnic misunderstanding and negative associations are reproduced, and end up in predictable influences in the criminal-justice process.

In recent years, talking animals have been an entertainment for children and parents to enjoy, but this pleasure has shown some concern of what these animals portray in films. American films and television displays stereotypical representation of minorities on screen, but not only in reality on screen, but as well as animation. Therefore, one of the stereotypical representations is Chicanos and their connection with Chihuahuas.

The reality is that these people who are quick to judge, do not know the real situation. Author Michael Fuoco addresses this issue, he notes, “The Hispanic homicide victimization rate declined by 5.8 homicides per 100,000 Hispanics - from 12.4 homicide victims per 100,000 Hispanics in 1990 to 6.6 in 2010, for a 47 percent decrease” (Fuoco, par.9). The truth is, many public figures use violent words to describe immigrants, but since the first wave of Hispanics, in the 1900s. The alien population entering the United States has shown improvement in both; working statistics and crime rate.

Mexican is a race and people, so what’s the right answer? The answer varies depending on the person answering the question. A question you might be asking yourself is what is a stereotype? For you that don’t know a stereotype is a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.

Food is one of the greatest characteristics that defines where someone comes from. It’s how people bring a “piece of home” with them to the United States. For instance, the stereotypes that people have on Mexican food is outrageous, people think that burritos and tacos are all they have to offer. As more restaurants began to open up, Mexican food became part of the US. There are foods that have been around for so long that they aren’t considered part of a culture anymore, “These days... sales of tortilla chips trump potato chips; and tacos and burritos have become so ubiquitously “American,” most people don’t even consider them ethnic.” (Laboy). It’s important that latin foods are incorporated into the country, but once they’re incorporated

Although some people argue for the legalization of drugs, addiction to these substances has caused a huge increase in violent crimes in the home, at school, and on the street. Many people do not understand why individuals become addicted to drugs or how drugs change the brain to create compulsive drug abuse. They mistakenly view drug abuse and addiction as strictly a social problem and may characterize those who take drugs as morally weak. One very common belief is that drug abusers should be able to just stop taking drugs if they are only willing to change their behavior. This is a false and uneducated belief. Drug abuse may start as a social problem or social escape but one the addiction has taken ahold of a person

It has been observed that drugs and violence are closely interconnected. Where there is abuse of drugs, violence automatically creeps in in various forms. According to a study, 35% of methamphetamine users in the age group of 18-25 years in Los Angeles were involved in violence while under the influence of the drug.