From gang-bangers to Latin lovers, does the media proliferate Latino stereotypes?
With the U.S. population reaching over 300 million last week, the largest minority group in the country continues to be Latinos. Occasions like the Hispanic Heritage Month and the Boston Latino International Film Festival provide an opportunity for the sizeable Latino community to express their perspectives on the American experience, in this case through the lens of cinema. To discuss current portrayals of Latinos in American media and their effect on mainstream social perceptions, the Daily sits down with Antoinette Basualdo-Delmonico, instructor of the ExCollege course “Latinos, Racism, and Media.” Tufts Daily: What does racism mean for Latinos in the United States? How might this racism be expressed in American film and television? Antoinette Basualdo-Delmonico: I think you have to consider that film, television and other forms of media are all some form of institutionalized socialization. We use media to convey messages about what is acceptable, what norms are, what is okay behavi
