Stereotypes of Hispanic and Latino Americans

Stereotypes Of Hispanic And Latino Americans

Stereotypical representations of Hispanic and Latino Americans are often manifested in United States mass media, literature, theater and other creative expressions, with very real repercussions for the group in daily interactions and in current events.

White U.S. Hispanics and Latinos, Asian U.S. Hispanics and Latinos, and Black U.S. Hispanics and Latinos are often overlooked in the U.S. mass media and in general American social perceptions, where being "Hispanic or Latino" is often incorrectly given a racial value, usually mixed-race, such as Mestizo or Mulatto, but it is actually an ethnic grouping comprising many different races while, in turn, mixed-race and white U.S. Hispanics and Latinos are overrepresented and admired in the U.S. Hispanic mass media and social perceptions. If white U.S. Hispanics and Latinos are to be considered Hispanics/Latinos, they possess typical Southern European features. Latinos in general are often depicted as all being part of one homogeneous cultural or ethnic group and/or having no defining characteristics; if a country of origin is specified, it is almost invariably either Mexico or Puerto Rico, regardless of whence the individual or group in question actually hails.

Spaniards and Americans of Spanish blood are often overlooked in the U.S. mass media and in general American social perceptions as separate from whites and Europeans because perceptions of Anglo-American society towards Southern Europeans (e.g. Italians), including Spaniards, were not considered white, they are mostly categorized as Latin Americans and Latino Americans despite being racially white and that U.S. social perceptions of Hispanic and Latino Americans is that of mixed races usually Mestizo or Mulatto.