Stereotypes of Hispanic and Latino Americans

Stereotypical representations of Hispanic and Latino Americans can be manifested in United States mass media, literature, theater and other creative expressions.

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.

In 2003, Serafín Méndez-Méndez or Diane Alverio of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists reported the following findings:

EthnicMajority.com, a minority empowerment organization, states: "Who we see, hear and read on television, radio, newspapers, and in movies has a great deal of influence on shaping the attitudes of all Americans. How African, Hispanic (Latino), and Asian Americans are portrayed in these mediums often stereotypes and reinforces negative images of each ethnic group."

Progressive media watch group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) points out that in contrast to the media's over-representation of minorities as criminals and drug users is their under representation as experts and analysts. FAIR's studies in the late 1980s and early 1990s documented that 92% of Nightline's U.S. guests were white, 90% of the NewsHour's guests were white, and 26 out of 27 repeat commentators on National Public Radio over a four-month period were white.

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