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Homero Trevino

Dr. Kevin Lindberg

English 1302

4/19/22

Representation for Races

In current day media, there is a great amount of ethnically diverse people. These

different races have all been affected by oppression in some way, shape, or form and even

stereotyping. Looking into the Hispanic, Asian, and African American communities and the

power they have on the media can help young people feel recognized. In shows and movies like

George Lopez, Black Panther, and Crazy Rich Asians all told the life of a different races and

how they live their authentic life. With these shows, they can better help educate these

communities in to getting the representation they deserve.

Hispanic Community

For instance, in the Hispanic community, many different types of cultures fall into this:

Mexicans, Cubans, Salvadorans, and many other Spanish-speaking countries. One of the most

famous shows showing a Latino family is George Lopez. This was one of the first shows where

a Latin group were not seen as criminals, gang members, or drug dealers. This show gave

recognition to Latinos that other programs did not want to give them. George Lopez was the one

who wanted to create a show where a Latin family was just like any other family. As Lopez was

doing standup comedy in the 1990s, he wanted a television show like Seinfeld. It was not until

2000, that Sandra Bullock saw one of his performances and was interested to make a show with
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him in it. "The George Lopez Show was seen as an attempt from ABC to diversify their

programming, while still appealing to the widest possible audience.[9] ABC executives were

hopeful that Lopez's humor and relatability would draw a large family audience, focusing on

marketing the series as much as possible." (The Washington Post, 2002). The main point of this

show was to show diversity to a community that was seen in a negative light.

Furthermore, many of the shows today depict the real-life some Hispanics face like On

my Block, this shows is about a Latino group of friends living in the dangers of south-Central Los

Angeles. It shows gang violence and the troubles they might get into. While other shows show

them as a lovable family-like One Day at a Time. This shows a Cuban family living in LA. In

this show, they talk about real issues that many Hispanic people face. For example, they talk

about racism and how they, people who are not white, must learn how to deal with people like

them. According to Variety "7% of films in 2019 feature a Hispanic co-lead character, 3.5% in

the past 13 years, 5% were the lead, and only 6 Afro-Latinos worked as lead/co-lead in the 13-

year time frame." This explains that there is very little representation of Hispanic communities in

television shows or in movies that need to be higher than what it is. Many shows or movies is a

way for people, more importantly, kids, to relate to. If these kids, see someone who resembles

them in any type of way it will only have a positive effect on them. These kids will think that

since they look like them, they too can become successful and be just like their role model.

Representation can help inform people about their culture or way of life to get a better

understanding of how they live. Representation is only a stepping-stone to having more diverse

people in the media, although some representations do not show the way many people want them

to be seen. They need to be depicted as any other normal person that is not a typical drug dealer,

gang lord, or criminal. Many of these shows will only better help young people get more in touch
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with their culture and feel representation. With a variety of different genres of shows each having

to face different and difficult struggles can better help young people out in the future.

African American Community

Likewise, the African American community has suffered many hate crimes in these

recent years following the death of George Floyd and has only encouraged stereotyping. With

people calling them drug dealers, homewreckers, and many other hurtful things. "African

American men are perceived by stereotype as strong but intellectually dull: "dumb Black." (Hall,

2001). Most African American men are seen as unintelligent and do not like to do work.

However, one of the most famous leading African American movies broke these stereotypes,

Black Panther. This movie was the first-ever one to show a black superhero as the leading actor.

He took a stand and did not portray African Americans as "aggressive, unintelligent, or lazy."

(Taylor, Guy-Walls, Wilkerson, & Addae, 2019). He portrayed Black Panther as any other hero,

like Iron Man or Spiderman. This movie was the biggest and most needed movie for this

community. In an interview done with Jimmy Fallon, he brought up many African Americans

who all said they felt represented with this movie. They were happy that their kids have an

important role model that looks like them. “Most importantly as the Black Panther, King

T’Challa, Boseman gave American children their first Black superhero in a major motion

picture,” says Elizabeth Wellington

Moreover, with the growth of their representation in the media also comes some negative

stereotypes that can causes even more backlash to these communities. "The stereotype that

African Americans lack a work ethic is crucial to understanding opposition to welfare." (Van

Doorn, 2015). This community faces racism that other races have not felt to their extent. In most

recent shows Black-ish shows an African American family that is like any other family. They
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depict a nice and happy family unlike shows in the past that show them in a way many people

think they live. With this show kids can see their family and imagine that they are alike. In other

shows, Everybody Hates Chris, depict a stereotypical family. This can be the representation for

kids who show similar problems that they might face. Other shows like Batwomen show a black

female superhero that faces many issues that can be seen as helpful to many black kids. They can

see her and see that some of the struggles she faces can be accomplished and can overcome any

obstacle. Kids today need representation that shows that any family no matter their background

can be successful. Many of them learn is by seeing how other people deal with life. If they depict

them and all the struggles, they will face like racism can only educate them on how to avoid or

do something about it. These shows all have one thing in common, they are the representation

that these kids need. They can be educated and be seen by their community. They can grow and

show their kids and get the representation they need and deserve.

Asian community

Similarly, in recent years where Asian people have been stereotyped thanks to the

Covid19 pandemic. They were seen as disease bringers and filled with overall hatred. Some of

these harmful assumptions include; if they know anyone with a certain last name, good at math,

do you eat dogs and other hurtful stereotypes (TeenVogue). Many shows and movies denounce

these or embraced it, like in the movie Crazy Rich Asians. This movie was groundbreaking for

many Asian people. With this movie been fully made by other Asian people gave their

community the representation they needed. Asian kids who saw this movie got to feel seen when

they saw it. It should how Asian lived their life and some racism that they faced that some could

relate to. “Though the number of female Asian characters represented in the media, especially

television, is miniscule…” (Brooks and Herbert, 2006). This movie broke that border with
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having a majority of Asian women and most of which were the main characters. With this movie

having a female lead that is not a servant to her husband, gives an image to girls saying that they

do not need a man to be happy.

Additionally, with other shows like Fresh of the Boat shows an Asian American family

dealing with life. When they found out about this show “the Asian American community

collectively went wild.” (Yang, 2020). They were happy to hear that they were finally getting

the recognition they deserved. In an article done by Michelle Yang on Shondaland, she talks

about how her and other Asians were happy to watch the premier of this show. “Fresh Off the

Boat's potential to herald a new era of Asian American representation in entertainment left me

breathless.” Says Tria Chang. This show gave them the representation that they waited so long

for. This was well needed to kids can look on their television screen and see that it is great to be

a different race then others.

Conclusion

Overall, as seen many minorities face many different types of hate crimes that make it

harder for them to have equality. Where Hispanics, African Americans, and Asians have gotten

the representation they deserve. Thanks to shows and movies like George Lopez, Black Panther,

and Crazy Rich Asians, all made it only a step closer to have representation for all the other types

of races. With help from the media can better help kids feel seen and heard. Representation is a

big issue many minorities need today to have someone to look up to and know they can be

successful.
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References:

Abrams, Zara. “Countering stereotypes about Asian Americans”. American Psychological

Association. December 1, 2019. https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/12/countering-

stereotypes

Brooks, Dwight E. and Herbert, Lisa P. “Gender, Race, and Media Representation”. Sagepub.

June 11, 2006. http://www.sagepub.co.in/files/upm-binaries/11715_Chapter16.pdf

Calvo, Dana. “George Lopez”. The Washington Post. April 14, 2002.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/2002/04/14/george-

lopez/a227e5f2-ec9b-495c-9159-2549c6ca1c1b/

Charles Ramírez Berg (1990) Stereotyping in films in general and of the Hispanic in particular,

Howard Journal of Communications, 2:3, 286-300, DOI: 10.1080/10646179009359721

Davis, Clayton. “New Study on Latinos in Leading Roles and Speaking Parts Offers Little to

Celebrate for Hispanic Heritage Month”. Variety. Sep. 15, 2021.

https://variety.com/2021/film/news/latino-study-hispanic-roles-hollywood-1235064878/

Fallon, Jimmy. [ The Tonight Show Staring Jimmy Fallon]. (Feb 28, 2018).

Chadwick Boseman Surprises Black Panther Fans While They Thank

Him. [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=expKmfdoo28

“Hispanics in the Media.” Films On Demand, Films Media Group, 1994,

fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=97984&xtid=7991. Accessed 12 Apr. 2022.

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Hall, Ronald E. “The Ball curve: Calculated races and the stereotypes of African American

men”. Sage Publications. Sep 2001. Issue 1. https://scholar.google.com/citations?

view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=lfBeq7

8AAAAJ&citation_for_view=lfBeq78AAAAJ:isC4tDSrTZIC

Lee, Christa J. “10 Things Your Asian Friends Are Tired of Hearing”. TeenVogue. November

25, 2015. https://www.teenvogue.com/story/annoying-asian-stereotypes

Mendez, Lola. “Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month With These 30 Must-Stream Shows

Featuring Latinx Characters and Storylines”. Parade. Sept. 23, 2021.

https://parade.com/1062072/lolamendez/best-latinx-tv-shows/

Taylor, E., Guy-Walls, P., Wilkerson, P. et al. The Historical Perspectives of Stereotypes on

African-American Males. J. Hum. Rights Soc. Work 4, 213–225 (2019).

https://doi.org/10.1007/s41134-019-00096-y

Van Doorn, Bas W. “Pre- and Post-Welfare Reform Media Portrayals of Poverty in the

United States: The Continuing Importance of Race and Ethnicity”. Wiley Online

Library. Feb 15, 2015. Vol. 43, Issue 1.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/polp.12107

Yang, Michelle. “As ‘Fresh Off the Boat’ Ends, Asian Americans Reflect on Its Significance”.

Shondaland. February 21, 2020. https://www.shondaland.com/inspire/a31024430/fresh-

off-the-boat-finale/

Wellington, Elizabeth. “The Philadelphia Inquire”, Chadwick Boseman brought Black

superheroes to life and died like one | Elizabeth Wellington, (Aug 29, 2020).
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https://www.inquirer.com/columnists/chadwick-boseman-black-panther-dies-colon-

cancer-20200829.html