Latinos account for only 6% of all roles across the top U.S. broadcast series, despite making up nearly 20% of the country’s total population.
The data comes from a new study by ¡Pa’lante!, a Latino representation initiative from the USC Norman Lear Center, that examines the status and cultural impact of Latino representation in entertainment.
Released Jan. 28, its latest study, titled “Between Stereotypes & Specificity,” takes a closer look at how Latinos are depicted across the top 20 scripted broadcast programs in the 2024-2025 season — using a list of scripted TV series created by Variety.
Some of the shows analyzed include CBS’ “Matlock,” ABC’s “Will Trent,” NBC’s “Chicago Fire,” among various others.
Senior researcher Soraya Giaccardi Vargas and her team — which is predominantly made up of Latinos — first looked to sample the top 15 broadcast programs, but due to the severe underrepresentation of Latino characters, the observation count was expanded to 20 shows.
“When I realized that to get to a hundred Latino characters, we would probably have to drop down to the top 40 [shows], that [was] really disappointing,” says Giaccardi Vargas, who hopes to set new norms and standards with how Latino entertainment research is conducted.
The new study not only underscores the dearth of Latino representation, but also how the community is portrayed on the TV screen.
Criminality emerged as a common theme across these Latino characters, with 1 in 4 Latino characters depicted as career criminals. In reviewing the wealthy Latino roles, a majority of them were portraying drug lords or traffickers. This has been an ongoing issue for a narco-and-cartel-obsessed Hollywood, which some critics and scholars believe proliferated negative stereotypes about the community as a whole.
“It’s really frightening, especially right now, given that it is one of the narratives that is being pushed on us about the Latino community,” adds Giaccardi Vargas. She grew up in Texas by way of Mexico City, but never saw her identity represented on the TV screen — inciting an early interest in what stories are being told about Latinos and by whom.
Researchers also looked into shows that took place in Los Angeles, where nearly half of the population is Latino. “This [question] was inspired by someone on my team who made a passing comment about how at the very least, if your show takes place in Los Angeles, you should have Latinos,” says Giaccardi Vargas.
While the number of Latino characters in L.A. shows rose to 10%, it still fell well under the national (20%) and citywide population (48%), according to the report.
“On a surface level it looks like [L.A. shows are doing it right] … but when you factor in population size, it’s still pretty abysmal underrepresentation,” says Giaccardi Vargas. “This is Los Angeles where Latinos make up 48% of the population, where Latino culture is a huge part of L.A. and it’s really stunning to see that, even in stories told about L.A., Latinos are frequently missing.”
A major goal of the ¡Pa’lante! resource hub is also to disaggregate data around Latino communities that are often clumped together, despite encompassing a wide range of countries, cultures and languages.
The study found that the heritage of Latinos was often not specified in these 20 shows, except for 26% of the Latino characters, the majority of whom were Mexican.
¡Pa’lante! researchers also utilized the Yadon-Ostfeld skin-color scale (a tool used by PEW research to measure self-assessed skin tone) and found that a majority of Latino characters had a medium or light complexion, with only 3 of the 69 characters identified as having dark skin tones.
“As a Latina myself, I know that colorism is an issue, not just in our community but in a lot of historically marginalized communities,” says Giaccardi Vargas. “We’re not seeing a lot of Latinos with dark skin tones, we’re not seeing a lot of Afro-Latinos, and that is a problem because it flattens the diversity of our communities.”
Latino representation in the media has been a buzzy topic as of late.
Last week, the “I Love L.A.” star Odessa A’zion dropped her role as Zoe Gutierrez in the A24 adaptation of “Deep Cuts” after facing online backlash over playing a Mexican character — despite not being Latina herself.
“I think that’s really commendable,” says Giaccardi Vargas of A’zion’s decision to quit the role.
Following the casting debacle, over 100 Latino actors and storytellers signed an open letter to Hollywood calling for more accountability in the industry.
“To me, that shows a respect for Latino voices, one that I hope to see more often in situations like this when Latinos are so severely underrepresented on screen. There’s really very little reason to not be casting Latinos in those roles.”
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