How Our Own Media Outlets Fail to Represent Our Diversity

 Colorism is not an issue that comes as new to most of us. We see it, not only in our nation, but across the world. Specifically, it is a big issue within the Latinx community. 

In addition to this class, I am also taking a Latino Literature class this semester. I've noticed that some of the topics we've touched on here line up with some that are highlighted in the literature we read.

One of our texts spoke on the fact there is this misconception in a lot of Latinx households that racism is only a problem of the United States and is not at all present in their home countries. That, as we come to see, is definitely not the case. 

It is not at all uncommon to hear a grandma address their grandchild as "negrit@" simply due to their darker complexity. Though this is dismissed as a "sweet" way to address your family members or that "they know I'm just messing with them", it is the foundation of colorism we see introduced within one's own home. How can we expect to build a more progressive, unified society when the very causes of the issue are not being addressed at home?

Connecting back to the material we have learned, the lack of ethnic and sexual representation in telenovelas was the subject of one of our lessons. We see very few black characters in Latin American telenovelas despite Latin America being made up of such diverse appearances. Additionally, the few times that we do see a black character, they are usually in a lower status, such as a maid or chauffeur: Xica Da Silva is one of the few black, female protagonists we see. This flaw, in turn, only promotes the coloristic idea that lighter complexities are above darker complexities. 

With telenovelas and Latin media in general holding such a large audience, it would be a prime place to showcase the amount of diversity that exists within Latin America, not just in relation to skin colors, but also culturally: it would be a great way to educate the audience and is yet not used to a progressive advantage. 

Not only that, but it must be hard to not see someone that looks like you in a culture you claim as your own. Telenovelas were a big part of my childhood, and I couldn’t imagine the kind of left out feeling that comes as a result of this misrepresentation.