Photo: Archive / David McNew / Getty Images
By: Stacie de Armas
Wednesday, October 9
Hispanics, America's Greatest Opportunity
Hispanics are the secret to America’s future growth and success. But for a long time, this group has been seen as a single segment. Latinos form a community of limitless diversity, but are strongly united by a shared culture, language, and experiences.
The Latino experience in The United States is often seen as synonymous with the immigrant experience, but the truth is that the majority of Latino youth are not immigrants. Two-thirds were born in the United States and are not considered only Latino or Hispanic. This young supergroup is optimistic about their future and highly values educational achievement and career success. They are bilingual, bicultural, and confident in the contributions they are making to American society. They advocate for important issues like the path to citizenship for Dreamers, demand social justice, and seek to stop the spread of incorrect information about vaccines.
This community consumes media differently, relying heavily on social media and digital applications to get news about their home countries, connect with family and friends, and share information. For example, Cuban Americans were much more engaged with television news covering events taking place on the island this summer compared to the general Hispanic population, and global coverage of issues in Cuba through digital news increased more than 1, 110% in June and July of 2021.
When it comes to inclusion and representation, Hispanics have strong expectations of content creators, media platforms, and brands / advertisers. That’s one of the reasons Hispanics spend 34% of their time on social media platforms. broadcast, offering the greatest variety of content for and by Latinos, compared to 25% of non-Hispanic whites. Hispanics are also demanding more authentic representation in the media, as the 39% say there is no Enough content that includes Hispanics and the 45% say Hispanics are misrepresented. Also, Latinos are paying attention to the brands they advertise on their favorite shows, in fact the 55% say that they are more likely to buy products from brands that are advertised in shows with Latino actors or people.
We all want to see inclusive narratives about creating a place and a home in this country and a celebration of the diversity of Latino identity. That means more representation in the most-watched genres on television, such as comedy, action, adventure, and reality. Those who embrace this and tailor their dialogue to better serve America’s largest untapped demographic are positioned to emerge as winners in the post-pandemic future.
Note: There is a rapidly evolving conversation about the profound differences between the term Latinos (people of Latin American descent) and the term Hispanic (descendants of Spanish-speaking countries). In this opinion piece, Hispanic and Latino are used interchangeably following the US Census guidelines.