Latino stereotypes continue to plague society

While many like to believe that the world has made tremendous strides in putting an end to racism, it is still present in the media. But, are these simply isolated incidents or does the media use these stereotypes to perpetuate an image of a certain group?

In an episode of Judge Judy, both the plaintiffs and defendants are Hispanic. Both cases were related to one incident, in which the group was involved in a drunken fight. Some might argue that this perpetuates the stereotype of a "drunken Mexican,"  but I firmly believe this could have and has happened to every other racial ethnicity. The first set of plaintiffs and defendants were both females. One seemed to be quieter than the other and was either nervous or didn't speak English as well as her adversary. Judge Judy continuously picked on the girl an insulted her intelligence. One thing I found interesting was that Judge Judy did not attack the defendant as much as the plaintiff, but she awarded the plaintiff with $5,000 in settlement money. The defendant had a much lighter complexion than the plaintiff and I think this must be taken into account as well.

In the same episode and in the following case, the plaintiff was a Hispanic woman and the defendant was a Hispanic man. While the previous case showed a great deal of racial stereotypes, this showed some gender stereotypes. While the male defendant was being charged with beating up the female plaintiff, Judge Judy again sided with the defendant and tried to attack the plaintiff. Even when the male defendant spoke out of turn, she didn't scold him as she did the females involved in the case. Judge Judy seemed to favor the lighter-skinned female and the male. However, the entire appeal of Judge Judy's program is that she scolds people who do stupid things. Was it completely random that she scolded the individuals she did or is Judge Judy a closet xenophobe? I think it was the former. Anyone could say that this scenario only strengthens stereotypes of Hispanics, but the same scenario has occurred with any ethnicity.

The two hosts of Top Gear, a UK automotive show, have been pegged as xenophobes after making offensive comments directed at Mexicans and using stereotypes about the race as reasons not to by Mexican-made cars. The host, Richard Hammond, said Mexicans were "lazy, feckless, flatulent and fat." The Mexican ambassador to London Eduardo Medina-More Icaza demanded that Hammond issue an apology after his statement. This is a valid concern on the part of Icaza. The comments blatantly targeted a particular group and insulted them with outrageous remarks. Unlike the case with Judge Judy, in which the scenario could have had any type of ethnicity, Hammond directly targeted Hispanics.


I am fully aware that stereotypes are present in the media I am exposed to every day. However, I don't think these two cases could be considered related. In one instance, it was simply chance that Hispanics were the parties present in the case. They were portrayed as alcoholics and violent, but so is the white male in programs such as Jerry Springer. If the dominant majority perspective is supposed to share these same characteristics, then I don't believe it is a racial stereotype. However, in the case with Hammond, he made regrettable, racist remarks and should issue an apology for them.