The president of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute discussed the Latinos’ impact on America’s politics and culture and the media’s coverage of the community at the School of Media & Public Affairs Monday.
Marco Davis, an SMPA Terker Distinguished Fellow, discussed misconceptions about the Latino community, its history and its future in the United States. Davis conversed with Barbara Benitez-Curry, a career journalist and assistant professor of media and public affairs. Davis, the former deputy director of educational excellence for Hispanics during former President Barack Obama’s administration, said the institute’s programming works to develop the next generation of Latinos for leadership roles in any field, including politics and the corporate world.
SMPA appointed Davis as a Terker fellow, professionals from media and politics who work with students and participate in the school’s public events, for the 2024-25 academic year, according to the SMPA website.
Davis said media outlets “overwhelmingly omit” stories about Latinos. He said stories that are shared paint the community in a “negative” light, like the false exaggeration of higher rates of Latinos being the perpetrators of violence.
“It’s very understandable then that when someone deliberately then tries to benefit from that negative story and perpetuate that negative perception, it is very well received because people are primed for it,” Davis said.
Davis said it will take a “deliberate effort” to change narratives about Latinos in the media and make more Americans aware of their importance to American society and notable aspects of it, like the economy. The total U.S. Latino economic output surpassed $4 trillion in 2023, which is equivalent to being the world’s fifth-largest economy, according to the UCLA Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture.
“There’s a need to show that, to demonstrate that we are a three-dimensional population, that Latinos occupy all sorts of roles, all sorts of social strata, to change that perception among the general public,” Davis said.
Davis said U.S. Latinos are perceived as a singular community, which overlooks the significant cultural diversity that exists within their population. He said other populations, like white communities, are accepted as more internally diverse with different well-understood cultures throughout the country, but due to the lack of proper media coverage, the idea of diversity in Latino communities is often overlooked.
“The problem is not that someone refuses to believe it. They’ve never heard it, so they simply don’t know,” Davis said. “So there really is no solution other than to tell more stories and explain to people there is that much breadth, there is that much diversity, even within the Latino community.”
He also said Latinos are disproportionately underrepresented in politics because there are not enough people from those communities running for elected office. He said a “negative stereotype” in the media and a disproportionate lack of wealth in the community can make it more difficult for Latino candidates to fundraise for campaigns and ultimately win their elections.
“If you have so many of our population who aren’t of means, then you have a smaller pool of support from which to get those first dollars to make yourself viable as a credible candidate, to get yourself out of the gate,” Davis said.
He said young Latinos should be encouraged to participate in groups where they are a minority because research shows homogeneous groups are less effective than diverse ones. He said groups that are not inclusive of Latinos are “missing a piece of the puzzle” because their perspectives are not included.
“Those folks in the room should be thanking you for being there because you’re saving them from their limited view, from their limited perspective, you’re actually giving them additional data to actually do better, they’re going to be better off from you being there,” Davis said.
He said the younger Latino generation is an “absolutely integral part” of the future of the country as they will make up a large percentage of employed Americans. Davis said despite the current discourse about illegal immigration, 94 percent of Latinos in the country under age 18 were born in the United States, meaning they will be a significant demographic of citizens in the future.
“That’s my point for young people, is that even though society and media, as we just mentioned, may not tell you you’re a part of this society and this culture and this nation, you are unquestionably a part of the future of this nation,” Davis said.
Davis said many of the tensions the country faces right now, like diverging views on immigration and high political polarization, are because many people in the United States are “angry.” He said people need to be more accepting of differences and understand where others’ emotions and pains stem, which will help calm current political anger.
“I would argue the most effective form of democracy is when everyone feels that they can raise their voice and that their voice is being heard,” Davis said.
