World

Is America out of touch with Latinos?

by urbano411 | September 11, 2007 at 07:22 am

416 views | 12 Recommendations | 4 comments

Mainstream America's understanding of Latinos is explored in Phillip Rodriguez' documentary, “Brown is the New Green: George Lopez and the American Dream,” which airs Thursday, on PBS. The filmmaker brings into question the 'one size fits all' approach towards the Latino community and examines real questions, of the cultural understanding of the mainstream media, regarding the multi-cultural Latino community.

“Americans are in a collective state of confusion about Latinos,” Rodriguez said.

He's not surprised. It starts with terminology. Most Latinos don't call themselves Latino; they are more likely to identify themselves by their country of origin. Hispanic? That's a term the federal government came up with for record keeping.

And it's a myth, Rodriguez said, to consider Latinos a homogenous group.

“What are the commonalities between a member of the Cuban bourgeois who came here in 1959, and a peasant from Michoacan who came here yesterday?” he asked during a phone interview from Los Angeles, where he lives. “Other than language, and maybe Catholicism, I'm not sure there are many.”

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Victoria Revay

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 12:06 on September 11th, 2007

urbano411, you've convinced me you've done the work - it's authentic. I also think that you've been fair and thorough. I didn't get the sense that you were hiding your biases, or passing off other's work as your own. Or worse -- getting paid by those you cover -- so it's transparent and independent. I also think you deserve praise for being an eyewitness, and for your investigative efforts. Good stuff.

Kaitlin

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 12:15 on September 11th, 2007

urbano411, thanks very much for this. I think the one-size-fits-all approach is unhealthy when dealing with any group of people (even in couples--what's good for the goose?). I wonder what position the filmmaker takes on Lopez's standup...he has always struck me as prescribing to that one-size doctrine in his own way. What do you think about Lopez?

urbano411

at 20:28 on September 11th, 2007

Lopez is an American. He's a Latino. He's a Mexican. He is the essence of the view from the bottom workin' up. Our differences as Latinos are in our nuances. It's little things that gives each of us a different color. Think of a Pollock. Chaos of colors, yet all making one great work of art. Lopez is one of the colors and does a fair job at representing the work of art.