2024 in Retrospect: Latinx Representation Matters Year-Round

Hispanic Heritage Month has long ended and as 2024 draws to a close, we’re left to reflect on how once again, our share of visibility in media and beyond is dwindling. It is all too convenient for companies to dedicate one month of visibility and pandering to our community when it’s trendy only to then avoid any real attempts at actually diversifying representation and meaningfully engaging with our community the rest of the year. All too often entire industries are quick to cash in on us, but reluctant to step up for us. They want our hard earned dollars, but are not willing to put in the work to earn them the other 335 days a year. Hispanic Heritage Month marks nearly the only time of year you will see our entrepreneurs, industry leaders, actors, creatives, authors etc highlighted at large. Entire categories are devoted to us on streaming platforms, numerous panel and speaking opportunities are offered to our leaders and public figures, only for us to be left voiceless once again when the month ends.

Why should these opportunities end when Hispanic Heritage Month does? Our contributions to society and the culture at large should continue to be celebrated year-round. Why shouldn’t our talent and contributions throughout the year be highlighted in December or our entrepreneurial stories celebrated on any random day of the year? Our stories exist beyond those 30 days that corporations and industries have relegated us to. We continue to exist and thrive beyond Hispanic Heritage Month and it’s time they stop trying to push us into the background while we continue to be at the forefront of the financial growth of this country.

The truth of the matter is that we are invisible until it is deemed financially convenient for others to see us. And if that’s the case, then we hold the power. We just collectively have not realized it yet.

According to the 2020 census, Latinxs made up approximately 20 percent of the U.S. population. We account for 51 percent of all new population growth. Meaning it is only a matter of time before this “minority” becomes the majority. As this country becomes more diverse, so too does the consumer base. As our buying power increases, so should our representation. People want to see themselves reflected in advertising, on screen and across popular culture and yet, when it comes to representation in media, we are lagging behind.

A 2023 study by the Latino Donor Collaborative found that Latinx representation in Hollywood is declining. In fact, more and more Latinx’s are turning to Youtube and Tiktok for entertainment from Latinx creatives. People seek representation and when it can’t be found in the mainstream, we will take our money and eyeballs elsewhere. Decades of Hollywood gatekeeping has resulted in a massive audience turning to other platforms to find themselves reflected in the media they choose to consume.

Social media has provided our community with a huge opportunity to create and share our stories because the only barriers to creating content are a valid email address and cell phone, not out of touch studio executives afraid of creating content that actually represents the rich cultural diversity of the world we live in. When the power to create content for us is literally in our hands, the Latinx community as a whole flocks to consume it and support our own.

And yet, the entertainment industry is still reluctant to provide us with accurate representation and continues to leave us largely ignored. They would rather leave money on the table than give us a seat at it when the fact of the matter is that our money helped position them where they are today.

The results of this year’s Latino Donor Collaborative’s report on Latinos in Media isn’t much better. The study found that although we make up 24 percent of movie ticket sales and streaming subscriptions, only 10 percent of main cast roles are played by Latinx actors. Latinx representation in scripted shows is abysmal with Latinx representation at just 9.8 percent, giving us the lowest representation among all groups compared to our share of the population. We make up 1/5th of the United states population but are less than 1/10th of the representation on scripted TV? The math ain’t mathing.

How can we make up 40 percent of the audience for blockbusters but we aren’t reflected as the heroes on screen? Why is it that films with Latinx actors in key roles perform better at the global box office than other films, but we still aren’t hired to write the scripts, direct the stories and play the parts on screen? The entertainment industry is missing out on billions of dollars annually all because they refuse to properly engage with our community and represent us both on camera and behind the scenes.

Latinx purchasing power reached $3.4 trillion in 2021 and will only continue to grow with time. How is it that as our purchasing power grows, as we continue to contribute more money to the economy, that our representation in the media shrinks? And why is it that every single Hispanic Heritage Month, it is always the exact same group of Latinx public figures being engaged with in the media and by corporate America as if they are the only representatives of our community? We are not a monolith. We are a rich collection of cultures, in all colors, shapes and sizes but you would never know that based off of the way that mainstream media and corporate America present us.

All of our stories deserve to be shared and not just that, they deserve to be shared by us. Just like our contributions deserve to be highlighted year-round and not just once a year. We are industry leaders and disruptors, the creatives and the consumers. We are people who are underrepresented and unappreciated who are constantly expected to show up and spend our dollars for those who refuse to step up and invest in us. It’s long overdue for this one-sided arrangement to come to an end. Representation matters and so do we. Our voices, our stories, our community matters 365 days a year and it’s time for the media and corporations to act like it or risk getting left behind.