Latino Criminal Stereotypes

Mary Romano explains that over time the Latino criminal stereo type has completely strengthened and evolved. The effects of the stereotypes of Latino criminality began after the Mexican American War in the 1840s. The earlier views of the Latino criminality began when Latinos were struggling to keep the land they once owned. After the United States acquired the land from Mexico, the Mexican people had to learn how to go from communal ownership to private ownership of land. The retaliation attempts at the unjust methods that were being used to reorganize the ownership of the land, Latinos built up insurgent movements such as riots and void of political consciousness. Due to the retaliation movements the Latinos used, the construction of Latinos …show more content…
The stereotype went from lawless banditos to gang members quickly. Soon after the Japanese internment camps were dismantled, the focus of Americans shifted towards the Latino group. Latino youth became demonized as violent and relentless. Yet, Latinos tried to become more and more involved in political and civil rights movements. During the demonstrations or other political activity in which Latinos were involved, it was all treated as criminal activity due to the powerful stereotype that has been given to Latinos. As the media and technology become more advanced and readily available to the majority or the population, the strengths of stereotypes of Latino criminality become more noticeable. Companies began using the criminality of Latinos as advertisements for their products. Frito corn chips used the “Frito Bandito” and Taco Bell used “Dinky,” a heavily accented Chihuahua that imitated Che Guevara. Corporations no longer constructed racist caricatured by dressing the human body, the relied on the symbols that put the stereotypes and relied on their audience to understand the message they were trying to …show more content…
Duran, chief of the Foreign Relations Bureau, wrote a report on the Mexican youth that further affected the racism against Mexicans and Mexican Americans. In the report, Duran characterized Mexican people as “having total disregard for human life.” He then went on to state that the “Mexican element” in a person gives the person the desire to use a knife, kill, or let blood. Duran attempts to justify the inequality and oppression the Mexicans face by declaring that because the “Mexican element,” Mexican are unable to understand the “superior” psychology of the Anglo-Saxon. Over the next few years, higher officials in law enforcement and judges were stating more and more racial sayings. When combining the racist statements with the powerful political groups, it gives the average citizen the idea that the racist ideas the people in power have toward Mexicans is valid and alright, which gave them reason to legitimate the