Latinos Urge Congress to Pressure Hollywood

As the fall television season prepares to premiere with mostly white characters on mostly white shows, minority leaders are looking to Congress to help integrate the entertainment industry both in front of the camera and behind it.

A group of Latino screenwriters, producers and others--denouncing a striking lack of minority faces and story lines in movies and television programming--want Congress to pressure Hollywood to hire more minority writers, create more positive minority images and diversify casts and crews.

“It’s an oxymoron. Hollywood has done a lot to expose inequity in the system, but in terms of employment behind the scenes, you can count on less than one hand people of color who can green-light a project in Hollywood,” Zara Buggs Taylor, executive administrator for employment diversity at the Writers Guild of America, West, said Monday at a seminar of Latino policy leaders and experts.

Although it is unlikely that Congress would pass legislation forcing Hollywood to hire and portray minorities, activists are urging lawmakers to keep diversity in mind the next time the industry comes calling for political favors.

Several potential playing fields already exist: Some network executives want lawmakers to loosen restrictions on the number of television stations one entity can own. Copyright laws are central to industry profits. And Congress is already targeting Hollywood’s marketing of violence to children.

“Congress can make sure when it’s giving away goodies . . . that there is some consideration given by broadcasters to the diversity of Americans. Put people of color in the picture,” said Moctesuma Esparza, a Latino writer and producer.

It is less likely that congressional influence over Hollywood’s conduct would come from legislation than from public hearings that could shame an industry many believe has failed to hire ethnic writers or diversify casts and crew.

“We’ll see if we can get these [industry] guys to have a religious conversion. Not because they saw the light, but because they felt the heat,” said Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz (D-Texas), who led Monday’s seminar on Latinos in entertainment, part of a two-day meeting on a spectrum of Latino issues organized by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute.

The irony of Hollywood’s white male dominance is hard to overlook, advocates noted: A famously liberal industry is headquartered among the nation’s largest concentration of Latinos, yet it fails to adequately represent them in hiring or programming.

“Hollywood doesn’t want to be embarrassed. It has an historical alliance in Washington, and the extent to which they can be put on the spot with congressional hearings and news coverage puts the issue on the map,” Taylor said. “As long as the issue is buried, it will be ignored.”

Growing Pressure for Ethnic Diversity

Monday’s forum was one of several recent events that served to ratchet up political pressure on Hollywood to reflect positive minority lifestyles and images. Last week, a coalition of groups demanded more ethnic diversity from the four major broadcast television networks, threatening a boycott during the crucial November sweeps month.

Vice President Al Gore decried a lack of Latino images in television and film in a Monday night speech before the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts. And the Congressional Black Caucus is scheduled to take up the industry’s shortage of African American roles and jobs at a forum in Washington this week.

A long-running debate over the industry’s treatment of minorities ignited anew when the fall television lineup of 26 new prime time shows emerged with whites cast as nearly every lead character and nearly all show regulars. Following considerable outrage by minority leaders, at least eight shows have added an ethnic actor to the cast.

And of some 285 new fall writers, only one was Latino, 17 were African American and four were Asian, Latino entertainment leaders reported Monday.

“Executives in charge of the process have made the decision that people of color can’t write white characters, but white writers can write for people of color,” Esparza said.

Many entertainment executives say they appeal to white audiences because diversity doesn’t sell. But activists testifying in Washington counter that one-third of moviegoers are black or Latino. And with demographers projecting that Latinos will account for a quarter of the nation’s population in the next 15 years, activists say it will benefit Hollywood to acknowledge them.

“For the industry to survive long term it needs to represent us and include us,” Esparza said. “We need to help the industry do what is healthy for itself.”

Meeting participants said they will present recommendations to the 20-member Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which will then decide what should be taken to the full Congress. Those recommendations were expected to include:

* A look at areas where the industry seeks government action, such as tax breaks or civil rights protections--presumably to target issues where Congress might bring pressure to bear.

* An examination of whether tax-supported public broadcasting stations sufficiently serve the Latino community.

* Informing state and local Latino elected officials of the exclusion of Latino images in film and television.

* Organizing a round table of industry executives to encourage recruitment programs and mentorships for minorities starting in the business.

Profits aside, the Latino screenwriters and producers also called on entertainment executives to recognize the consequences of overlooking a rapidly growing ethnic group.

“It’s image forming,” said Harry P. Pachon, president of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute in Claremont, who moderated the seminar. “What does it mean to Hispanic youth when they don’t see themselves portrayed on a big or small screen, and when they do, it’s a negative image?”