The Latino ‘Market’

I think it is great that NBC is going after the underrepresented Latino market by having a Latino family line on “Passions” and bringing in well-known Latino personalities like Cristina Saralegui onto the show (“A Dramatic Move,” by Dana Calvo, June 25).

Too bad they totally missed the boat in the casting process when they picked Lindsay Korman to play the Latina character Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald. Is this like the TV commercials from the ‘80s? “I’m not a Latina but I play one on TV.” Maybe we should go back to having white actors in blackface.

It disgusts me that NBC chooses to do this when there are hundreds of talented, out-of-work actresses who are in fact Latina, especially when NBC and all of the other networks have been cited for lack of diversity in casting.

I’d bet if Cristina had Lindsay on her talk show, not only would she need a translator but also couldn’t speak in any language about what it is like being a Latina role model to thousands of girls, Latina girls, who tune in each day to watch someone who represents them. What’s up with that?

NANCY KELLY

Harbor CIty

I have a better idea for the people coming up with these ideas. Why not do a full Hispanic soap opera, or is it too risky for them?

The race to win the “Hispanic culture” has become such a joke. Treating us like merchandise; then again, that is what TV is there for.

JESUS ALBERTO ALVARADO

Pasadena