A few days ago, I had to pass on an invitation to a book festival in the United States. Normally, I love to travel and attend several festivals and conferences during the year. It’s a chance for me to promote my work, but also to meet fans and chat with colleagues. I was excited to get an invitation from this organization and would have loved to go.
I couldn’t because I’m afraid. I’m both Mexican and Canadian, and seeing the news coming out of the US, the stories of detentions and racial profiling, has terrified me. I’m not the only one who is uneasy.
The Assembly of First Nations has urged Indigenous Canadians to use caution when crossing the border into the United States, stating they are “deeply concerned regarding the ongoing harassment and blockage of First Nations people attempting to cross the Canadian-United States border.”
At a recent birthday party for a friend of mine, several Canadians who regularly traveled to the USA in the past talked to each other, wondering if we’re going there any time soon. The consensus was that we would not risk it.
Also, a few days ago controversy broke out over Odessa A’zion’s casting in an A24 adaptation of a novel. In the novel the character is half Mexican, and her casting ignited accusations of whitewashing. A’zion pulled out of the project.
Afterwards, a group of Latino creatives that includes Eva Longoria and John Leguizamo penned an open letter in which they said: “We write to you with urgency, because storytelling is humanity’s compass and Hollywood wields all the power. The stories you choose to tell, and how you tell them, shape public perception, cultural understanding, and who gets to see themselves reflected on screen. In these challenging moments that power comes with real responsibility.”
Hollywood has traditionally not cared much about accurate casting. From the time Mickey Rooney played a Japanese character in Breakfast at Tifanny’s, to the numerous occasions in which actors took on Latino roles though they were not remotely Latin American – remember Catherine Zeta Jones in The Legend of Zorro? Marlon Brando in Viva Zapata!, – we’ve seen our share of castings that raise an eyebrow or two.
The problem is not that actors like A’zion lack talent, but that there are so few roles for Latinos to go around so when one is lost it feels like a colossal missed opportunity.
Several of my novels have been optioned for adaptation. Mexican Gothic, The Daughter of Doctor Moreau and others. None have made it to the screen. It’s always difficult to produce any movie, but there are special challenges when it comes to movies with a Latino cast, something I’ve seen, albeit at a distance, as I’m just the novelist (the least important person in an adaptation). Financiers want a well-known face to justify dollars being spent on a film, and when the majority of the well-known faces are white, they’ll be reluctant to go for a Latina actress.
It’s a vicious circle. Few stories with prominent Latinos means few roles which means few chances for major stars which in turn leads to few stories with prominent Latinos on screen. When Latinos do get cast, they are usually relegated to stereotypical roles.
I was watching an episode of The Golden Girls where a Cuban boxer is admitted into an acting program. At the end of the episode, Sophia says that Pepe’s acting career will consist of characters getting arrested on cop shows. That episode aired in 1989, and that punchline could still fly today because as of 2024, Latinos held less than 5% leading roles on-screen or off-screen. In TV and streaming, Latinos account for 4 to 7 percent of on-screen talent, and between 2 and 5 percent of writers’ rooms. And a survey by the National Hispanic Media Coalition said 71% of viewers reported seeing Latinos as criminals or gang members in media very often/sometimes.
Or, as the signatories of the open letter said “The absence of Latina audition opportunities, and the choice to replace a clearly Latina character with a non-Latina actress, signals a broader, ongoing erasure of our community from the stories that define our culture.”
I could write about how opportunities for certain types of creators are also scarce when it comes to publishing. But you’ve probably heard me yakking about that before.
Anyway, I want to go back to the beginning of this story. I’m afraid of going to the USA because I have a Mexican name and I look Mexican and I have an accent. This is messed up because no one should be afraid for any of those reasons.
Movies and books can’t dispel discrimination. They’re not magical items that you shake and the world’s ills disappear. However, I do think that when the only representation we have of a large swath of society – Latinos constitute about 19 percent of the population in the USA – is condensed into a few harmful stereotypes, it helps to dehumanize people. And then, when there is social upheaval, it’s easy to get something like the startling stories that have come out of the USA in recent months of profiling due to race, ethnicity or language.
I love going to the USA. My friend of 26 years lives in NY. For years, whenever I could make a connection there, I’ve stopped to say hi to him and we’ve spent time together. The last time I saw him was last year. I was on book tour so I could only meet him for a few hours. We went to dinner and then he joined me at my launch event. We’ve talked about taking a cruise to Alaska – he loves cruises. Yesterday my husband showed me a picture he took of us a while back, when we got together in Massachusetts.
I don’t know when I’ll see him again.
Because this is my first post of 2026 I hope to leave you with a little optimistic note. Even though there are imbalances and representation issues in publishing and the media, there are a large number of books by Latino authors to look forward to this year. There are many content curators, such as Carmen Alvarez (Tomesandtextiles) or Lupita Aquino (lupita.reads) who offer lists and analysis of a wide number of books that explore the varied and rich lives of Latinos, Latine, Latinx, Chicanas, Hispanic characters (because yes, we’re so varied we don’t even agree on what we call ourselves, haha). You can also explore the Latino owned bookstores near you. Let’s hope for sunnier days.