爱豆传媒

When I was younger, the television shows that I watched were, like many children, dependent upon which ones my parents found the least annoying for them and the most enriching for my sister and me. While many television shows, like “SpongeBob SquarePants” and most Disney Channel shows, were off-limits, there were many television shows that my parents did allow my sister and me to watch, and some that they would even enjoy watching with us. A lot of what we watched as kids were shows that my parents had watched when they were younger. Sitcoms like “The Brady Bunch,” “Gilligan’s Island” and “I Love Lucy” were some of our favorites, but there were also contemporary shows that we would watch, like “Dora the Explorer,” “Handy Manny,” “Blue’s Clues,” and “Little Einsteins.”

My mom, whose parents immigrated to the United States from South America when they were teenagers, grew up in the 1970s and ‘80s, a time when the majority of shows on television were fully in English and starred white characters. With exceptions like “Sesame Street,” a show specifically created for children of color living in metropolitan areas that had Hispanic characters like Maria (Sonia Manzano) and Luis (Emilio Delgado), and “Villa Alegre,” which was a bilingual Spanish-English show meant to teach Hispanic children English, most television shows didn’t have recurring Hispanic or Spanish-speaking characters. 

So, although my mom grew up in a house that spoke Spanish and was surrounded by a Hispanic community, that wasn’t necessarily reflected in the television shows that she watched as a child. She recalls that the only thing she can remember watching in Spanish at the time was a film made by her church. Although the 1980s were a time when cultural attitudes around diversity began to shift, there were still huge inequalities in representation. In a , Professor F. Earle Barcus examined over 1,000 characters in 20 children’s television programs and discovered that only 89 were non-white. Sitcoms about white families like “The Brady Bunch” occasionally featured background characters that were Hispanic, such as the Calderon Family, clients of Mike Brady’s in a Season Five episode, but there were typically no regular recurring Hispanic characters. 

In the late 1990s, when my mother was in college, sitcoms aimed at children and families, like “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “Saved by the Bell” and “Boy Meets World” began including characters of color, which included characters played by Hispanic actors, like Ashley Banks (“The Fresh Prince” played by Afro-Panamian and Trinidadian actress Tatyana Ali) and A.C. Slater (“Saved by the Bell” played by Mexican actor Mario Lopez). Because of increased artistic opportunities for people of color, Hispanic actors were appearing in more mainstream television programs intended for children and young adults. 

However, even though some characters were played by Hispanic actors, their Hispanic identity wasn’t necessarily always taken into account. Although Ashley Banks was played by an Afro-Latina actress, her character wasn’t written as being Afro-Latina as her identity as a Black woman was more at focus in the show. Additionally, Mario Lopez’s A.C. Slater, who was first introduced in 1989, wasn’t identified as being Hispanic until 1993, in a spin-off show entitled “Saved by the Bell: The College Years,” where he learns about his Mexican heritage, which his father had hidden in order to prevent discrimination against himself and his family. 

In the 2000s, further progress was finally made; Hispanic actors were not only included in family and children’s television shows but were also celebrated as being Hispanic. “The George Lopez Show,” which aired from 2002-2007, gave a chance for a Mexican-American family to fill the role of the typical sitcom family, something that had never been done before. George’s character and other characters on the show occasionally spoke in Spanish, and the Lopez family took part in Mexican traditions like quinceañeras. The show also served to reject negative stereotypes of Hispanic people and focused on depicting Hispanic people as regular, everyday citizens, while also highlighting their unique cultural experiences and the social struggles that they faced.

It was also at this time that children’s television began to include Hispanic characters and tell Hispanic stories. Perhaps most popular was “Dora the Explorer,” an animated television show that aired on Nickelodeon from 2000-2019. Dora Márquez, a young girl who lives with her parents, Elena and Cole, and her grandmother in the jungle, not only taught children about curiosity, helpfulness, and adventure, but also basic Spanish and Mexican culture. Dora frequently speaks Spanish, interacts with other Hispanic characters like her squirrel friend Tico (who only speaks Spanish), and even “villains” like Señor Shush and El Mago. In addition, many characters in “Dora the Explorer” were played by Hispanic actors. Dora herself has been played by several Latina actresses, like Peruvian-American actress Kathleen Herles. 

Other television shows at the time, like “Handy Manny” (2006-2013), also featured Hispanic characters who helped teach children about Hispanic culture. Manny Garcia, a handyman and owner of a repair shop, along with his talking tools, helps his community of Sheetrock Hills, which featured many Hispanic characters like Mrs. Portillo (who owns a bakery) and Mayor Rosa. Some of Manny’s tools were Hispanic themselves, like Felipe, a Phillips-head screwdriver (played by Argentinian-American actor Carlos Alazraqui), who often speaks Spanish and gets into arguments with Turner, a flat-head screwdriver. Sheetrock Hills is a vibrant and tight-knit community that takes part in celebrations and traditions like quinceañeras and Cinco de Mayo. While it has been by some as reinforcing stereotypes of Hispanics in the workforce, “Handy Manny” has also been praised for its bilingual language, use of Latin music, and positive depictions of Hispanic communities. 

By the time I was growing up, there were a plethora of television shows, both children’s shows and family sitcoms, that positively depicted Hispanic culture. For my mom, who didn’t have this as a child, showing my sister and me children’s television shows like “Dora the Explorer” and “Handy Manny” along with films like “The Emperor’s New Groove” and “Spy Kids,” was an important way to share Hispanic heritage and Spanish with us. As a white Latina who didn’t grow up speaking Spanish, I never felt like I was lacking in representation. I always saw characters in children’s TV shows who looked like me and spoke the same language as me. My mom and many other Hispanic children in the past didn’t have that same level of representation. In the time that has passed since I was a kid, many more children’s TV shows that depict Hispanic culture have come out, like “Elena of Avalor,” “Alma’s Way,” and family sitcoms like “One Day at a Time.” 

These shows, and the shows that I watched as a child, are part of an important aspect of representation that often gets overlooked. Even though my mom didn’t have much Hispanic representation on TV when she was growing up, she was able to share Hispanic heritage and parts of her culture with her children through television shows like “Dora the Explorer” and “Handy Manny,” which focused on and positively depicted Hispanic culture. Each Hispanic Heritage Month, we celebrate Hispanic culture, the Spanish language, and the Hispanic communities that make our country a better and more vibrant place. The strides in representation that had a positive impact on my childhood, and the current strides that continue to have a positive impact on Hispanic children across the country, are a part of this celebration.