GAO Accepts Congressional Hispanic Caucus and House Committee on Oversight and Reform Request for Report on Latino Representation in Hollywood

Statement

This week, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) informed Chairman Joaquin Castro of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform that it has accepted their request for a new GAO report on the representation of Latinos in employment and management positions in the film, television, and publishing industries. The report will also analyze the enforcement of federal equal opportunity requirements on those industries by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Department of Labor (DOL).

The GAO accepting this request is an important step in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus' ongoing to work to foster better representation, portrayals, and opportunities for Latinos in the film, television, and publishing industries. Nearly one in five Americans is Latino, yet Latino Americans are dramatically underrepresented in employment in and representation in the film, television, and publishing industries. The findings of this report will make recommendations to Congress on DOL and EEOC requirements, and on future legislative actions on this issue. This analysis will bring much needed transparency to the ongoing lack of Latino representation in the film, television, and publishing industries.

"Hollywood and other media industries like publishing are the main image-creating and narrative defining and industries in American society. The stories these industries tell--or don't tell--about Latinos affect not just Latinos working in the industries but affect every Latino in America," said CHC Chair Joaquin Castro. "It's long past time that the federal government examine this issue of system racism and exclusion of Latinos in industries like publishing and Hollywood. I'm grateful to the GAO for accepting our request and to my colleagues in Congress who supported it. This is just the beginning of Congress taking a closer look at these industries."

"Discrimination on the basis of national origin is intolerable and against federal law," said Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney. "We requested this important study to examine the persistence of discrimination against Latino Americans in the film, television and publishing industries. The findings of this study will help the Oversight Committee and Congress determine what more must be done by federal enforcement agencies and the industries to have these industries better reflect the diversity of our country."

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