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For years, I have been one of many people who spoke about creating an accurate and positive narrative about Latinos in America. It is one of the goals of NAHREP, and it was talked about frequently at L’ATTITUDE. We pointed at the media and entertainment industries as often portraying Latinos negatively and how politicians all-too-often characterize Latinos as takers who are a drain on the economy and a burden to our systems. While this is something that we have spoken about frequently, I don’t think we have spent enough time explaining why the narrative about Latinos matters from a practical standpoint.
A couple of years ago, I participated in raising $100M for L’ATTITUDE Ventures, a venture capital fund that invested exclusively in Latino-led startups. Even though our company included two prominent former Fortune 500 CEOs, I saw firsthand the skepticism many people had toward our investment strategy.
L’ATTITUDE Ventures was created to solve a problem. The data shows that Latinos comprise 18% of the U.S. population and nearly 25% of the millennial population, yet receive less than 2% of the investment capital needed to grow their businesses. I learned through that fundraising process that trillions of dollars of investment capital are floating around the globe, controlled by a relatively small number of people. Those people are under tremendous pressure to earn a strong return on their capital and, therefore, don’t want to invest in communities rife with problems.
If the narrative about the Latino population is that it is a community with a ton of problems: immigration problems, financial problems, and problems with the law, it’s not surprising that capital, in all forms and all sectors, has been nearly impossible to obtain. It is also not surprising that Latinos are almost totally absent from the C-suite of many Fortune 500 companies.
Conversely, communities with a positive narrative can raise capital and achieve success in corporate America at astonishing levels. Indian Americans (from India) account for 1.35% of the U.S. population. Yet, in recent years, the CEOs of many of America’s top companies, including Microsoft, Google, IBM, Twitter, and PepsiCo, are all of Indian descent.
Is it possible that people of Indian descent are just better at running big companies, and there are no Hispanics capable of the same thing? Sure, it’s possible, but it’s not likely. What is more likely is a narrative about Indian Americans being outstanding business leaders has permeated boardrooms across America, paving the way for dozens of competent Indian Americans to lead the C-suites of some of the most valuable companies in the world.
Latinos aren’t the first community to recognize the importance of a positive narrative. On the contrary, we may be one of the last. Organizations like the Anti-Defemination League combat antisemitism. Their work is not limited to explicit attacks against Jewish people; they are equally vigilant in fighting implicit biases and essentially anything that undermines the reputation of Jewish people in all forms.
The image of Latinos is not just a nice thought; it affects everything from business opportunities and access to capital to how our children are treated at school. Latinos are among the hardest workers and most entrepreneurial of any group in America. However, negativity has dominated the narrative about Latinos for far too long. This one is on us. It is high time that we take control of our brand and protect it vigilantly and with prejudice.
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