A Latino Caucus has been created at the Los Angeles Times Guild made up by Latino employees requesting better representation at the company, and more coverage around the Latino community.

In a letter addressed to the owner of The LA Times, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, and executive and managing editors, the Latino Caucus expressed dissatisfaction with the coverage of the Latino community at the newspaper. 

“For much of its history, the Los Angeles Times has covered the Latino community in dehumanizing ways, painting us as criminals or victims or simply ignoring us,” opens the letter.

It goes on to disclose the multiple racial slurs that The Times has used in the past and mentions how for decades, they’ve asked the higher-ups to hire more Latinos, but those calls have gone unanswered or ignored.

Despite the treatment, Latino journalists at the company have made strides and won Pulitzer awards.

The Latino Caucus established this year now asks to stop treating them as a minority group, and to center the Latino community’s stories. 

It wants to build a newsroom reflecting the demographic of LA county, specifically prioritizing departments like the 2020 election campaign, investigations, national desk, Washington D.C., and more. 

A formal apology for anti-Latino stereotypes in California and the United States is also demanded, with 14 total as part of the letter.

Julián Castro, former Mayor of San Antonio and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, tweeted in support of the movement:

The Latino Caucus was inspired by the LA Times Guild’s Black Caucus, which also sent a letter to the newspaper’s leadership in June highlighting the lack of Black representation in the newsroom, also demanding change. 

The Latino Caucus also stated that they stand in solidarity with their Black colleagues, a continued commitment to their demands, and are speaking up because they want the LA Times to succeed.