In op-ed, San Antonio U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro calls out publishing industry for failing Latinos

In a new Publishers Weekly opinion piece, U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, called out the U.S. publishing industry for underserving the nation’s Latino population.

In the editorial, the congressman explained that Latinos make up 18% of the American workforce and roughly 20% of the overall population, signifying they should be well represented across U.S. industries. However, Castro in 2020 commissioned the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) to research Latino employment in media and found that publishing is only 8% Latino. Since then, the numbers have decreased, with Penguin Random House reporting in 2022 that just 5% of its authors, illustrators and translators identified as Hispanic or Latino, according to the congressman. Castro further argued that the publishing industry lacks a basic understanding about Latinos. He related the story of a meeting between Congressional Hispanic Caucus members and publishers in 2020. During that gathering, he asked an executive to name three Latinos or Latinas who made significant contributions to U.S. history. The man couldn’t name one, wrote Castro, who added that he’s convinced most other Americans wouldn’t be able to either. “The publishing industry has failed to tell Latino stories — and as a result, it’s failed to tell the full story of our country,”  Castro said. “Thankfully, publishing is in a unique position to bring about change. The industry sits at the nexus of entertainment and education and has freedom to elevate a broad range of source material. A publisher might bet on hundreds of titles a year, but it only needs a few bestsellers to turn a profit. The business model of publishing allows for enormous risk-taking that can include Latino authors — if publishers are willing to give them a chance.” Separately, Castro on Wednesday announced that he’d secured $102,250 in federal funding for the San Antonio-based Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center’s Latino Bookstore Education and Outreach Literacy Program. The initiative offers bilingual literacy education and supports the educational advancement of children. The funding is part of $15.6 million that the congressman secured for community projects across San Antonio as part of the Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations process, according to his office.

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This article appears in Feb 8-21, 2023.