Finally, someone has come forth to say what no one else has dared to: Latinos are, like, on TV and stuff. That someone is Eliot Tiegel, author of Latinization of America. And who, exactly, is Latinizing this fair region? Is it Bolivar? Cortez? Nope. It’s George Lopez! Remember him?

“Because of this growing population of second and third generation Hispanics, teenagers [and] people in their 20s, who do speak Spanish at home with the grandparents and the parents, but they have discovered that in America, their prime language is English,” said Tiegel. “Three television networks are taking a very strong approach to this.”

What’s the station the kids are watching? Nicke… what’s it called?:

New bicultural cable and satellite outlets that target young Hispanics include the English-language Si TV, and Telemundo Mun2 and MTV Tr3s.

Are they bilingual?

They are bilingual.

Oooh! And who should we blame use as the cultural representative of such a diverse and easily marketed-to demographic?:

Latinos are also making their mark in English-language television. Comedian George Lopez had a hit comedy on the ABC network for five years. When he helped announce nominees for the music industry’s Grammy Awards this month, he began the announcement in Spanish.

So it was Ricky Martin for the good part of the 90s and now it’s George Lopez until, what?, the year 2010? Sigh.

Author Traces Growth of Hispanic Entertainment in US [VOA News]