Benjamin Bratt Quotes

I'm not trying to represent the whole Latino community. There are too many different cultures, and Latinos will always say, 'My family doesn't do that.'

As an Italian-American, I have a special responsibility to be sensitive to ethnic stereotypes.

I'm so sick of people treating Latinos like some homogenous group that all feel the same way about everything.

You go to Los Angeles or New York or Miami or Chicago, and you see Latinos everywhere; they are involved in every part of American society. That's why they have to start being represented in Hollywood, because an 'Americano' can't walk down the street and not see a Latino.

If I'm performing in the United States, I'm able to speak Spanglish, and the crowd comprehends. If I'm in the Dominican Republic or Puerto Rico, then I'm completely Spanish. I feel like a New Yorker that represents all Latinos.

Just because you are Latino does not mean you can't be global.

Happy World Poetry Day: 'The American identity has never been a singular one and the voices of poets invariably sing, in addition to their own, the voices of those around them.

Americans generally regard themselves as belonging to an exceptional nation. And in terms of living in a religiously tolerant and enormously diverse country, Americans can certainly take some justified pride.

Part of my mission as an actor has been to define what an American is.

All my Latino side is from the Bronx.

It's important to tell the story you're telling in the right way, which might involve black people or people of whatever heritage or ethnicity - or it might not.

I do want to be involved in quality projects that say something positive about the Latino community.

I am very Latino in everything I am and I do, but there's a part of me that's also something else. I'm reflective of the way this country's gonna be in the next 40 years. More multicultural is what we'll see.

I'm pan-Latino, or whatever that phrase is. It's not a sexy phrase, but it is a sexy, cool thing. That's how I feel.

It's super trippy coming to America because we know everything about it - from music and film. I know what a Southern accent sounds like; I know what a New York accent sounds like.

I always feel like people misunderstand the difference between an Asian story and an Asian-American story. That's completely different, too. I have friends who grew up in Asia, and our experiences are so different. Even though we might look the same, I feel like being Asian and then being Asian-American is completely different.

There is no 'generic' Latina.

We are proving that Latinos have the power to connect with an audience on a global level without having to leave our identity behind.

You can't just look like one culture and expect to inspire a multitude of people. That doesn't work over time. Everybody wants somebody to look up to that looks like them so they can truly believe in that reality for themselves.

Just because we finally have a Latino family on TV doesn't mean we're up there to lecture people about what it means to be Latino.

There's so much diversity on TV. It's actually reflecting American culture.

It's important to me to reach deep into the community and promote Latino artists.

I've always seen myself as an all-American kid, you know. You're not just white or black or Asian or Latino. We're in the melting pot of America.

I ended up very American and very Indonesian and a little bit of a lot of things.

We're a country of many different cultures, and that's always what has made this country stand out. It almost feels like making diverse movies is the most American thing you can do.