Latinos

In the crush of this fall's new network offerings, "Santo Bugito," a CBS Saturday morning cartoon about a town of bugs, is causing quite a buzz in more ways than one. For one thing, its nonviolent story line runs counter to the slew of physically oriented kids' shows trying to ride the "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" wave.

Here are some interesting numbers about Los Angeles County: * Two-thirds of all births here are to foreign-born mothers. * Educating undocumented immigrant children costs about $1 billion a year. * A Latino immigrant is paid, on average, 72% less than his native-born counterparts. Feel the heat that comes from these numbers? It is the heat, I think, of racism. In our hearts, few of us can escape thinking in racial terms.

High above la Ciudad de Los Angeles, a heavenly, hulky hunk in the form of a mustachioed Latino with Bee Gee hair and a wingspan wider than a 747 soars to Earth to fight dastardly dudes. KA-POW! The Lost Angel, a suburban super-hero who listens to radio titan Rick Dees and takes meetings on Melrose, has landed in a green unitard and yellow knee-high boots at a newsstand near you. "If anybody ever needed an angel it was L.A.," says creator George O.

Three decades ago, a predominantly Latino neighborhood was torn down to make way for the Los Angeles Music Center. Since that time, with rare exceptions, a Latino presence hasn't been very visible on the site. Only 2% of Mark Taper Forum subscribers are Latino. And only one play by an American Latino writer--"Zoot Suit" in 1978--has been presented at the Taper. This weekend may mark an end to that era.