According to a 2016 University of Southern California report on diversity in entertainment within which 414 stories were sampled, 109 motion pictures and 305 broadcast, cable and digital series, "71.7% were white, 12.2% Black, 5.8% Hispanic/Latino, 5.1% Asian, 2.3% Middle Eastern and 3.1% other", in contrast to the United States Census Bureau's population estimates for July 2016 being "63.3% White, 12.6% Black, 16.2% Hispanic/Latino, 4.9% Asian, 2.1% mixed, 1.0% other." The University of Southern California report noted that it sampled all "independent speaking character utters one or more discernible and overt words (of any language) on screen. Nonverbal utterances are not considered words. Characters that are named are also considered speaking characters. Under rare circumstances, a group of nearly identical characters might speak at the exact same time or sequentially. Given their extreme homogeneous appearance, it is impossible to distinguish these characters from another. When this occurs, the coders are instructed to "group" the identical characters and code them as one unit." According to Christina Shu Jien Chong's article in the Asian Pacific American Law Journal, "Whites occupied 83.5% of lead roles while minorities occupied 16.5%; 9.5% Black, 2% Latino, 2.5% Asian, 0.5% Native American, and 2% Mixed/Other." According to Chong, when it comes to casting for major roles, racebending, whitewashing and implicit bias lead to an even more drastic underrepresentation of minorities in the entertainment industry.
