The image of a Latino which most people have in their heads is because its the poorer ones who emigrate to other countries and they're unfortunately usually darker. Next time you go past the Spanish Channel look around for a minute and you'll probably see a lot of white people.

Most of us have dark hair due to mixed heritage, not just from the conquest of the New World but also from when the Moore's occupied Spain. My sister-in-law's mother is dirty blonde but I guess that's close enough to brunette anyhow.