Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

The Zoot Suit Riots Part I

The Zoot Suit Riots were aseries of riots on June 3–8, 1943 in Los Angeles, California,United States, which pitted American servicemen stationed in SouthernCalifornia against young Latino and Mexican American city residents.It was one of the dozen wartime industrial cities that sufferedrace-related riots in the summer of 1943, along with Mobile, Alabama;Beaumont, Texas; Detroit, Michigan; and New York City.

American servicemen and white Angelenosattacked and stripped children, teenagers, and youths who wore zootsuits, ostensibly because they considered the outfits, which weremade from large amounts of fabric, to be unpatriotic during World WarII. Rationing of fabrics and certain foods was required at the timefor the war effort. While most of the violence was directed towardMexican American youth, African American, and Filipino Americanyouths who were wearing zoot suits were also attacked.

The Zoot Suit Riots were related tofears and hostilities aroused by the coverage of the Sleepy Lagoonmurder trial, following the killing of a young Latino man in what wasthen an unincorporated commercial area near Los Angeles. The riotappeared to trigger similar attacks that year against Latinos inChicago, San Diego, Oakland, Evansville, Philadelphia, and New YorkCity. The defiance of zoot suiters became inspirational for Chicanosduring the Chicano Movement.

Background

Mexicans in Los Angeles

California was originally part ofMexico, before becoming part of the United States. Due to thishistory, there has always been a large Latino population inCalifornia. During the early 20th century, many new Mexicansimmigrated for work to US border states which needed workers, suchareas as Texas, Arizona, and California. They were recruited byfarmers for work on the large farms and also worked throughout thosestates in non-agricultural jobs.

During the Great Depression, in theearly 1930s, the United States deported between 500,000 and 2 millionpeople of Mexican descent (including the illegal expulsion of up to1.2 million U.S. citizens) to Mexico (see Mexican Repatriation), inorder to reduce demands on limited American economic resources. Bythe late 1930s, about three million Mexican Americans resided in theUnited States. Los Angeles had the highest concentration of ethnicMexicans outside Mexico.

Job discrimination in Los Angelesforced minorities to work for below-poverty level wages. The LosAngeles newspapers described Mexicans with racially inflammatorypropaganda, suggesting a problem with juvenile delinquency. Thesefactors caused much racial tension between Mexican immigrants, thoseof Mexican descent, and European Americans.

During this time Los Angeles was goingthrough an expansion. The city planners did not plan the expansionwell, as it caused disruptions in communal sites, family sites, andfamily patterns of social interactions. One major decision that wasmade was to put a Naval school for the Naval Reserve Armory in theChavez Ravine which was primarily a Mexican-American area. This wouldlater be a hot spot for encounters between the zoot suiters andsailors.

Lalo Guerrero became known as thefather of Chicano music, as the young people adopted a music,language, and dress of their own. Young men wore zoot suits—aflamboyant long jacket with baggy pegged pants, sometimesaccessorized with a pork pie hat, a long watch chain, and shoes withthick soles. They called themselves "pachucos." Inthe early 1940s, arrests of Mexican-American youths and negativestories in the Los Angeles Times fueled a perception that thesepachuco gangs were delinquents who were a threat to the broadercommunity.