An Introduction to the History of the Zoot Suit Riots

The Zoot Suit Riots began on June three, 1943, when eleven sailors on leave walked into a Mexican American barrio neighborhood in Los Angeles and got involved in a battle with a group of men thought to be of Mexican decent. During a ten day period in 1943 a series of conflicts in between Anglo military personnel and Mexican Americans led to full-scale riots in the metropolis of Los Angeles. Tensions began amongst the two cultural groups when the local media sensationalized crime in the country and blamed it primarily on Mexican Americans.

Initial, America was in the midst of Globe War II and xenophobic sentiment was rampant across the country. Smaller sized arguments that had burst out amongst Mexican Americans and armed forces escalated rapidly. On June 4, 1943, hundreds of servicemen went downtown and targeted Mexican Americans and other minorities and beat them savagely. The armed forces had lost command over their males and full chaos ensued. The violence continued until the United States State Division sooner or later got involved and declared Los Angles off-limits to military personnel. A query that emerges from this incident is what drives ordinary civil men and women to revert to primordial savagery and destroy the really society that they produced? Miscommunication between cultures leads to violence and civic unrest. The cultural differences, media reporting, and political climate all contributed to the hostility and dissension of the Zoot-Suit riots that overwhelmed wartime Los Angeles. Misunderstanding of one another’s culture spurred conflicts in between Anglo and Mexican Americans in Los Angeles. During Globe War II Southern California served as a hub for the military. On any providing weekend up to fifty-thousand soldiers could be located in Los Angeles.

Second, the vast majority of the military at the time had been Anglo-Americans who had not had interaction with Mexican Americans or other Hispanic groups. This led to misunderstandings which evolved into animosity. In the 1940’s the style and dress of Mexican American adolescents was distinct from that of mainstream Americans. Lengthy jackets, higher-waisted baggy pants, extended watch chains began to be recognized as “Zoot-suits”. Mexican Americans and other minorities sported the Zoot-Suit to express their identity, freedom, and youthful rebelliousness. To Anglo-Americans the Zoot-Suit was perceived as a symbol of criminality and was often linked up with the typical street thug. The mounting tension between the two groups was exasperated by the reality they shared a various language, customs, and much more often than not, a distinct religion. These cultural misunderstandings led to deeds of ferocity. On June 3, 1943 eleven military personnel brought into a physical altercation with a group of Mexican American Zoot-Suiters, in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood. Smaller bits of violence, such as this case, helped construct the creations for a howler that would bring the city to its knees and leave a permanent imprint on the Mexican American community.

Tierce, the most celebrated of all situations sensationalized by the Los Angeles Occasions, was the “Sleepy Lagoon” trial. On August two, of 1942, the body of Jose Dias was discovered in the Sleepy Lagoon Reservoir in Los Angeles. Hundreds of Latino teens had been initially held for allegedly possessing hyperlinks to the murder of Dias. Twenty-two Mexican American teenagers had been indicted on charges of murder and place on trial by an all Anglo jury. Dozen of the youths have been convicted of murder while five received assault charges. There was no proof that teens had murdered deals. In fact, there was small evidence that a homicide had even happened. Ultimately, an appellate court overturned the convictions since of their unjust nature. Despite the result of the appeal, the case had a profound outcome on society in Los Angeles and is instantly observed as a predecessor to the Zoot-Suit riots. The media produced hysteria concerning the font and its slanted coverage influenced many Angelenos to distrust the Mexican minority. This miscommunication of news from the press would later lead to the violent acts of the military and civilians in the oncoming riots.

Most Americans are fearful of soaring crime, random violence, every day murders and the presence of youth gangs, not just in the inner cities, but in calm rural and suburban regions. The ground for this concern is the violent crimes committed by gangs are unpredictable, victims are often randomly chosen, and normally folks who are unable to fend for themselves and the assailants are increasingly younger. Clothes these days is really ware for several citizens or victims in the globe these days. “Colors”: Apparent or subtle colors of clothing, a distinct clothes brand, jewelry, or haircuts are a few signs of violence right now.

In Conclusion, the Zoot-suit riots can be demoted to a minor footnote in World War II history and be forgotten by most. Alternatively, they can stand for the broad proposition that the media and citizens have a duty to comprehend the cultures of minorities and engage in productive communication when problems emerge. In addition, when a nation is at war, citizens and the media cannot use patriotism as a guide to target minorities. Other than the very same devastating effects that the Mexican American neighborhood in Los Angeles felt as a consequence of the Zoot-suit riots, will be observed by other minorities inside society.