The Civil Era Of The Zoot Suit Riots Of Los Angeles

Though sparked by the Rodney King verdict, there were many other causes of the riots that erupted on the streets of Los Angeles on April 29, 1992. The Los Angeles riots in 1992 were devastating. The obvious issue portrayed through the media was black versus white. If you did not live in Los Angeles or California chances are you did not hear full coverage of the story, you heard a simple cut and dry portrayal of the events in South Central. If you heard one thing about the riots, it was that there was a man named Rodney King and he was a black male beaten with excessive force by four white Los Angeles police officers on Los Angeles concrete. The media portrayed the riots as black rage on the streets due to the

The extraordinary Mexican migration that delivered millions of immigrants to the United States over the past century is one difficult to ignore. At times the border did not exist, however in more recent times the US has created policies to curb Mexican migration into the states. The relationship the US has with it’s southern neighbor has always been a complicated one. Both countries have a relationship like no other two countries in this world, in which depending on the time period is a give and take relationship. Each group of immigrants have their own story about coming to America, but none quite like the stories of Mexican immigrants. The Bracero Program, planted the seeds of Mexican migration between 1942 and 1964. An estiminated 4 million of Mexican men were contracted to work in the United States as part of a war effort called the Bracero Program.Of the millions U.S. Mexicans, who self-identified as being of Mexican, trace their family’s arrival to the United States to a Bracero.Cheap and foreign labor has always played an important role in the development of agriculture in the United States. And for the first time, an official program for migrant farm workers was developed and Mexican ‘Braceros’ - Bracero loosely translates into “arms”- flocked to the United States in order to harvest crops. The most important concept to understand about the Bracero Program, was that these men were not seen as humans, but instead as commodities that should be

June 1943 this is the date that the LA Zoot Suit Riots occurred and it’s possibly known as one of the biggest historical events that happened in Los Angeles. In short The LA Zoot Suit Riots were 200 estimated of American Sailors beating up anybody who wore a zoot suit, but they were mainly targeting “Pachucos.” Pachucos were basically Chicanos who acted like street thugs, and when Chicanos and other minorities had gotten beaten up by the sailors this has caused an uproar to Chicanos mainly because it was discrimination towards them because of their color and style of clothing. This event occurred because at the time Zoot Suits had become widely popular with white people, but as time went on, other minorities started to like the Zoot Suits also this has included Pachucos as it fits their clothing style. The outcome of this event had influenced Latino Civil rights movement and Mexican-American Communities to fight for their rights and that is why the significance of this event is minorities are being overlooked by whites of how they all seem street thugs and criminals judging by their clothes and color even though not all minorities were like that.

Provided the unofficial definition, majority of the United States could easily guess the word: “The slums outside of Los Angeles. This area is very poor and revolves around gang violence, sex and drug dealing.” That’s correct, you guessed it right! It’s the infamous Compton. The city that everyone has heard in the news or in a song at one point or another. This definition was taken from Urban Dictionary, a site that allows anyone to define specific words and terms. It is easy to see that Compton is often related with drugs, crime and gangs, but the general public fails to realize the truth behind the suburb. The smaller Los Angeles district is filled with hard working people that have been disenfranchised and defined as numbers and statistics.

Following the events of Pearl Harbor, the integration of minority groups into the workforce proved to cause tensions between the groups. Throughout the country, racial riots sparked and caused many conflicts. Two of the most influential riots occurred in Detroit and Los Angeles. The causes of these riots were due to the effects of wartime on the homefront and the racial discrimination that many possessed.

Zoot suits, associated with the Mexican race, consisted of a long jacket that reached almost to the knees, pants with a “tight stuff cuff”, a “wide, flat hat, and Dutch-toe shoes” (Berger 193). These zoot suits were worn by the Mexican youth who were accused of murder on August 2, 1942. People claimed that Jose Diaz was murdered by a gang that had broken up a party at Sleepy Lagoon ranch located close to Los Angeles. However, even though the lower court did convict them of murder, two years later the district court of appeals took that decision back by stating that there was not enough good evidence and that most of that decision was made based on prejudice issues. This incident became known as the “Sleepy Lagoon Affair” and was made

During World War II, Latinos in American neighborhoods were subject to inequality, prejudice, and exploitation even though they sacrificed so much for the country. During World War II, East Los Angeles was going through the racial tensions between Anglo sailors, marines and resident Latinos called the Zoot Suit Riots. In document N, it shows a set of photos taken during these Zoot Suit Riots and it shows several teenage boys being stripped of their clothes by the police. It also shows many Anglo sailors with bats and sticks in which they used to attack anyone who was wearing a zoot suit. The tension was all caused because Many sailors and marines would pass through Latino communities where confrontations between them and Latinos wearing Zoot

In 1942, the death of Jose Diaz occurred on August 2. On October 13, the largest trial in California history, seventeen Mexican boys faced charges related to the death of Jose Diaz. On Dec 10, the War Relocation Authority set up a prison in Utah for stubborn Japanese Internment camp Inmates. On December 31, a fight in Detroit evolved into a citywide riot which caused twenty five blacks and nine whites dead and $2 million property destroyed. In 1943, starting from March to July 17, Los Angeles bans zoot suits. On May 31, a group of sailors and soldiers generated conflicts with Mexican American youths near downtown Los Angeles. One sailor was hit on the head. On June 3, a group of sailors intent on a revenge for their wounded sailor and targeted all zoot suiters. From June 4 to June 7, the riots kept expanding and spreading into Watts. On June 8, military evacuated soldiers from LA. On September 8, Italy officially surrendered to the Allied powers. On October 13, the seventeen defendants were convicted of assault and sentenced to jail. In 1944, first-generation Japanese Americans were deemed to be eligible for the military draft on January 14.

Racial tensions began heightening in the city of Los Angeles on June of 1943. It’s what came to be known as the Zoot Suit Riots. Racial tension between Mexican Americans who were called both pachucos and zoot suiters. They were known for their fashion which had a symbolic meaning towards them, it was a way in expressing themselves which white sailors and servicemen disliked. They saw Mexican Americans as thugs, gang members, and delinquents. White servicemen and sailors were unfamiliar with hispanics, but it was so easy for them to discriminate by appearance. Several Mexican Americans served in white units. Tension was rising between them, especially when marines and sailors assaulted both Mexican and African Americans in their own neighborhood. Also, for a false rumor towards Mexican Americans which stated that they had attacked and stabbed a sailor. Both races were being discriminated and were treated unjustly. The day came on June 3, 1943 where these conflicts led to the Zoot Suit Riots. This incident of violence lasted a whole week. Zoot suiters were beaten and arrested for no reason at all. The issues that led to the Zoot Suits in 1943 was Jose Diaz, the Sleepy Lagoon Case, and racial attacks between whites and people of color. This filled the atmosphere with a lot of hatred and discrimination that had erupted in the summer of 1943. The riot led to a compromise of all military personnel being banned from the city limits with in Los Angeles

The 1940s was a time of war for the United States. World War II had captured the attention of the world and the attention of many men ready to lay down their lives to fight overseas for their country. The war in Eastern Europe was not the only fight, though. There was one back home, in the western United States. It was the fight against racism, injustice, and prejudice. Mexican Americans were the popular targets and victims of this fight, and their opponents were servicemen, policemen, the press, and society itself. The cause of the conflict was the clothing the Mexican American male youth wore and chose to identify with, zoot suits. The zoot suits were more than just a fashion statement. The suits were part of the Mexican American youth

This paper will cover the events that took place within the first five days in south central Los Angeles after the Rodney King verdict .

king had 11 fractures and other injuries resulting from the beating. King, now a victim of excessive force was released without being charged, and the four officers were indicted by the grand jury. A year later, the four officers were acquitted of the excessive force used on Rodney king. The community response was to protest that escalated to another riot in Los Angeles. The Governor declared a state of emergency and called the National Guard to assist local law enforcement to regain control, in all 13,500 guards patrol the streets of Los Angeles. What resulted from the riots was a commission looking into LAPD’s use of excessive force; the commission was led by Warren Christopher, this is now known as the Christopher commission. The commission uncovered many issues in the LAPD, many recommendation were made but one stood out more than the rest and it was to remove the creator of the first SWAT team Daryl gates.

1. World War II’s impact on Mexican-Americans caused for attention to be brought to problems concerning racism within the army and in the United States. Many soldiers who fought in the war did not feel that they were truly aligned with the United States, for they were fighting for a country that failed to give them equal rights. Despite earning the most awards proportionally than any other race, the media replaced Mexican-Americans with whites, such as in war movies. When the Japanese were placed in internment camps, racism concentrated itself on other minorities: Mexican-Americans and blacks.

The Power of the Zoot by Luis Alvarez examines the zoot culture within Los Angeles and New York. Alvarez argues that underrepresented groups participated in the zoot culture to acquire “dignity” during the Second World War (Alvarez, 10). The first segment depicts the increasing economic opportunity for underrepresented groups and their unceasing experience with unemployment or discrimination. Additionally, the American public attempted to restrain the youth by associating the zoot culture with nefarious qualities. Mexican Americans, African Americans, and Asian Americans utilized contemporary fashion, language, and public venues to assert their identities.

The Zoot Suit Riots were a string of violent confrontations that occurred between 1942 through 1943/4, between Mexican-Americans living in the Chavez Ravine area of Los Angeles and the naval servicemen stationed at the Naval Armory before heading off to war. These incidents took their name from the style of clothing called the Zoot Suit that the Mexican-American and other minority youths sported.