Zoot Suit Essay

The media described the grotesquely how the boys raped and beat Trisha Meili. The media describe them stalking Ms. Meili like hungry wolves in the night. The media had such a strong hold on the city that whatever the news was accepted. The media also got their information wrong about these young men. The inner city ghettos are often called the concrete jungles of America. Who lived in the concrete jungles wild savage animals? That was the image America received when watching the news coverage.

Zoot Suit, a play written by Luis Valdez, depicts the racially charged trial of the Sleepy Lagoon Case of 1942 in which the courts charged a group of Pachucos with the murder of another Mexican-American. During the 1940s, many Mexican-Americans suffered widespread discrimination as dramatized in Zoot Suit. To combat such discrimination many Chicano youth wore stylized zoot suits, adorned with oversized jackets during fabric shortages as a form of social and political rebellion. Zoot Suiters felt disempowered by their position within society and used their fashion to send out a message and as a means to regain their masculinity. The Pachucos were accused with the murder of a fellow Mexican-American not because of clear evidence or

Zoot Suit is a play, written by Luis Valdez, based on the Sleepy Lagoon murders and the Zoot Suit riots of the nineteen forties. In this play, Valdez embodies Chicano culture and social injustice. Upon reading the play, it is very apparent that the main source of injustice is institutional racism and it is shown in the court scenes of this play. It starts with the “Opening of the Trial” (Act I,Scene 9) and in this it proves that the court itself has already set up Henry and the gang for failure. They failed to show any human decency in which they did not allow the boys to wear clean clothes or even fix their hair.

White sailors invaded Mexican American communities and attacked Zoot Suitors. The city police did nothing to restrain the sailors, who grabbed the Hispanic teenagers, tore off and burned their clothes, cut off their hair, and beat them. However, when Hispanics tried to fight back, the police moved in and arrested them. After the Zoot Suit riots, LA passed a law prohibiting the wearing Zoot Suits” (www.stufflikethat.org, 2010)

In Luis Valdez’s “Zoot Suits”, the character El Pachuco symbolizes a rebellious culture that defies society. El Pachuco stands as Henry Reyna’s alter ego. When Henry Reyna is in a dispute with his moral decisions, he either listens to El Pachuco’s strong character or goes with his moral instincts. Like Henry Reyna the Pachuco lifestyle was the way of living for many teens in the 40s. The Pachuco life was cool and hip, teenagers talked with a slang that to society was deemed wrong. Their zoot suit was their individual symbol, a Pachuco would be recognized instantly just by their high waist baggy pants that were tighten in the bottom as well as for their long jackets.

The definition of escape is, “to slip away from or elude” (“Escape”). This concept is shown in the play Zoot Suit through Henry Reyna’s relationship with his identity as the pachuco leader of the 38th Street Gang. Because of the harassment that has been aimed at him during his life, Henry Reyna does not want the rest of his family to endure the unjust treatment that the police and other white Americans aim at pachucos. In the play, Zoot Suit, Henry Reyna and his gang are accused for murder. The murder trial was biased against Henry’s gang and they remained in prison until they got an appeal. Throughout the play, Henry and his gang are mistreated and harassed, by police, lawyers, judges, and soldiers, simply because they are pachucos (Valdez).

Around 600 Mexican Americans who fit the term “zoot-suiters” ( a person who wears ballooned pants and long coats) were rounded up in efforts to catch the criminal. The court argued that their look alone was enough to prove they were deliquents in one way or another and should be held responsible for their actions. Altough appearances do distinguish gang members from regular civilians the mass gathering of around 600 Mexicans for one individuals murder shows the lack of professional expirence. It also serves as a pedestal to say that these police offers weren’t looking for an individual based on factual evidence but based their prejudice beliefs tried to round up and get place a large group of Mexicans in the court of law under biased pretences. It is an injustice to hold so many people accountable for a crime based on their looks let alone get so many people of one ethnic group involved just because they look like they are from a gang. On January 12, 1943 in the case of People v. Zamora, presided by Judge Charles Fricke, the court found this to be enough evidence to sentence seventeen of the accused to life in prison to a year in the county jail. Five were found innocent. Henry Leyvas along with two other males were found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to life in

Racism runs rampant around the world and many people judge others by their looks and ethnicity. This can be seen many times in the play, “Zoot Suit” by Luis Valdez. Zoot Suit is a play about Henry Reyna and his street gang being accused and put on a mass trial for a murder that they didn't commit and being found guilty for it. In the play, Henry Reyna and his gang are discriminated by U.S. Navy sailors and the judge from their trial even though they were supposed to uphold justice and order. In the real world this can be seen with President Trump and his discrimination towards other races such as mexicans and middle easterners. Discrimination occurs in both the real world and in the play from the people who are suppose to uphold justice.

Pachuco says, "The city's cracking down on pachucos, carnal. Don't you read the newspapers? They're screaming for blood." (p. 29) This quote implies that the press is exaggerating the stories it tells in order to sell more papers. The press may have contributed to the Zoot Suit Riot with their influence on public beliefs. He refers to the newspaper

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 movie “Crash”, by Director and Writer Paul Haggis, follows 8 ethnically diverse families/ individuals facing the struggle of modern day racism and stereotypes created and faced in modern Los Angeles, California. These individuals take the roles of individuals living their daily lives within Los Angeles, California while facing stereotypes. The cast portrays: 2 caucasian white male police officers, an African American director and his wife, a white district attorney and his wife, a Persian immigrant family, and a Hispanic father whose occupation is a locksmith. The scene chosen from this film involves the police officers (Officer Ryan and Officer Hanson) pulling over the African American Director (Cameron Thayer) and his wife (Christine Thayer) at a traffic stop. This scene establishes two different types of theoretic sociological concepts of Thomas Theorem and cognitive dissonance.

The degree of connection between all of the characters in the movie is so coincidental and interrelated to emphasize the point that we do not always know what is going on with everyone else we may encounter. It also accentuates the fact that racism is not one particular race against another. It also shows that we never know someone’s situation and what is happening in their life to make them act the way that they do if

Based on the infamous 1942 “Sleepy Lagoon” murder mystery and the resulting “Zoot Suit Riots” in Los Angeles , playwright Luis Valdez weaves fact and fiction to depict the fate of 22 young Mexican Americans brought to trial for a murder they did not commit.

Crash is a movie that had several detailed events of sociological concepts. The movie Crash showed that everyone created has good intentions and good hearts but unfortunately they may grow up and learn the prejudices of the world. "Crash" is a movie that brings out racial stereotypes; as the movie is set in Los Angeles, a city with a diverse race of every nationality. The movie starts off with several people being involved in a car accident. We are then taken back to the day before the crash, where we are shown the lives of many of the characters, and the difficulties they may encounter during that day. An LAPD cop is trying to get medical help for his father, but he is having problems with an African American receptionist who won't give

When we try to understand why the characters act as they act and what drives each of them, the viewers are inevitably drawn to the conclusion that they are just like them. They realize they are human; they have both good qualities and bad qualities. Spike Lee also makes them understand that at times they may make terrible mistakes, and that at other times they may display admirable heroism, and that sometimes they simply act without knowing why. Spike Lee does more than try to show his viewers that despite tensions, this Black neighborhood is a community. What Lee does is he makes the viewers think. He simply presents events as they are leaving the viewer to figure out the motives of the characters and the ‘why’ behind the course of events. Lee doesn’t really put a positive light on any particular race while shadowing the other ones. He doesn’t try to make conflicts have an obvious solution. Lee simply re-creates a piece of life, with a little twist of extreme (yet realistic) drama for deeper effect, and by doing this he tries to simply make his audience think and question.