Zoot Suit Riots Case Study

The Sleepy Lagoon Murder Trial was one of the most shocking displays of injustice carried on by the court of California. The trial focused on the murder of twenty two year old Jose Diaz who had been beaten and stabbed near a reservoir known as Sleepy Lagoon. Sleepy Lagoon had always been a place that comminity and gang members frequently visited located in East Los Angeles. On the evening of August 1, 1942 two rivaling gangs had a violent confrontation between one another. This led to future events which would result in the murder of Jose Diaz. The Los Angeles Police department held 600 youths in custody as well as charged 2 people for the murder of Diaz. The court held 22 people responsible for the death of Diaz despite lack of evidence and

“…About eight sailors got me outside of the theater and they started beating me up. It happened so fast, I passed out. I woke up with a cracked rib, a broken nose, black and blue all over. I was really beat.”(Alvarez, 2006, p.155) During the 1940s, the public had generated stereotypes of the Pachucos and zoot suits, which were eventually transferred to all Mexican Americans. Many young men like Vicente Morales were attacked, humiliated, and stripped from their fashionable clothes by servicemen. However, to what extent did the fashionable expression of the zooters and the culture of the Pachucos influence the Zoot Suit Riots?

A reason why it was an act of racism is because even though their ethnicity is japanese, they are still an american citizen. Although they were american citizens, they were still placed into internment camps because the government believed that they were a threat. As a result, they made a justification to place japanese-americans into internment camps. In paragraph 4 of the article “Japanese-American Internment Was An Unnecessary And A Racist Act” it states, “ Uno says the claim that japanese-americans were relocated for their own protection was ‘sheery hypocrisy’ and denies that japanese-americans posed a national security threat. Instead, he calls the relocation a crime attributable to ‘racism’ and economic and political oppurtunism.” This supports my claim because it shows how placing japanese americans was an act of racism. Like I said, even though their ethnicity is japanese, they are still an american citizen.

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

Was it right to lock up all those Japanese-Americans because we were in war with their country? I strongly disagree, what the U.S.A did to those Japanese- Americans it was unfair because we did not do this to other nationalities, Japanese-Americans showed loyalty, and it was racism and hysteria. I bet more people agree with me.

He and his friend were cursed out, called names and spray with mace by a young white man. Then had the police called on them by one of the neighbors, when they had been asking for help. The way they were treated would have been different had it been Filipino women or white men of high class. If it had been the white men of high class the young man that made racial slurs and spray them with mace would not have even given him a second look.

One example of racial discrimination in the United States is in the period of Japanese Internment during WWII. To categorize instances of discrimination, one can say that a large portion of the issue was when the government decided to overlook some of its underlying principles. Another is when the United States court system and its jurors made decisions directly reflecting the fear and angry misconceptions set inside of each of them. However, all of these prejudices are driven by ignorance and confusion. Although the majority of the citizens of the United States believed that removing Japanese Americans from populated areas during WWII was a reasonable and necessary decision, there is evidence to counter this idea in arguments regarding Executive Ordinance 9066, the Korematsu trial, and prejudice within

I agree with the dissenting opinion because, the fact that we had imprisoned over a hundred thousand Japanese Americans just go’s to show that the U.S was an unfair and racist country. America had falsely accused an entire race because of a few bad people had wronged us and all the friendly and loyal Japanese Americans in our country had to suffer because of what some of their people did. The order to lock them all up should not have been given as there was no confirmation that the Japanese people living here were spies, but since we were bombed at Pearl Harbor we became paranoid and felt that because those Japanese attacked us that all Japanese were enemies and not to be trusted. The way we had taken them from their homes and threw them in

The things that were done to the Japanese Americans were unfair and misunderstood as far as making it look like these innocent citizens were a issue in American society. I will be discussing this issue in my opinion and what i think the issue really is, I will support this with information and evidence that i collected from various websites, to follow up with textual evidence that will support my claim and example showing different perspectives of the issue.

Reaction to the verdict was notable for its division along racial lines. A poll of Los Angeles County citizens showed that most African-Americans felt that justice had been served by the verdict, meanwhile the majority of whites and Latinos voiced that it had not.

In a protest you cannot say it has to be either violent or non-violent, because they are not every protest is about the same thing or trying to get the same point across and not the same people are taking care or taking part in these protests. Not every protest has to be violent some will have a better outcome if it is done in a non-violent way. On the other hand there are so many protests that got their point across only by using violence. In some cases it might be better for the violent side of a protest to show up.