Zoot Suit Riots

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

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)

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.

Before the race riots broke out in Chicago, tension between two communities were high and resulted 1919 Chicago Race Riot, which Black teenager called Eugene Williams swimming in Lake Michigan was stoned to death by White bystanders. His death caused one of the worst riots in American history because 37 people died, 500 injured and thousands left homeless. When the local police were called to the William’s death, they refused to arrest the man who initiated the

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

“…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?

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

Despite the war efforts by many Mexican Americans in both fronts of the war, brutal discrimination was still rampant even in the very neighborhoods (barrios) that they called home. The Sleepy Lagoon Case, dubbed as such by the LA press, was an example of racial tension brought to light. In the heat of August 1942 gang member Jose Diaz was found unconscious near a swimming hole named the Sleepy Lagoon where many young Latinos and gang members would go to swim as they were not permitted to frequent Anglo only natatoriums. Diaz who never regained consciousness had apparently suffered a skull fracture, but no murder weapon or proof of murder was ever found. In the face of these facts, authorities blamed twenty-four youths, only one of which was Anglo. Citing Mexican American 'lawlessness and mischievousness ' as proof enough that they were to be at fault. The notoriously corrupt Los Angeles Police Department charged the twenty-four who were involved in a gang clash earlier in the day with murder. It was no secret that Judge Charles Fricke was blatantly racist and he repeatedly allowed prosecutors to stereotype the defendants. He also refused to allow the defendants change of clothes or haircuts so as to have them resemble in the courtroom how he viewed Mexican Americans: as criminals and hooligans, because of the belief 'only hoodlums wore zoot suits '. In January 1943, the jury without any solid evidence found

The book Zoot Suit has symbolic significance for Mexican Americans and tells about the riots during World War II. The Sleepy Lagoon Murder was one step in the fight for the rights and respect of Mexican American's. This riot involved young servicemen and civilians who clashed in the streets of the city with young Mexican Americans who wore the noticeable "Zoot Suit." At their height, the riots involved several thousand men and women. In the end no one was killed and only a few were injured but even today, the Zoot Suit riots are remembered for their significance.

shortages. Women became charged with taking care of the farms. The Confiscation Acts hurt southern agriculture production as well. The first Confiscation Act passed August 6, 1861 “stated that all slaves who fought with or worked for the Confederate military services were freed of further obligations to their masters”. Later the second Confiscation Act passed July 17, 1862 stated “slaves of civilian and military Confederate officials ‘shall be forever free,’ but it was enforceable only in areas of the South occupied by the Union Army”. Southern agriculture also suffered from the effects of the Emancipation Proclamation. Slaves became less efficient with the promise of freedom. The Union blockade also hurt southern agriculture. The Union

In 1965 riots in L.A. occurred after a routine stop by the police involving drunk driving. This stop occurred very close the driver’s residence where massive crowd began to build. When it was all said and done

Protests riots in the United States has proven to an issue for both the country’s financial strength and the unity of the nation. With the presence of social injustices, combined with the increased impact of social media propaganda, protests riots are beginning to reach an all time high. Protest riots destroy individual communities and businesses, jeopardizes the safety of others and taints the protest’s cause by resorting to civil disobedience. Action must be done in order to prevent these random acts of violence from continuing after every social hot topic. The goal is not to prevent citizens from protesting; in fact, this should be encouraged. The goal is to change the way the protests are handled from both the citizens and authority perspectives, in order to prevent these protests from escalating into something dangerous.

Racial gang fights were all too common in the military during the Vietnam War Era. Initially, African Americans thought the military was a safe haven from the Ku Klux Klan, but soon discovered the KKK was a major source of racial violence within the military. “Groups of whites, wearing real or impromptu Klan robes, were reported on numerous military bases in the United States and overseas.” (Westheider 85) The Ku Klux Klan also has similar traditional practices such as burning the cross on military bases. “In May 1969, two white sailors at Cam Ranh Bay burned a twelve-foot-high cross in front of a predominantly black barrack.” (Westheider 85) These Klan practices escalated racial violence even more. Blacks were not accepting to the racial slang and practices of the Ku Klux Klan, which lead to many racial gang fights within barracks, bars, and food service lines at military camps. Much of the racial violence were fistfights between black and whites, which actually caused a lot of damage to the soldiers and any location where a fight took place. “Often these Klan-like activities seemed to occur with the tacit approval of those in command.” (Westheider 85) The Ku Klux Klan was obviously supported by the military, and is one major cause of racial friction and violence in the military.

The history of African-Americans in the United States is full of many periods of achievements, as well as periods of struggle. The Los Angeles riots of 1992 were the result of many years of systematic racism in the United States following the Civil Rights Movement. The beating and unjust trial of Rodney King exposed the unfair and brutal treatment of African Americans by the police. As well as the shooting of 15 year-old Latasha Harlins 2 weeks after the beating of Rodney King to further ignite hatred within African-Americans in Los Angeles. What came forth was a week long riot not only changed Los Angeles, but the United States. That is why the Los Angeles riots was the most devastating, yet consequential, civil uproar in the history of the United States.

On 1 May 1866 in the city of Memphis, Tennessee, an altercation between black Union soldiers and Memphis police officers started a chain reaction that eventually brought about what has come to be known as the Memphis Riots of 1866. The group of amicably intoxicated soldiers reacted negatively when told by a small group of officers to break up their party, and although no one was seriously injured, the situation quickly escalated to the point where shots were fired on both sides (Carden 2). This incident, however, was not the cause of the Memphis Riots. Instead, I will argue that the altercation merely served as the spark to set a fire to a whole mess of kindling made of economic, political, and social twigs and branches, which was already in place long before the actual events of the Memphis Riots.