The Zoot Suit Riots
Zoot Suit Riots
The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of conflicts on June 3–8, 1943 in Los Angeles, California, United States, which pitted American servicemen stationed in Southern California against Mexican-American youths who were residents of the city. It was one of the dozen wartime industrial cities tha…
Hispanic and Latino Americans
Hispanic Americans and Latino Americans are Americans who are descendants of people from Spain or Latin America. More generally, it includes all Americans who speak the Spanish language natively, and who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino, whether of full or partial ancestry. For the 2010 United States Census, people counted as "Hispanic" or "Latino" were those who identified as one of the specifi…
What happened in the Zoot Suit Riot?
Zoot Suit Riots. Zoot Suit Riots, a series of conflicts that occurred in June 1943 in Los Angeles between U.S. servicemen and Mexican American youths, the latter of whom wore outfits called zoot suits. The zoot suit consisted of a broad-shouldered drape jacket, balloon-leg trousers, and, sometimes, a flamboyant hat.
What were the 1943 Zoot riots in New York?
The June 1943 riots took their name from the baggy suits worn by many minority youths during that era, but the violence was more about racial tension than fashion. What Is a Zoot Suit? During the 1930s, dance halls were popular venues for socializing, swing dancing and easing the economic stress of the Great Depression.
What happened in the 1943 Los Angeles riots?
On the evening of June 3, 1943, a group of U.S. sailors told police that they had been attacked by a gang of zoot suit-wearing young “Mexicans” in downtown Los Angeles. The next day, as many as 200 uniformed sailors, seeking revenge, took taxis and buses to the Mexican American barrio section of East Los Angeles.
What are some good books about the Los Angeles zoot suit riots?
"The Los Angeles 'Zoot Suit Riots' Revisited: Mexican and Latin American Perspectives". Mexican Studies. 16 (2): 367–91. doi: 10.1525/msem.2000.16.2.03a00080. JSTOR 1052202. Mazon, Maurizio. The Zoot-Suit Riots: The Psychology of Symbolic Annihilation. University of Texas Press, Austin, TX. 2002 ISBN 0-292-79803-2 ISBN 9780292798038
What happened during the zoot suits riots?
Many zoot-suiters were beaten by servicemen and stripped of their zoot suits on the spot. The servicemen sometimes urinated on the zoot suits or burned them in the streets. One local paper printed an article describing how to “de-zoot” a zoot-suiter, including directions that the zoot suits should be burned.
What happened in the zoot suit riots of 1943 quizlet?
The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of riots in 1943 during World War II that broke out in Los Angeles, California, between Anglo American sailors and Marines stationed in the city, and Latino youths, who were recognizable by the zoot suits they favored.
What caused the Zoot Suit riots in the summer of 1943?
The Zoot Suit Riots were related to fears and hostilities aroused by the coverage of the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial, following the killing of a young Latino man in what was then an unincorporated commercial area near Los Angeles.
Who was targeted in the Zoot Suit Riots?
In retaliation, about 50 sailors left the local U.S. Navy Reserve Armory on the evening of June 3, armed with makeshift weapons and targeting zoot-suiters (even those as young as 12 or 13 years old).
Why are they called zoot suits?
Although its exact origin is unknown, the term “zoot suit” appears to have come from the rhyming slang, or jive, spoken in the African-American community at the time, Peiss says. “They were generally worn by young men of African-American descent, initially,” Peiss says.
Why is zoot suit important?
You might just think of zoot suits as a nod to a bygone era, but this staple of Chicano fashion is an important symbol of cultural resistance that emerged from a period of anti-Mexican racism in Los Angeles during World War II.
What did Zoot Suit Riots symbolize?
The city made clear of its stance on the zoot suit, which, to it, represented both the gall of Mexican youth and the threat of criminality. And so the attacks by off-the-clock military servicemen on these communities in 1943 presented the opportunity for blatant violence on zoot suiters.
Is it still illegal to wear a zoot suit?
In Los Angeles, it is illegal to wear a zoot suit. Zoot suits, because of their excessive fabric, were seen as unpatriotic. These suits were mainly worn by Hispanics in the Los Angeles area and led to several fights between the Hispanics and whites in the area. The law was passed to stop these large-scale altercations.
What did the Zoot Suit Riots symbolize?
The city made clear of its stance on the zoot suit, which, to it, represented both the gall of Mexican youth and the threat of criminality. And so the attacks by off-the-clock military servicemen on these communities in 1943 presented the opportunity for blatant violence on zoot suiters.
Is it still illegal to wear a zoot suit?
In Los Angeles, it is illegal to wear a zoot suit. Zoot suits, because of their excessive fabric, were seen as unpatriotic. These suits were mainly worn by Hispanics in the Los Angeles area and led to several fights between the Hispanics and whites in the area. The law was passed to stop these large-scale altercations.
How were the causes of the Detroit race riots and the Los Angeles Zoot Suit Riots similar?
How were the causes of the Detroit race riots and the Los Angeles Zoot Suit Riots similar? Both riots were caused by tensions created when large numbers of people from a minority group migrated or immigrated to a city during the war.
What was extreme about the zoot suit dress?
As Kathy Peiss writes in her book Zoot Suit: The Enigmatic Career of an Extreme Style, what made “the suit 'zoot' was the way it pulled out the lines and shape of the traditional suit to widen a man's shoulders, lengthen his torso, and loosen his limbs.” The origins of the term zoot suit are not known.
Why did the Zoot suit riots happen?
The Zoot Suit Riots were related to fears and hostilities aroused by the coverage of the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial, following the killing of a young Latino man in what was then an unincorporated commercial area near Los Angeles. The riot appeared to trigger similar attacks that year against Latinos in Chicago, San Diego, Oakland, Evansville, Philadelphia, and New York City. The defiance of zoot suiters became inspirational for Chicanos during the Chicano Movement.
Where did the Zoot suit riots take place?
The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of conflicts on June 3–8, 1943 in Los Angeles, California, United States, which pitted American servicemen stationed in Southern California against young Latino and Mexican American city residents.
What did zoot suits look like?
The arm and ankle areas were often much tighter than the rest of the fabric, giving the whole look a triangular shape .
What is the meaning of the Zoot suit?
The zoot suit was originally a statement about creating a new wave of music and dress, but it also held significant political meaning. The flamboyant and colorful material indicated a desire to express oneself against the boring and somber slum lifestyle. The zoot suit provided young African American and Mexican youth a sense of individualistic identity within their cultures and society as they discovered “highly charged emotional and symbolic meaning” through the movement, music, and dress.
Why did the Angelenos attack the Zoot suits?
American servicemen and white Angelenos attacked and stripped children, teenagers, and youths who wore zoot suits, ostensibly because they considered the outfits, which were made from large amounts of fabric, to be unpatriotic during World War II.
Where did the zoot suiters fight?
One of the first conflicts between the sailors and the zoot suiters was in August 1942, near Chinatown. The sailors who trained in the Chavez Ravine went to Chinatown on leave. A sailor and his girlfriend were walking when four zoot suiters blocked the sidewalk in front of them. The zoot suiters refused to let them pass and pushed the sailor into the street. The young zoot-suiter and the sailor stood their ground in silence until finally, the sailor backed away.
What were the restrictions on the manufacture of men's suits?
With the entry of the United States into World War II in December 1941 following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the nation had to deal with the restrictions of rationing and the prospects of conscription. In March 1942, the War Production Board (WPB) regulated the manufacture of men's suits and all clothing that contained wool. To achieve a 26% cut-back in the use of fabrics, the WPB issued regulations for the manufacture of what Esquire magazine called, "streamlined suits by Uncle Sam ." The regulations effectively forbade the manufacture of the wide-cut zoot suits and full women's skirts or dresses. Most legitimate tailoring companies ceased to manufacture or advertise any suits that fell outside the War Production Board's guidelines. But the demand for zoot suits did not decline; a network of bootleg tailors based in Los Angeles and New York City continued to produce the garments. Youths also continued to wear clothes which they already owned.
What happened to the zoot suits in Los Angeles?
The next day the Los Angeles City Council passed a resolution that banned the wearing of zoot suits on Los Angeles streets. The number of attacks dwindled, and the rioting had largely ended by June 10. In the following weeks, however, similar disturbances occurred in other states.
Why were zoot suits considered un-American?
This exacerbated racial tensions, as Mexican American youths wearing the zoot suits were seen as un-American because they were deliberately ignoring the rationing regulations. The Zoot Suit Riots are commonly associated with the Sleepy Lagoon murder, which occurred in August 1942. The Sleepy Lagoon, as it was nicknamed, ...
What was the name of the suit that was worn by Mexican American youths in the war?
Full Article. Zoot Suit Riots, a series of conflicts that occurred in June 1943 in Los Angeles between U.S. servicemen and Mexican American youths, the latter of whom wore outfits called zoot suits. The zoot suit consisted of a broad-shouldered drape jacket, balloon-leg trousers, and, sometimes, a flamboyant hat.
What is the name of the riots that occurred in Los Angeles?
Within months of the Sleepy Lagoon convictions, Los Angeles erupted in what are commonly referred to as the Zoot Suit Riots.
Why were Mexican American youths arrested?
There were also reports of Mexican American youths requesting to be arrested and locked up in order to protect themselves from the servicemen in the streets. In contrast, very few sailors and soldiers were arrested during the riots.
What were the Mexican and American youths who wore these outfits called?
Mexican and Mexican American youths who wore these outfits were called zoot-suiters. These individuals referred to themselves as pachucos, a name linked to the Mexican American generation’s rebellion against both the Mexican and American cultures.
What happened on June 4th?
As a result, on June 4 a number of uniformed sailors chartered cabs and proceeded to the Mexican American community, seeking out the zoot-suiters. What occurred that evening and in the following days was a series of conflicts primarily between servicemen and zoot-suiters. Many zoot-suiters were beaten by servicemen and stripped ...
What was the aftermath of the Zoot suit riots?
Aftermath of the Zoot Suit Riots. Local papers framed the racial attacks as a vigilante response to an immigrant crime wave , and police generally restricted their arrests to the Latinos who fought back. The riots didn’t die down until June 8, when U.S. military personnel were finally barred from leaving their barracks.
Where were the zootsuits in 1943?
In the summer of 1943, tensions ran high between zoot-suiters and the large contingent of white sailors, soldiers and Marines stationed in and around Los Angeles. Mexican Americans were serving in the military in high numbers, but many servicemen viewed the zoot-suit wearers as World War II draft dodgers (though many were in fact too young to serve in the military).
What Is a Zoot Suit?
During the 1930s, dance halls were popular venues for socializing, swing dancing and easing the economic stress of the Great Depression . Nowhere was this more true than in the uptown Manhattan neighborhood of Harlem, home of the famed Harlem Renaissance.
What did the taxi drivers do in the riots?
Taxi drivers offered free rides to servicemen to rioting areas, and thousands of military personnel and civilians from San Diego and other parts of Southern California converged on Los Angeles to join the mayhem. Police officers take a young man wearing a zoot suit into custody in Los Angeles on June 11, 1943.
How many sailors were in the zoot suit?
Partly in retaliation, on the evening of June 3, about 50 sailors from the local U.S. Naval Reserve Armory marched through downtown Los Angeles carrying clubs and other crude weapons, attacking anyone seen wearing a zoot suit or other racially identified clothing.
What did Harlem dancers wear?
Style-conscious Harlem dancers began wearing loose-fitting clothes that accentuated their movements. Men donned baggy trousers with cuffs carefully tapered to prevent tripping; long jackets with heavily padded shoulders and wide lapels; long, glittering watch chains; and hats ranging from porkpies and fedoras to broad-brimmed sombreros.
What happened in 1917?
Local police officers often watched from the sidelines, then arrested the victims of the beatings. Recommended for you. 1917. The 1917 Bath Riots.
Zoot Suit Riots of 1943: Introduction
Lately, it seems like the news has been filled with people rioting in the streets over racial violence between police and the citizens they serve. In 1943, the situation was much the same, only the racial tensions were between Mexican Americans and U.S. military personnel.
Military Personnel Take Issue With Zoot Suits
In the 1940s, twp large events in U.S. history occurred: the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the start of WWII. There was a national ration (or limiting of goods and services to non-military personnel) to make sure our troops had all the supplies they needed to fight the war.
The Impact of the Sleepy Lagoon Murder Trial
In addition, Mexican Americans had distrust in law enforcement officials following the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial, which involved a young man, José Gallardo Díaz, who was found dead in California in 1942. Seventeen young Mexican American youth were held without bail on murder charges without any evidence that any were involved.
The Riots Begin
Remember, servicemen hate Mexican Americans and now Mexican Americans hate law enforcement. Perfect storm right? Two small altercations between Mexican American zoot suit wearers started a flood gate of smaller altercations.
When did the zoot suit riots happen?
Robert Longley. Updated April 24, 2020. The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of violent conflicts that occurred from June 3 to June 8, 1943, in Los Angeles, California, during which U.S. servicemen attacked young Latinos and other minorities who wore zoot suits—outfits featuring balloon-legged trousers and long coats with wide lapels ...
What were the causes of the Zoot suit riots?
Between 1930 and 1942, social and political pressures contributed to the growing racial tensions that formed the underlying cause of the Zoot Suit Riots. The number of ethnic Mexicans living legally and illegally in California shrank, then swelled drastically as the result of government initiatives related to the Great Depression and World War II.
What happened in 1943?
sailors told police that they had been attacked by a gang of zoot suit-wearing young “Mexicans” in downtown Los Angeles. The next day, as many as 200 uniformed sailors, seeking revenge, took taxis and buses to the Mexican American barrio section of East Los Angeles. Over the next few days, the servicemen attacked dozens of zoot suit-wearing pachucos, beating them and stripping them of their clothing. As the streets became littered with piles of burning zoot suits, word of the mayhem spread. Local newspapers referred to the servicemen as heroes helping police put down a “Mexican crime wave.”
Why were zoot suits unpatriotic?
servicemen sought out and attacked the zoot-suited “pachucos” claiming that wearing zoot suits was unpatriotic due to a large amount of wool and other war-rationed fabrics used in making them. In stopping the riots, police arrested more than 600 young Latinos, beating many victims, but only a few servicemen.
Why did the defendants wear zoot suits?
At the request of the district attorney, the defendants were also forced to wear zoot suits at all times on the grounds that the jury should see them in clothing “obviously” worn only by “hoodlums.”. In 1944, the Sleepy Lagoon convictions were overturned by the Second District Court of Appeals.
How many Mexican Americans were arrested in the zoot attack?
The police responded by arresting more than 600 young Mexican Americans, many of whom had actually been victims of the servicemen’s assaults. To the disgust of the Latino community, only a handful of servicemen were arrested.
When did the zoot suit start?
First popularized during the 1930s in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City and worn predominately by African American and Latino teenagers, the flamboyant zoot suit had taken on racist overtones by the early 1940s. In Los Angeles, zoot suit-wearing Latino youths, calling themselves “pachucos,” as a reference to their rebellion against traditional American culture, were increasingly viewed by some white residents as menacing juvenile delinquent thugs.
What happened to the zoot suit riots?
sailors and a group of zoot-suiters ended in the beating of one of the sailors.
When did the zoot suit riots end?
The Zoot Suit Riots finally died down after June 8, when military officials banned all military personnel from Los Angeles and called on military police to patrol the city. The L.A. City Council subsequently passed a resolution prohibiting the wearing of zoot suits on city streets.
What was the name of the outfit that the sailors wore in the Los Angeles riots?
On June 3, 1943, a group of U.S. sailors marches through downtown Los Angeles, carrying clubs and other makeshift weapons and attacking anyone wearing a “zoot suit”—the baggy wool pants, oversized coats and porkpie hats favored by many young men of color at the time. Over the next week, the so-called Zoot Suit Riots spread throughout the city, ...
Where did the zoot suit come from?
After originating in Harlem jazz clubs in the 1930s, the zoot suit style had become popular with young men in Black and Latino communities across the country. In Los Angeles, which had a large Mexican-American population, many more conservative citizens (including both older Mexican Americans and whites) objected to the young zoot-suiters who called themselves “pachucos,” associating them not only with cultural rebellion but also with criminality and gangsterism.
How many people were killed in the Paris bombing?
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Who was the first American astronaut to walk in space?
On June 3, 1965, 120 miles above the Earth, Major Edward H. White II opens the hatch of the Gemini 4 and steps out of the capsule, becoming the first American astronaut to walk in space. Attached to the craft by a 25-foot tether and controlling his movements with a hand-held ...read more
Who is Joran van der Sloot?
On June 3, 2010, Joran van der Sloot, a longtime suspect in the unsolved 2005 disappearance of American teen Natalee Holloway in Aruba, is arrested in Chile in connection with the slaying of 21-year-old Stephany Flores, in Lima, Peru. Flores was murdered on May 30, 2010, exactly ...read more
Overview
The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of riots on June 3–8, 1943 in Los Angeles, California, United States, involving American servicemen stationed in Southern California and young Latino and Mexican American city residents. It was one of the dozen wartime industrial cities that suffered race-related riots in the summer of 1943, along with Mobile, Alabama; Beaumont, Texas; Detroit, Michigan; and New …
Background
California was a part of Mexico for 27 years, before becoming part of the United States. Due to this history, there has always been a large Latino population in California. During the early 20th century, many Mexicans immigrated for work to US border states which needed workers, areas such as Texas, Arizona, and California. They were recruited by farmers for work on the large farms and als…
Prelude
Following the Sleepy Lagoon case, U.S. service personnel got into violent altercations with young Mexican Americans in zoot suits in San Jose, Oakland, San Diego, Delano, Los Angeles, and smaller cities and towns in California. During this period, the immense war buildup attracted tens of thousands of new workers to factories and shipyards in the West Coast, including African Americans from the South in the second wave of the Great Migration.
Riots
On the night of June 3, 1943, about eleven sailors got off a bus and started walking along Main Street in Downtown Los Angeles. Encountering a group of young Mexicans in zoot suits, they got into an argument. The sailors later told the LAPD that they were jumped and beaten by this gang, while the zoot suiters claimed the altercation was started by the sailors. The LAPD responded to th…
Reactions
As the riots subsided, the most urgent concern of officials was relations with Mexico, as the economy of Southern California relied on the importation of cheap Mexican labor to assist in the harvesting of California crops. After the Mexican Embassy lodged a formal protest with the State Department, Governor Earl Warren of California ordered the creation of the McGucken Committee (heade…
See also
• Battle of Brisbane, Australia, 1942
• Battle of Manners Street in Wellington, New Zealand, 1943
• History of the Mexican Americans in Los Angeles
• List of incidents of civil unrest in the United States
Further reading
• Alvarez, Luis. The Power of the Zoot: Youth Culture and Resistance During World War II (University of California Press, 2008)
• del Castillo, Richard Griswold (2000). "The Los Angeles 'Zoot Suit Riots' Revisited: Mexican and Latin American Perspectives". Mexican Studies. 16 (2): 367–91. doi:10.1525/msem.2000.16.2.03a00080. JSTOR 1052202.
External links
• Zoot Suit Riots. American Experience.
• A list of newspaper articles written about the Zoot Suit Riots.
• Images and primary source documents about the Zoot Suit Riots, from the University of California
Summary
Venues
- During the 1930s, dance halls were popular venues for socializing, swing dancing and easing the economic stress of the Great Depression. Nowhere was this more true than in the uptown Manhattan neighborhood of Harlem, home of the famed Harlem Renaissance.
Formation
- Style-conscious Harlem dancers began wearing loose-fitting clothes that accentuated their movements. Men donned baggy trousers with cuffs carefully tapered to prevent tripping; long jackets with heavily padded shoulders and wide lapels; long, glittering watch chains; and hats ranging from porkpies and fedoras to broad-brimmed sombreros.
Influence
- The image of these so-called zoot suits spread quickly and was popularized by performers such as Cab Calloway, who, in his Hepsters Dictionary, called the zoot suit the ultimate in clothes. The only totally and truly American civilian suit.
Criticism
- Despite these wartime restrictions, many bootleg tailors in Los Angeles, New York and elsewhere continued to make the popular zoot suits, which used profligate amounts of fabric. Servicemen and many other people, however, saw the oversized suits a flagrant and unpatriotic waste of resources.
Reactions
- The local media was only too happy to fan the flames of racism and moral outrage: On June 2, 1943, the Los Angeles Times reported: Fresh in the memory of Los Angeles is last years surge of gang violence that made the zoot suit a badge of delinquency. Public indignation seethed as warfare among organized bands of marauders, prowling the streets at night, brought a wave of a…
Incidents
- On May 31, a clash between uniformed servicemen and Mexican American youths resulted in the beating of a U.S. sailor. Partly in retaliation, on the evening of June 3, about 50 sailors from the local U.S. Naval Reserve Armory marched through downtown Los Angeles carrying clubs and other crude weapons, attacking anyone seen wearing a zoot suit or other racially identified clothi…
Aftermath
- In the days that followed, the racially charged atmosphere in Los Angeles exploded in a number of full-scale riots. Mobs of U.S. servicemen took to the streets and began attacking Latinos and stripping them of their suits, leaving them bloodied and half-naked on the sidewalk. Local police officers often watched from the sidelines, then arrested the victims of the beatings. Local papers …
Impact
- Thousands more servicemen, off-duty police officers and civilians joined the fray over the next several days, marching into cafes and movie theaters and beating anyone wearing zoot-suit clothing or hairstyles (duck-tail haircuts were a favorite target and were often cut off). Blacks and Filipinoseven those not clad in zoot suitswere also attacked. By June 7, the rioting had spread o…
Events
- On Monday evening, June seventh, thousands of Angelenos turned out for a mass lynching. Marching through the streets of downtown Los Angeles, a mob of several thousand soldiers, sailors, and civilians, proceeded to beat up every zoot-suiter they could find. Street cars were halted while Mexicans, and some Filipinos and Negroes, were jerked out of their seats, pushed i…
Controversy
- Some of the most disturbing violence was clearly racist in nature: According to several reports, a black defense plant workerstill wearing his defense-plant identification badgewas yanked off a streetcar, after which one of his eyes was gouged out with a knife.
Investigation
- A Citizens Committee appointed by California Governor Earl Warren to investigate the Zoot Suit Riots convened in the weeks after the riot. The committees report found that, In undertaking to deal with the cause of these outbreaks, the existence of race prejudice cannot be ignored.
Issues
- Additionally, the committee described the problem of juvenile delinquency youth as one of American youth, not confined to any racial group. The wearers of zoot suits are not necessarily persons of Mexican descent, criminals or juveniles. Many young people today wear zoot suits.
Sources
- A Brief History of the Zoot Suit: Smithsonian.com. Zoot Suit Riots: Pomona College Research Library [online]. Remembering the Zoot Suit Riots: California Historical Society.
Resources
- Youth Gangs Leading Cause of Delinquencies: Los Angeles Times. Accessed via web.viu.ca. The Los Angeles Zoot Suit Riots Revisited: Mexican and Latin American Perspectives. Richard Griswold del Castillo, San Diego State University.
What Caused The Zoot Suit Riots?
- In August 1942, a murder was committed near a water reservoir called Sleepy Lagoon during a party that was attended by young Mexican Americans. The police began racially targeted arrests and, as a result, rounded up six hundred young Mexican Americans. Twenty-four Pachucos were tried and seventeen were found guilty of murder in a clearly unjust trial in which the defendants …
Beginning and Spread of The Zoot Suit Riots
- On June 3, 1943, some servicemen alleged that they were attacked by a group of young Mexican Americans wearing zoot suits. The next day, a large number of sailors descended on the predominantly Mexican American neighborhoods of downtown Los Angeles. The servicemen began actively searching for ''zoot-suiters'' on the streets and dragging them out of...
Aftermath of The Zoot Suit Riots
- A citizens' committee was formed by the governor of California to explain what had taken place in Los Angeles. Notably, no such committee was established after the anti-African American riots in Detroit, in which ten people were murdered, that took place the same month. The Zoot Suit Riots were, however, not only an internal matter for the city of Los Angeles or the United States, but b…