When history is whitewashed, it is filtered to hide marginalized groups and oppression. Recently on the news, textbook company McGraw-Hill stated that the company will rewrite a portion of their book which referred to African American slaves as workers and immigrants (McAfee, 2015). I was offended by the fact that McGraw-Hill even published a book that slaves were called workers and immigrants. To say that African Americans were workers and not slaves changes the whole fundamental history of enslaved populations; workers implies a willingness, when in fact, African American slaves were not willing participants. When you change the wording in textbooks, you change people’s views and perspectives of historical events and their everlasting effects on cultures. …show more content…
One way he does this is in the story of the Zoot Suit Riots. I prefer that we call this story the Solider and Sailor Riots and here is why. During WWII the War Production Board banned zoot suits because there was too much fabric being used in the production of making them. Zoot suits were high in demand and were sold illegally to patrons. The government reacted by labeling people who wore zoot suits as hoodlums. Mexicans and Mexican Americans wore zoot suits anyway because the zoot suits had become a part of their identity. This was Mexicans and Mexican Americans
The PBS documentary called Zoot Suit Riots was produced by Joseph Tovores in 2001. The documentary provided information on the tension between zoot suiters and sailors in Los Angeles, California in 1943. In the summer of 1942, there was a growing concern of Mexican crime. In the forties, Mexican American on Mexican American crime rarely ever grabbed media attention.
Significant contributing factors that led up to the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943 include the Sleepy Lagoon Murder, false News, and the zoot suits themselves. The Sleepy Lagoon Murder took place in 1942 in rural Los Angeles, in what is now Bell, California. Hank Leyvas and his girlfriend Dora Barrios had been assaulted and severely beaten by an enemy neighborhood. The next day, Hank recruited reinforcement and headed over to the Williams ranch to seek revenge. There, Hank and his gang wreaked havoc on an ongoing birthday party, resulting in the death of an innocent boy named José Díaz.
In the play, Zoot Suit by Luis Valdez is a play of real-life events that occurred in the 1940s. The play Zoot Suit is the history of the Mexican-Americans living in Los Angeles. Mexican-American men would wear zoot suits that are flashy, stylish, and that identified each other as a Pachuco. Mexican-Americans had been living in the world of discrimination and how Mexican-American suffered injustice in the 1940s. Discrimination is harming someone because of their race, sex, national origin, age, etc.
Zoot Suit Riots were a series of conflicts that occurred between the police workers and Mexican immigrants youths who wore garments called zoot suits. The zoot suits consisted of a drape jackets, a hat and trousers that were loose but, tight around the ankles. During this period there was a lot of discrimination towards the Mexican immigrants in the United States. The Zoot Suit Riots had first started when a zoot suiter was involved in a party fight and one of the party goers was brutally murdered, José Díaz. This only fueled the public 's outcrys against the zoot suits.
Throughout the years, individuals have learned U.S. History through the perspective of the governments, leaders, the conqueror. However, through Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, the reader saw a different perspective. They saw the views of slaves, of women, of the underdogs. This was Zinn’s purpose for writing A People’s History of the United States, to show the reader the other side of historical events, because too much of history is written by the elite. The thesis that seems to be maintained throughout is that the minority shaped America to what it is today.
After reading the book, “Race, Gender, and Punishment: From Colonialism to the War on Terror” by Mary Bosworth and Jeanne Flavin, they discuss what they feel are the four “sociohistorical processes (Bosworth, Flavin: 2)” of social control, these being colonialism, slavery, immigration, and globalization. The authors separate each of these into their own chapter for a certain reason, to show the treatment of colonized people. The book focuses on how “colonialism, like each of the factors that underpin this collection, operates both structurally…and ideologically through culture, and the construction of the imaginary. (Bosworth, Flavin: 3).” Stepping back to the days of slavery, race has been the worldwide pyramid of power, in which white/Caucasian
It’s their race and their choice of clothing. A trial that is full of discrimination. A life where no one believes what you say even though there is no evidence just words, no prove. Sarah Elizabeth Howard writes “zoot suit expressed the rebellion by young people against drab slum life through the colorful costume that identified them as members of their own society” (Howard 113). Essentially the evidence points out that anyone including myself want to be in group, to fit in, and have their own thing that represent who we are.
In Chapter 3 of A Different Mirror by Ronald Takaki, he attempts to understand the hidden origins of slavery. In this essay, I will describe and analyze how Takaki uses race, ethnicity, historical events, and famous people to have a better understanding of slavery. We know that slavery itself is a system where an individual owns, buys, or sells another individual. The Irish served as indentured servants, not just blacks, but as time passed slavery consisted of just African Americans.
People got beaten up to a pulp and sometimes had to go to the hospital. It was said that the Navy would beat Chicanos up and strip the naked then burn their clothes in the middle of street which too me is going to an extreme. The Zoot Suit was more of iconic fashion trend for Chicanos during 1943. Due to the Zoot Suit riots the Zoot Suit was pulled off of store shelves and were made illegal to wear in Los Angeles. In my opinion, if you have to ban a certain type of clothing because people are committing crimes with it then obviously your government isn’t doing something right and needs to be replaced immediately.
By the 1940’s Mexicans lived in barrio which were entirely different from white suburban neighborhoods. Parents were worried that their kids ventured away from the barrios. Unlike their parents, who were okay with being excluded from their rights, this newer generation were more rebellious and wanted to challenge norms. The Mexican youth began to start wearing the zoot suit. The zoot suit consisted of big balloon pants, it was inspired by African Americans.
How come history books don’t really say how bad slaves were treated and how bad they were beaten by their slave masters? White America knows what they did and what they did wrong. History classes should teach about whitewashing of American history because it would end misinformation on colonialism, it could end racial inequality, and there would be no more false history. Exposing students to the real Whitewashing of American history impacts the lives of minorities and Native Americans. “Samantha Manchac is concerned about the new materials.”
Police men arrested and attacked civilians who wore zoot suits. Seemingly policemen considered the outfits to be unpatriotic. During the wartime in 1943 fabric was needed in war world II. Fabric had to be limited due to the war, although young Mexican American were being attacked for wearing zoot suits, Young Filipinos and young African Americans were being attacked for wearing zoot suits.
Zoot suits are high-waisted, wide-legged, tight-cuffed, pegged trousers, and a long coat with lapels and wide padded shoulders. They were illegal to wear because they used an excessive amount of cloth. The serviceman were already low on cloth so they were not happy about the excessive amount of cloth. Zoot suit riots were a formative art of our history because the young people of Los Angeles stood up for themselves. In the Zoot Suits Riots article that I read on the encyclopedia Britannica, the author talked about how they were beaten for wearing them.
From this, derives a bond with the reader that pushes their understanding of the evil nature of slavery that society deemed appropriate therefore enhancing their understanding of history. While only glossed over in most classroom settings of the twenty-first century, students often neglect the sad but true reality that the backbone of slavery, was the dehumanization of an entire race of people. To create a group of individuals known for their extreme oppression derived from slavery, required plantation owner’s of the South to constantly embedded certain values into the lives of their slaves. To talk back means to be whipped.
American History Education Reforms The definition as well as the specific parts of accurate American history is a highly debated topic- especially in regards to educating children on American history. In “Let’s tell the Story of All America’s Cultures” by Yuh Ji-Yeon gives her point of view on the controversial topic of the success of American history education. As the author is a Korean immigrant she has a special connection to this topic, and is writing this article to giver her opinion in the debate of reforming education in America. Ji-Yeon successfully persuades the audience that American history education in the United States is discriminatory by using her personal experiences and emotions as she informs the audience of a possible solution