Essay On The Zoot Suit Riots

The Detroit Race Riot of June-July 1943 always had the question mark as to what the cause was for the riots. It has also been known as the “biggest and bloodiest race riots in the history of the United States” of America. A review that was completed by Welfred Holmes reveals some information from the book with the title: The Detroit Race Riot: A Study in Violence by Robert Shogan, and Tom Craig. The information that came to the fore was that the book explained the build-up to the riots as it occurred at least one year before the event. It was revealed that the morale of the Black people (Negroes as the book calls them) was very low. It was so low that it came to the point of not being concerned for their lives when it came to rioting. It

Public places were desegregated and unfair voting requirements were ended because of the brave activists who stood up against oppression. Despite these great strides, some would argue that that these efforts did not go far enough in changing America. Racially motivated police killings were and still are common. Economic opportunities were still very scarce for African American people. These dissatisfactions would lead to the establishment of groups like the Black Panthers.

The death Eugene Williams, one of the majors point of the Chicago Race Riots of 1919, it was one of the things that actually started to make the majority of African-Americans act. Eugene was hit and killed by a thrown rock by a white male on the breakwater, even after his identity was established he wasn’t arrested. Even to make matters worse one of the males accompanying him was arrested instead in the chaos. Of course, many people fought but the majority of the race moved out of the south, the southern states passed new constitutions and laws that dehumanized African-Americans and made them into slaves, they even had to flee from the Ku Klux Klan. This led to The Great Migration, which changed Chicago politically and culturally.

No one will ever forget the Baltimore riots. Freddie Gray, the young man killed by Baltimore police, became the symbol for the brutality facing young Black men. As a young Black man, it was hard for me to stay off of social media during these incidents. The riots raged on and many non-Blacks sought to remind our population of what we’re not allowed to do. Many social media posts focused on the March on Washington, Selma, and peaceful sit-ins, and captioned their posts with the statement: “Why can’t Blacks be peaceful like the Civil Rights Movement.”

President Lincoln issued the proclamation on Jan 1st, 1863 when the nation entered its 3rd year in the civil war. The reasoning for signing and enacting the proclamation was to change American life. Pres. Lincoln knew that once the proclamation was signed that everything would change, that African Americans would be considered as part of the American Life versus property of slave owners. President Lincoln was labeled a the great emancipator and he wanted to live up to that name, when he signed the proclamation he had hoped it would elevate the effort and show the people of the nation that he was a great wartime commander in chief. However, the proclamation had great limitations, it only apply to the states that were firmly under union control.

However the word Chicano doesn't have to have a definition. The word Chicano/a is unique because it can only be understood by one who has lived the Mexican American experience. The Chicano identity is flexible, because the word Chicano can mean something very different to everyone. This film shows that the 1960s Chicano movement created an identity for Mexican Americans who were stuck in the middle between Mexican and Anglo culture. In one identifies themselves as Chicano/a they are identifying themselves with the Chicano struggle. The word Chicano is an empowering identity, yet very complex. Being born a Mexican American doesn't mean you are a Chicano, you are Chicano because you chose to be. In this film, we learned about different Chicano movements like, La Raza, which means Chicano people as a whole. Along we also learned about La Causa, known for campaign for equality for Chicano people, conjointly we learned about the Huelga which was the strike led by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta in order to persuade farm owners to negotiate. The 1960 Chicano movement empowered Mexican Americans, it gave them awareness to the struggle that was happening at the time with Mexican Americans. The 1960’s Chicano movement also gave Mexican Americans an identity that a Chicano will stand up and do something about the injustice happening to

In the 1960s, the Chicano movement started to gain momentum. Chicanos began banding together to protect others while discovering their own self-identity. One source says that, a newfound gratitude for Chicano culture was detected. It goes on to state that, a “cultural rebirth was proclaimed” which had been provoked by “rediscovery” and an acknowledgement of their collective indigenous roots. The author adds that, it was a chance to uncover “a positive self-definition” (Rodriguez, "Building Aztlan: Chicano Movement Springs Back to Life"). Furthermore, in the 1960s, nothing could slow down the Chicano movement once it had sparked. So much so, that Rodriguez claims that it “led to colleges and universities becoming targets of protest” and the

From the mid 1910s to the early 1960s there were many riots that occured, because of racial tensions built up between the the whites and the blacks world wide. Coming from Will Brown being accused of rapping a young white girl, and to Eugene Williams having rocks thrown at him causing him to drown. Segregation at this time was unjustified due to racism still being heavily considered as the right thing to do. These riots caused the United States to be even more segregated, due to unequal rights and no laws being created at the time to help and protect African Americans. During these riots there were cases of police brutality and whites being able to do whatever they choose to do, because they felt as if it was a justified reason to stop the African Americans from rioting. The 1919 Race Riot

Racial tensions in Los Angeles came into the public eye when a gang of sailors beat up a group of Mexican-Americans wearing “zoot suits” in June of 1943. This led to the mass incarceration of these individuals known as “pachucos”. This initial incident was followed by days of violence in which servicemen roamed the Los Angeles area and physically assaulted any Mexican American they found in zoot suit apparel. The following two nights, the attacks progressed and though a few sailors were arrested while others were warned not to proceed in further assaults, word of the rioting spread and more military personnel from other areas of the city joined in as well. These events were preceded by increased racial tension between Mexican-Americans and Anglo Saxons.

Sometimes people do not understand the cause and effect of devastating events that may happen. The Panic of 1873 contributed negatively in many ways to the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. The Great Railroad Strike ended in a way that workers at the time couldn’t have imagined. The Panic of 1873 furnished The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 by supplying it with financial hardship for workers and causing African Americans to be treated unfairly in the south.

The Chicano movement derives from early oppression of Mexicans. Robert Rodrigo, author of “The Origins and History of the Chicano Movement” acknowledges that, “At the end of the Mexican American war in 1848, Mexico lost half of its territory to the United States and its Mexican residents became ‘strangers in their own lands.’” In stating this fact, Rodrigo exemplifies the United States’ relations with Mexico, that, ultimately, led to their oppression. Moreover, these early relations led to social injustice for the Mexican community. Carlos Muñoz, author of The Chicano Movement: Mexican American History and the Struggle for Equality reports, “As a conquered people, beginning with the Texas-Mexico War of 1836 and the U.S. Mexico War of 1846-48, they have

The “Zoot Suit Riots” were a series of events linked to the Sleepy Lagoon murder case, that took place in Los Angeles California in June 1943. Despite the fact that zoot suits were not only worn by mexican americans during this time, and they were referred to the zoot gangsters. Often throughout this period of time as the city of LA began to grow, Mexican Americans were looked as outsiders in a city that was once built by their ancestors. Although zoot suits were not limited to only a single race I think the name of the event give it a false single sided outlook on the story. Ultimately singling out Mexican Americans during this time, even though the sailors had just as much or even more involvement during the riots.

In 1943 the suit zoot riots occurred, this is the event where “a mob of U.S. servicemen took to the streets in taxicabs and began attacking Latinos and stripping them of their suits”. In the local papers it was made seem like the racial attacks were a vigilante respond to an immigrant crime wave and police would mostly only arrest the Latinos who fought back. These riots demonstrates how unfair the law enforcement was to the Latinos being attacked and how badly Latinos were treated by their peers. This type of mistreatment and discrimination towards them was not uncommon In the 1900s, in fact latinos were heavily discriminated against in the 1900s. Schools were segregated and many public establishments would have signs that read “we serve whites only, no spanish or mexicans.” Not only that but they were often punished for speaking their native language in school and they were not given the same learning opportunities as their caucasian classmates. In the workforce Latinos were also mistreated heavily and worked very hard jobs under very poor conditions. The discrimination and mistreatment of Latinos was tough on them and made their lives exceptionally

Once again, our government was allowing Mexican workers to come to the United States to work temporarily. The next year, in 1943 in downtown Los Angeles, the Zoot Suit Riots occurred. A zoot suit was worn as a part of the jazz movement during this time. It was seen as flagrant because it was worn by people of color who were expected to blend in and not make themselves noticeable. This was considered open defiance to people of Los Angeles, particularly those who had not immigrated. Zoot Suit Riots took place between Mexican-Americans and military men, such as sailors. The tension started between them when the military men came to Los Angeles on leave from the war, and started fighting men wearing zoot suits in the streets. These riots took place on numerous nights. The first night was May 30, 1943, and they continued until the last one on June 7, 1943. The Zoot Suit Riots started when American sailor Joe Coleman was walking with fellow sailors, and they passed by a group of men in zoot suits. Coleman grabbed the arm of one of the zoot suited men for “fear of being attacked” by him. The other zoot suited men then attacked and beat the sailors. Sailors and other military men recognized they had lost the fight against Mexican-Americans, and the next night they went back out in search of zoot suited men in order to retaliate against them. This is why the Zoot Suit Riots continued on for so

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. During 1942 through 1943 zoot suiters were considered to be dangerous gang members who committed crimes. Many Mexican American women and men were arrested. The conflict between