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Historical Significance Of The Zoot Suit Riots In Chicano Culture

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What is the historical significance of the Zoot Suit Riots in Chicano Culture?

It was June 1943 in Los Angeles six-months after the Sleepy Lagoon Murder; and racial tensions were high as well as were war time anxieties. At the time, Los Angeles had the highest population of Mexican Americans in the country. Just 100 years earlier the area was owned by Mexico and everything from streets to business was in Spanish. Many of the people living in the area were descendants of the Mexicans who had founded the city, but they were now second class citizens forbidden from eating in the restaurants, going to clubs, and other racial discrimination. There was much resentment, especially among the youth who wanted to go where they wanted to go, do what …show more content…

This was a foreshadowing of future civil rights unrest and a demand for equal treatment. Many of the youth at the time were looking for a way to show their independence from their conservative parents. They adopted the zoot suit fashion from African Americans in the 1930’s who chose to dress flashy to demonstrate that they were going to enjoy life no matter how many challenges they faced. The youth were also becoming captivated by jazz music and dancing, which many, including their parents, believed to be unsavory. These factors helped the Mexican American youth identify as a group of people who were “cool”, independent, and affluent, as the suits were quite expensive to buy. They wanted to be seen and heard, not marginalized. Many Anglo Americans also saw them as unpatriotic because the suits took a large amount of fabric, which went over the legal limit allowed during wartime. However, many Mexican American youth did participate in the wartime efforts both at home and overseas. This was the beginnings of Chicano …show more content…

Many citizens put up with the bad behavior because of their support for the war, but since Mexican Americans were the largest minority in Los Angeles they ended up being involved in most of the skirmishes. The sailors would insult the Chicanos as they drunkenly walked through the barrios on the way back to their ships and bases. The animosity grew as did the size of the fights until they broke into a full riot. As stories grew and traveled, soldiers and sailors from as far away as San Diego came to fight the pachucos. They were armed with homemade weapons and clubs and went into the Mexican neighborhoods looking for people wearing zoot suits. The police were unwilling to stop the fighting and they arrested the minority victims instead. Finally, the city council banned the wearing of zoot suits for 30 days and the fighting settled down. The governor created a committee to look into what caused the riots and so did the mayor of Los Angeles. The governor’s committee reported that racism was the cause, but the mayor’s group blamed the riots on juvenile delinquents and white Southerners with race not being a

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