Summary Of The Zoot Suit Riots

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.

The role of U.S government institutions was simply taking a back seat and turning a blind eye to the riots, in many cases Police authorities would show up after the riots were complete. During this time many of the highly ranked authority officials were shipped overseas to fight in the war. So other service men from around the U.S were forced into coming and serving in their place, who were unfamiliar with the Mexican American race and culture. As we saw in the video the sailors were the ones in a sense to initiate the fight

He would often find himself challenging authorities and protest the discrimination local authorities had on the Mexican community, ultimately standing up for his rights. He was later linked to the murder case of Jose Diaz which is known to be the leading cause behind the Zoot Suit Riot era, earning himself a prison sentence. Which later would be appealed in court freeing the whole 38th street gang. During the riots the sailors would get off easy by police and were only told to head back to their base. Whereas Mexican Americans during the riots were taken to jail and often sentenced to time in