The+Zoot+Suit+Riots+of+1943

The Zoot Suit Riots of 1943 were an explosion of tension in Los Angeles, California. The area was flooded with Americans moving west, as well as Mexican refugees fleeing the Mexican Revolution. These groups were joined by white farmers hoping to find luck out West during the Dust Bowl, and African-Americans looking for opportunity. The tension of an overpopulated city was complicated by the tension brought at the onset of the second world war, due to Los Angeles's proximity to Japan. When white men went off to fight, African Americans and women flooded the work industry. Integration was forced in the defense industry, but segregation began to be more severely enforced in other areas, such as the mass deportation of Japanese-Americans to camps due to the extreme tension with Japan. Meanwhile, the jazz culture was growing in the Los Angeles area. A staple of the culture was the Zoot Suit, a Mexican-American favored suit that let them stand out in society. Because traditionally, people of color were expected to defer to white privelege and remain in the background, many saw the suit as a problem and singled Mexican-American youths out as delinquents and 'gangsters'. The wearing of the suits led to tension when white sailors and military men began to come to Los Angeles on leave, and the outgoing youth asserted their new status in society. The new generation did not accept the standards accepted by their parents, and this led to a lot of confrontation with the white military men. Then, the issue of women served as a catalyst to a violent outbreak. Rumors circulated around both the military men and the young Mexican-Americans, about taunting and interracial relationships. The Mexican-Americans were accused of sexually harrassing the soldiers' white girlfriends and wives, and the sailors were viewed as predators who sought after Mexican-American women.

Finally, in August of 1943, an incident occurred that sparked a riot. A group of white military men was walking down the street, and saw a group of Mexican-American girls. On their way to them, they sought a group of Zoot suit-wearing Mexican-American men. As they passed, a misunderstanding in intentions sparked a brawl, and the riots had begun. A few days later, a large group of soldiers sought retaliation and left their Armory, armed with weapons. Rumors were circulating of further attacks. They formed a mob and took to the streets, looking for Zoot suiters to beat. After a few days, they took to the Latin American neighborhoods, and the attack on Zoot suiters became an attack on the Mexican American community. The police were unwilling to arrest their own kind and thus let the violence against the Mexican-Americans continue. When young Mexican-American boys organized a retalitory strike, police brutality came into play and dozens were arrested. The riots finally subsided 8 days later, when the military was banned from the city by senior military officials. Zoot suits became illegal.

 SOURCES  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/zoot/eng_peopleevents/e_riots.html