StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Zoot Suit Riots - Research Paper Example

Cite this document
Summary
The Zoot Suit Riots refers to the series of riots instigated during the Second World War in Los Angeles, California. The riots triggered between the Latino Youth and the sailors and Marine stationed throughout the California city. …
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER91.3% of users find it useful
Zoot Suit Riots
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Zoot Suit Riots"

? Zoot Suit Riots Introduction The Zoot Suit Riots refers to the series of riots instigated during the Second World War in LosAngeles, California. The riots triggered between the Latino Youth and the sailors and Marine stationed throughout the California city. The main targets of the military servicemen were the Mexican African but as the riots spread the African Americans and Filipino Americans were also widely targeted (Ryan: 250:2006). The Latino living in other cities of United States like San Diego, New York and Chicago were also badly affected from these riots because gradually the riots were swept in these cities as well (Eduardo: 223: 2000). The essay aims to discuss the historical background of the Zoot suit riots and intends to analyse its causes and effects upon the socio-political situation of the time. The essay presents concise chronology of the events and incidents occurred during the riots to illustrate their importance and impact upon the political history of the United States. Zoot Suit Riots – Historical Background The Zoot Suit Riots were basically outcome of the racial discrimination and tension prevailing between the Mexicans and the White Americans. Mexicans migrated and settled in different cities of United States during the twentieth century. The white Americans widely disfavoured the presence of Mexicans in different walks of life because they believe that Mexican Americans were badly affecting their social and economic conditions by occupying the resources and job positions (Eduardo: 43: 2003). During the Great Depression the demand of the Whites Americans to remove the Mexicans from the American land became very strong because they were not willing to see the Mexicans availing the employment opportunities and other resources in their country. This thinking resulted in intense racial hatred between the Mexican and White Americans (Castillo and Griswold: 367: 2000). As a result of the demands and racial threats of the White, thousands of the Mexican descents were deported from America in the early 1930s. Despite this major extraction there were still 3 million Mexicans left in United States and the highest concentration of the Mexicans was found in Los Angeles (Mazon: 132: 2002). The Mexicans in Los Angeles were limited to the oldest and most run down housing area of the city and they were also forced to work only at low level and low wages jobs. Consequently, the lifestyles and living standard of the Mexican Americans dropped to the lowest level and most of them started living below the poverty line (Rule: 102: 1989). The print media also started spreading racial hatred against the Mexicans through inflammatory propaganda and worked for instigating social and economic discrimination against the Mexicans on racial grounds. The media also used to derogate the Mexican Americans by calling them with the name Chicanos. All of these incidents created a highly tensed social and political environment and the Mexican Americans realized the need of conducting organized efforts for the recognition of their rights in the American society. They decided to stand against the racial discrimination and created youth culture for their own and came up with the ideas of maintaining their identity through their culture and selected particular dress code as a symbol of their community (Kevin: 93: 2005). Latino Culture and Zoot Suit The Mexican Americans adopted their own music, language and dress that became famous with the name of Zoot suit. They designed a flamboyant long coat with a baggy pegged pant for the male Mexicans. In addition, they also started taking a pork pie hat along with a key chain and shoes with thick soles. They attempted to create distinct identity for their community to let people know about their unity and strength. The Latino widely started dressing up in the Zoot Suit and they selected the name Pachucos for their selves. Through this particular dressing style they attempted to make their distinguished identity in front of the masses and bring unity within their community providing a platform to their people belonging to their race (Solomon: 22: 1998). The demand and supply of the Zoot suits was affected from the entry of United Stated in the World War II. In 1942, the War production board enacted some restrictions upon the tailoring companies to stop the manufacturing and advertisement of zoot suits and also instituted cut back in fabric used for the clothes manufacturing. However, several bootleg tailors in Los Angeles and New York continued manufacturing the zoot suits. Despite the restrictions of the board, the demand of the zoot suits was increased and the tailors continue manufacturing the suits to meet these demands. The Zoot suit became the uniform of the Mexican Americans fighting against the white servicemen and wearing this uniform became the symbol of fight against the rationing regulations and attitudes (McWilliams: 98: 2001). Emergence of Zoot Suit Riots During the 1940s, the activities of the Latino Americans got momentum resulted in the arrests. Furthermore, the Los Angeles time also published numerous negative stories against the Mexican Americans that worked to destroy their image and propagated negative perception about the Pachuco Gangs. In 1942, the incident of infamous sleepy lagoon murder occurred resulting in the death of a young Latino near Los Angeles. The teenager members of 38th Street Latino Gang were accused of killing a man Jose Diaz. The news of this murdered increased the anti-Mexican sentiments among the people and the law enforcement agencies arrested nine man on the charge of this murder. These suspects were sentenced for long imprisonment. The police and the press continued propagating hatred and negative perceptions about the Mexican Americans and animosity towards the Mexican Americans reached its height after this case (Alvarez: 204 :2001). The case initiated the Zoot suit riots between two youth groups including the Black and Mexican American youth and the White American servicemen that were stationed along the Pacific coast at that time. During the riots the tension between the American servicemen and Mexican Americans reached its peak. The riots basically evolved from the racial and social discrimination against the Mexican Americans in United States. At the same time, the riots also reflect the attitude and inclination of the youth groups towards the war. In 1941, the involvement of United States in the Second World War brought some major changes in the situation because the policies and strategies of the state were altered according to the requirement of the emerged situation (Richard: 361: 2000). There were several conflicts occurred between the Mexican youth and the military personnel and several servicemen joined the attacks against the Mexicans. They marched on the streets, entered the bare, movie houses and other public places and cruelly assaulted the young Latino males that they found at these places. The police remained present at most of such incidents but they were ordered not to arrest the servicemen. During the riots over 500 Latinos were arrested by the police on the charges of rioting and violence (Alvarez: 204:2001). The racial discrimination reached the heights because the white servicemen were given protection by the police to beat and assault the Latin Americans especially those dressed up in the zoot suit whereas the Latin Americans found at the incidents were widely arrested by the police on the charge of committing violent crimes and unlawful activities(McWilliams: 98: 2001).. The media also supported the activities of the while servicemen and regarded their activities having cleaning effects upon the society because they believe that the white servicemen were working to remove the unwanted people from their land. The Los Angeles city council demanded the ban on wearing of the zoot suit. The government reacted towards the riots and McGucken Committee was established to investigate and find out the causes of the riots. The committee revealed that racism was main cause behind the riots and the attitude of media and police further instigated the riots. After the riots the police officers were also given the training and instruction to equally treat all the citizens of the country (Mark: 97: 1976). Conclusion The Zoot suit riots were widely regarded as moral and social scandal by the authorities because they were mainly characterized with violence and criminal activities however, from the opponent perspective the riots were widely viewed as symbol of love and liberty that give courage for fight against discrimination and social disorders and inequity. It has been widely agreed that the zoot suit riots were reaction to the racial discrimination highly prevailing in the American society during that time. During the riots the white servicemen made the Los Angeles city as playground for fighting and assaulting the Mexican Americans and they were tolerated by the several civilians because of their war efforts but in many areas the activities of the servicemen were widely opposed and defied by the civilians especially in the areas of Mexican majority population. The riots played important role for the recognition of African Americans in United States and drew very strong and positive impact upon the ethnic consciousness among the Americans. The riots also affirmed the importance of social equality for all the citizens regardless of ethnic and racial identities. The riots possess great importance in the political history of United States because these riots exemplify the racial discrimination widely practiced in United States during the first half of the twentieth century against Mexicans and show that the discrimination and exploitation could cause destructive impacts upon a society. References Alvarez, Luis A. The Power of the Zoot: Race, Community, and Resistance in American Youth Culture, 1940-1945. Austin: University of Texas, 2001, p204 Carey McWilliams. Blood on the Pavements." In: Fool's Paradise: A Carey McWilliams Reader. NY: Heyday Books, 2001, p98 Del Castillo, Richard Griswold. “The Los Angeles “Zoot Suit Riots” revisited: Mexican and Latin American Perspectives”. Mexican Studies / Estudios Mexicanos, Vol. 16, No. 2 (2000), pp. 367–391 Johnson, Kevin (2005). "The Forgotten "Repatriation" of Persons of Mexican Ancestry and Lessons for the "War on Terror”. Pace Law Review, California: Davis Mazon, Maurizio. The Zoot-Suit Riots: The Psychology of Symbolic Annihilation. University of Texas Press, Austin, TX. 2002 Pagan, Eduardo O. “Los Angeles Geopolitics and the Zoot Suit Riot, 1943” Social Science History, Vol. 24, No. 1 (2000), 223-256 Pagan, Eduardo Obregon. Murder at the Sleepy Lagoon: Zoot Suits, Race & Riots in Wartime. L.A. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 2003. Reisler, Mark (1976). By the sweat of their brow: Mexican immigrant labour in the United States, 1900-1940. Greenwood Press. pp. 95–97. Ryan, James Gilbert; Schlup, Leonard C. (2006). Historical dictionary of the 1940s. M.E. Sharpe. pp. 250–251. Rule, James B (1989). Theories of Civil Violence. University of California Press. pp. 102–108. Solomon, Larry. Roots of Justice Stories of Organizing in Communities of Color. New York: Chardon, 1998. p22 Richard. "The Los Angeles "Zoot Suit Riots" Revisited: Mexican and Latin American Perspectives." University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States, 2000, p 367-91 Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Zoot Suit Riots Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/family-consumer-science/1421611-zoot-suit-riots
(Zoot Suit Riots Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words)
https://studentshare.org/family-consumer-science/1421611-zoot-suit-riots.
“Zoot Suit Riots Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/family-consumer-science/1421611-zoot-suit-riots.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Zoot Suit Riots

Digital Reconsruction of America Tropical

Name of of Professor Course Date Digital Reconstruction of America Tropical To begin with, let me discuss the characters mentioned during the discussion of this paper.... First is David Alfaro Siqueiros, a 1930s renowned muralist who studied at the Academy of San Carlos along with other two modern Mexican artists, Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco (Cadge-Moore)....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

The Sleepy Lagoon Murder and Trial

(“Zoot Suit Riots”).... (“Zoot Suit Riots”) The case was assigned to Judge Fricke who seemed to be presiding over a kangaroo court because of the way the case was treated in his court room.... “Zuit Suits riots”.... The events leading up to his death forced the Los Angeles police department to round up a sizable number of Mexican youths, around 600 of them who were commonly referred to as “zoot- suiters” because of their knack for dressing in balloon pants and long coats....
3 Pages (750 words) Research Paper

Zoot Suit Riots by Mauricio Mazon

In the midst of World War II and international and domestic turbulences and crisis, the Zoot Suit Riots broke out.... In other words, understanding the importance of the Zoot Suit Riots is predicated on the comprehension of its symbolic meaning.... Indeed, even while conceding to the fact that Mazon often fails to provide readers with the necessary historical data concerning the events of the riots or with a critical discussion and analysis of its causal factors, his analysis of the riots and his critical discussion of the reasons why the riots attained a status of such historical importance and meaning, invaluably contributes to both an understanding and appreciation of the Zoot Suit Riots of Los Angeles in 1943....
4 Pages (1000 words) Book Report/Review

The Plight of Latinos

Latino Americans are the citizens of the United States who can trace their origins in the countries of Latin America region or in Spain.... There are many sub groups of the Latinos in the United States which are characterized by their national origin as well as with race.... hellip; Currently, 15....
10 Pages (2500 words) Essay

The Zoot-Suit Riots

The Zoot-suit riots are one of the strangest of riots I have ever come across, may it be in reality or in books and newspapers.... Most Anglos called the outfit a zoot suit and assumed that only hoodlums wore them.... They were not, in any conventional sense of the word, "riots.... What the riots lacked in hard incriminating evidence, they made up for in a plethora of emotions, fantasies, and symbols.... No one was killed, no one sustained massive injuries, property damage was slight, and no major or minor judicial decisions stemmed from the riots....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Discussion s

Latino community during the Zoot suits riots Zoot Suit Riots were a series of riots in 1943 during World War II.... This paper will analyze how the Latino communities were represented during the zoot suit era and… According to the main stream press, zoot suits riots occurred due to unexpected population explosion in Los Angeles, by Mexican refugees.... This paper will analyze how the Latino communities were represented during the zoot suit era and the end result of the riot....
1 Pages (250 words) Admission/Application Essay

The Zoot Suit Riot and the UFW Strikes

As revealed from the American Experience report entitled “People & Events: The Zoot Suit Riots of 1943” published by the PBS Online (2009), the history of the racial/ethnic tensions in California that led to several violent attacks and injuries from what has been known as… As disclosed, people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds converged in Los Angeles, to wit: Midwesterners, Mexican refugees, landless white laborers, and The Zoot Suit Riot and the UFW Strikes Consider the history of racial/ethnic tensions in California and discussthe historical context of the Zoot Suit Riot....
2 Pages (500 words) Assignment

Storytelling in Zoot Suit Riots

The Zoot Suit Riots present a platform to discuss the various stories developed in the process in order to hide the magnitude of the events.... Storytelling in Zoot Suit Riots The zoot suit riot is a story covering issues of human rights and discrimination with the support of the some government officials.... The Zoot Suit Riots present a platform to discuss the various stories developed in the process in order to hide the magnitude of the events....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us