The ZootSuit Riot

1
The Zoot-Suit Riot
2
Background

• Racial Tension filled America during the 1940s.
• The attack on Pearl Harbor resulted in terrorist
  attacks within the U.S. particularly on the west
  coast.

• Japanese-Americans were the target of terrorist
  acts.
• All Japanese people were assigned to American
  concentration camps.
• Social Unrest and racial violence does not stop
  with the Japanese-Americans.

3
Mexican-Americans

• Shortage of labor in California during the 1940s.
• 200,000 Mexican-Americans were sent to LA in
  1943, to work.
• Racial clashes between the whites and the
  Mexican-Americans occurred.

4
El Pachuco

• Zoot-Suits were the trend among Mexican-American
  youth in LA.
• These unconventional, baggy suits were seen as a
  threat to the culture.
• The zooters were percieved as hoodlums, and
  racial violence began centering around anyone who
  was seen wearing one.

5
Sleepy Lagoon Murder

• The murder of Jose Diaz in August of 1942, led
  to the unjustified round-up of hundreds of
  Mexican-American men and the arrest of 23. Los
  Angeles police Lieutenant Edward Duran Ayres
  testified as a witness for the prosecution. He
  stated that Mexicans were biologically prone to
  violence and crime due to their "oriental" Aztec
  ancestry. This racist testimony resulted in the
  conviction of twelve young Mexican-Americans.

6
Zoot-Suit Riot of 1943

• The Sleepy Lagoon Murder, resulted in rumors
  of Zooters being criminals. On June 3, 1943,
  hundreds of American service men went downtown
  and attacked anyone wearing a zoot-suit. Though
  they initially sought zooters, anyone of color
  became a target. The riot lasted until the 13th
  of June. Police broke up the riot by arresting
  the victims and the use of zoot-suits became a
  misdemeanor.

7
If He Hollers Let Him Go

• "Well, here it goes. If the boy got hurt, or if
  there was any kind of rumpus with the white chick
  in it, there wouldn't be any way at all to stop a
  riot--- the white GI's would swarm into Little
  Tokyo like they did into the Mexican districts
  during the zoot suit riots" (77).