Zoot suit Riots
Darryan Riley
Zoot Suit Riots
The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of racial attacks in 1943 during World War II that broke out in Los Angeles, California, during a period when many migrants arrived for the defense effort and newly assigned servicemen flooded the city. United States sailors and marines attacked Mexican youths, recognizable by the zoot suits they favored, as being unpatriotic. American military personnel and Mexicans were the main parties in the riots; servicemen attacked some African American and Filipino/Filipino American youths as well, who also took up the zoot suits. (PBS)
The Zoot Suit Riots
How they got their name
Riots” take their name from the high-waisted wool trousers and baggy, long-tailed suit coats then worn by many Los Angeles youths, but the violence was more about race relations than fashion. At the time, the jazz-inspired outfits were particularly popular among the city’s Mexican American population.(PBS)
Why The riots happened?
The Zoot Suit Riots were influenced by the 1942 Sleepy Lagoon Trial that fostered an atmosphere of hate and prejudice towards the Mexican American community. In 1943, conflict broke out on the streets of Los Angeles between servicemen and young Pachucos and Pachucas.
(N.p., n.d. Web)
Sources
PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2016.
N.p., n.d. Web