Zoot Suit Riots

When soldiers left America to go fight in World War II, America made an agreement with Mexico to allow temporary workers to come over the border to help fill the job openings left behind by these soldiers. This agreement did not receive a very warm welcome by white Americans though. With these Mexican people already not on white Americans good side, tempers really started to flare when these people began to wear “zoot suits,” which were made by bootleggers because the production of these suits was supposed to have been ceased due to wartime rationing. These zoot suits were known for being high waisted and wide legged with a long coat, high lapels, padded shoulders and tight cuffs. Mexican youths began wearing these suits regularly which caused even more rational tension in wartime America. After the 1942 “Sleepy Lagoon Murder” in which Latinos were accused and convicted of murder, anti-Mexican sentiments were at an all-time high in America. This built up anger and frustration at this perceived Mexican “ignorance” resulted in riots through Los Angeles in 1943 in which these zoot suiters were attacked and beaten down by servicemen. It got to be so bad that at one point, a group of uniformed servicemen sought out zoot suiters in the Mexican American community of Los Angeles and beat and stripped any one they could find on the spot. The zoot suits were sometimes burned or even urinated on right on the spot after the person had been stripped. In response to these riots, police did almost nothing to deter the actions being taken by these servicemen. In fact, almost 500 Latinos were arrested for their so called roles in the riots, even though they were the victims of the beatings and public humiliations. Little was done to punish the law enforcement officers for their lack of action and the Mayor of Los Angeles, Fletcher Bowron, actually concluded that the riots were caused by juvenile delinquents.