Zoot Suit Riots (June 1943)-Blog 3

    A riot is a disturbance that occurs when there is upheaval. In the case of the Zoot Suit Riots, this moment happened in June 1943 at a time when WWII ended. It was a moment of an extraordinary social conditions and discontent.  The riots named after the Zoot Suits was associated with Mexican-American youths’ attire.  In which, their form of style of a wide shoulder jacket, baggy pants, a pork pie hat, a long key chain, and for males a duck tail hairstyle expressed an “insolent attitude” which differed from what conventional society embodied (Solomon 23).  Whiteness was the dominant cultural ideal and everything else at the time created a sense of disruption toward the hegemony.  For this factor, the dominant “racial group” in this case, the sailors used the tactic of fear and violence to provoke chaos in a predominantly Mexican-American community in Los Angeles.  However, this time, the community decided to fight back against unfair treatment and most importantly racism.  For this reason, I selected this moment in our nation’s collective memory about these specific riots because their impact paved the way in Mexican-American cultural identity but most importantly, this moment impacted in my own family’s history because they endured this treatment and lived around this time.

      The fighting between the sailors and the Zoot Suitors lasted several days.  At least 200 sailors and civilians came to the riots  and although, there was no one killed, the lasting effects of the riots proved significant in the Mexican-American community and other people of color.   In the United States, the media in their headlines called this group hoodlum and expressed toward others groups of whites to join in the fighting against this group. These fights later on resulted in international attention to other nations especially in Latin America and Mexico due to Spanish-language commentary and reporting about disturbances from their own regional press (Grisworld del Castillo  368)  The point is that the riots highlighted internationally how Mexican-Americans, other people of color, and immigrants were treated as second-class citizens and  the ideals of liberty and civility were falsities . For the United States government, this showcased civil disorder in internal affairs within the nation and a denial of racism as the rooted issue. In retrospect,  this disturbance placed pressures on the government and distracted the “smooth functioning of societal patterns of cooperation” which was necessary for power and authority to continue operating(Fox-Piven 38).

         Thus, although the riots were not a specific movement for Mexican-Americans, I believed that in a sense it was. To be specific the subculture  created  by the Pachucos in having  their own music, language,  and style suggested a time of change( Griswold Del Castillo 369).  It gave the so-called invisible, a face, a name and their own identity. This to me was a strategy but most importantly they were challenging the authority by not following the norm nor traditional values invoked by their own family. Thus, the riot influenced in establishing the Community Service Organization (CSO) in 1946. This organization functioned as a pillar in changing history by fighting against inequalities of racism, job discrimination, and immigration rights in order to achieve civil rights and equal opportunity.  In addition, through voter registration drives, citizenship classes, lawsuits and legislative campaigns, these were

strategies to empower individuals and to challenge the controlling power. 

            In sum, I believed the Zoot Suit Riots encouraged a time for change. It sparked the fuel for Mexican-Americans and immigrants alike in Los Angeles and elsewhere to fight against institutionalize inequalities.  Even in Mexico,  student youth could seemingly identified with the Pachucos and the riots(Griswold del Castillo 369). The lesson learned about this event was to never give up in spite of indifference and  racial prejudice. However, another lesson learned was the importance joining together as a community and organizing to fight against inequalities.  For me in reality, I never heard about the Zoot Suit Riots until I took a course about Latino Culture and History in the United States.  Until then, I could fully understand how much sacrifices were made and how much more inhumanity there was in our nation’s past.  Then later on I felt that I could understand my father a little bit more and his pain because he experienced similar discrimination described in this era.  This moment helped me to understand my own identity as a Mexican-American and to not be ashamed for who I am.

Work Cited

"American Experience. Zoot Soot Riots." PBS.  2009.  29 September 2011.  .

"CSO Project" Community Service Organization. 2011. 29 September 2011..

Fox-Piven.  Challenging Authority:How Ordinary People Change America.Oxford: Rowman & Littlefields Publisher, INC, 2006. 

Fregoso,  Rosa Linda. "The Representation of Cultural Identity in Zoot Suits"(1981)"Theory &Society. 22. 5( Oct 1993) 659-674. JSTOR. 29 September 2011 .

Griswold del Castillo, Richard.  The Los Angeles "Zoot Suit Riots" Revisited: Mexican and Latin American Perspectives." University of California Press. 16.2(Summer 2000)  367-391. JSTOR. 30 September 2011 .

Solomon,  Larry R. Roots of Justice Stories of Organizing Communities of Color. Berkeley: Chardon Press, 1998

"Zoot Suit Riots" Wikipedia. 2011. 30 September 2011. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoot_Suit_

Riotst>.