Zoot Suit Riots Essay

Even though Mexican American youth of Los Angeles during the mid-20th century were rambunctious adolescents rebelling against both traditional Mexican values and American values, several extraneous factors culminated to ignite one of the worse racially motivated riots in American history; the Zoot Suit Riots. Because of lingering social strains between Mexican Americans and Anglo American a separatist atmosphere had been forged in Los Angeles. The media aggravate tensions between Mexican Americans and Anglos Americans resulting in vicious rioting in the city of Los Angeles. In addition, America's entry into World War II heighten preexisting hostilities between Anglo Americans and Mexican Americans as Anglo American’s nationalist enthusiasm

The dehumanization of the Mexican people in media outlets encouraged the Anglo American populace to treat the Mexicans with distain and violence. Mexican youth were often label delinquents and target as threats to civility. Most Mexican American youths were guilty of no greater crimes than their equally young and rambunctious Anglo American counter parts. However, the constant vilification of Mexican people created an environment where the actions of children threated adults, who should have possessed the maturity to redirect inappropriate

A staple of the culture was the zoot suit, mark by ballooned pants and long coats, the dress was a flamboyant statement piece. The suit also symbolized something the Mexican youth were familiar with, rebellion. The second World War had led to a state of American rationing. Citizens and industries across the country were committed to the efforts of The War Production Board as they encouraged the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods and services. The production of “streamline suit by Uncle Sam” was adopted by most tailoring companies in an effort to cut back fabric usage by the population by twenty-six percent, leaving zoot suit production in the hands of bootleggers.

Tensions between the opposing Anglo and Mexican communities rose. Eespecially frustrated were the military members stationed on the Pacific Coast. The zoot suit was viewed as a direct affront to their current mission of preserving traditional American values. In addition, many of the young and newly enlisted soliders who were not from California and were not accustom to Mexican people or displaying tolerance for