Nuestras Historias (Issue 1, Vol 1)

The Zoot Suit Riots
By Gabriela Arribas
Taken from the name of the fashionable
suits Latinx and other minority groups wore at
the time, the Zoot Suit riots were a series of
clashes between uniformed officers at the naval
base and Latinx youth in Los Angeles. Zoot
suits were essentially just really baggy suits that
youth would wear to go out dancing during the
30s and 40s.
While the Great Depression period of
inflation, homelessness, and joblessness raged
on, people found ways to keep hope and love
alive through these dance halls. There were
heightened racial tensions as
the US signed a deal with
Mexico to fill job positions
that had been vacated during
WWII. Many white
Americans were angered by
this increased immigration.
Zoot suits were also difficult
to make in a time where wool was being
rationed for the war, so they became a symbol of
being "un-American" to some white Americans
which also increased racial tensions. Still, this
did not stop the zoot suiters in growing cities as
zoot suits became a way for Latinx youth to
distinguish themselves from not only American
culture but also Mexican culture.
Popular figures of the time like Malcolm
X could even be seen wearing a zoot suit as
pictured here to the right in the Malcolm X
movie. At the height of the racial tensions, zoot
suits became a symbol of delinquency when
many white Americans associated those who
wore them with gangs. This was especially true
after the Sleepy Lagoon murder in August led to
the death of a Mexican American teen. Under
the orders of the California governor, the Los
Angeles police department rounded up more
than 600 people, mostly Mexican American, and
some were tried and convicted for murder.
Although their convictions were reversed, many
white Americans associated zoot suiters with
gangs after this.
The riots began on June 3 when a clash
between Naval officers and Mexican American
youth ended with a beat-up sailor. A few days
later, the Naval officers came back to beat up
anybody they saw on the streets that wore a zoot
suit. As the days went on, more naval officers
joined in along with citizens and off duty
policemen who all helped to find and beat
anybody they saw wearing a zoot suit. Biased
local media that went against the zoot suiters
fueled this conflict even further. This extended
to racial violence against anybody Black, Asian,
or Latinx youth- even those not wearing the zoot
suits. Police officers watched the violence on the
side and arrested the victims, demonstrating
their support for the naval officers. The riots
continued for 8 days until the military barracks
were closed and the naval officers could not
leave.
These riots were not only characteristic to
Los Angeles as similar racially motivated rioting
55 56
began in other cities across the US. ◻
55 Coroian, George. “Zoot Suit Riots.” ​Encyclopædia Britannica​,
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 27 May 2020,
www.britannica.com/event/Zoot-Suit-Riots.
56 History.com Editors. “Zoot Suit Riots.”​ History​, A&E Television Networks,
27 Sept. 2017, www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/zoot-suit-riots.
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