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Zoot Suit

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Submitted By meliascott
Words 302
Pages 2
Melia Scott
Mr. Riggle
Writer’s Workshop Q4
22 May 2015
A Comparative Analysis of the Demographics of Police Diversity in Los Angeles, Dallas, and New York City.
In the early 40s in Los Angeles there were a lot of cultures, races, and people coming in and out of LA during WWII. many young Latino men were staring to get out and go to clubs, bars, and movies because they were not content to stay within their “barrios”, and started wearing big suites (zoot suits) and cutting their hair differently, to stand out. Around this time young army men were stationing in Los Angeles due to the war, and many times got into little fights with the zoot suitors because of racial differences. The local press had been saying that "zoot suitors" and "gangsters" were one and the same. On June 3, 1943, a few sailors claimed to have been beaten and robbed by some Mexican pachucos (zoot suitors). That night, a mob of about 200 sailors, drove into East Los Angeles to beat up and take the clothing off any young Latino male they could find. The authorities seemed to be ok with this chaos. “Gangs of American sailors and marines, armed with sticks, walked the streets during the zoot suit riots attacking any man wearing a zoot suit.” first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt wrote that the riots went “deeper than just suits. It is a racial protest. i have been worried for a long time about the Mexican racial situation.” a citizen committee formed to investigate the causes of the riots say, they were caused by racism in the city of Los Angeles. Mayor Fletcher brown disagreed and said, that the juvenile delinquents (zoot suitors) and the white southerners (army men) had been causing the riots.

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