The Identity Of The Zoot Suit Riots - 2424 Words

Introduction â€Å"†¦About eight sailors got me outside of the theater and they started beating me up. It happened so fast, I passed out. I woke up with a cracked rib, a broken nose, black and blue all over. I was really beat.†(Alvarez, 2006, p.155) During the 1940s, the public had generated stereotypes of the Pachucos and zoot suits, which were eventually transferred to all Mexican Americans. Many young men like Vicente Morales were attacked, humiliated, and stripped from their fashionable clothes by servicemen. However, to what extent did the fashionable expression of the zooters and the culture of the Pachucos influence the Zoot Suit Riots? An important factor, which contributed to the Zoot Suit Riots, was the influence of the media. Newspapers and propaganda began to detriment the appearance of Pachucos and zoot suits. This dynamic added to the strong anti-Mexican sentiment, and led to the spread of hysteria during the war. In addition, the encouragement from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), as well as the presence of the servicemen in Los Angeles immediately led to the riots. Although all these factors contributed to the riots, they all fail to address the important underlying psychological stressors, which caused tension against the Pachucos’ style. Therefore, I claim that that the Girardian persecution dynamic, based on lack of difference between the Pachucos and the patriotic Americans, contributed mainly to the riots. In this paper, I will first introduce theShow MoreRelatedThe Power Of The Zoot By Luis Alvarez1293 Words   |  6 PagesIn the power of the Zoot, Luis Alvarez investigates the multiple meanings of the immensely popular zoot suit culture during world war two (Alvarez, p. 2). The youth were extremely influenced by the zoot suit. The zoot suit gave minorities a sense of belonging. 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Such hostilities are reflected in our treatment of Mexican Americans in the late 19th after the Civil War and early 20th centuries, the Sleepy Lagoon murder responses, and the Zoot Suit riots. My primary source reveals a feeling of inferiority in the United States by the Mexican American youth due discrimination that they faced, which can be better understood by analyzing the cultural contexts. As railroads expanded during the UnitedRead More Luis Valdezs Play, Los Vendidos Essay2016 Words   |  9 Pagesrebel against the culture that will not accept him. An example is the Zoot Suit Riots that occurred in 1944. The Zoot Suit Riots were a reaction by young Mexican-American males against a culture that did not want them to be a part of it. Stuart Cosgrove examines this issue when he states, In the most obvious ways they had been stripped of their customs, beliefs and language (Vargas 317). These youths were going through an identity crisis because they did not know which culture they could identify