Zoot Suit Riots began - June 3, 1943

On this day in 1943, the Zoot Suit Riots began in Los Angeles. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class. It's a production of I
Heart Radio. Welcome to This Day in History Class, where
we bring you a new tipbit from history every day.
Today is June three, nineteen. The day was June three,

(00:25):
nineteen forty three. About fifty sailors from the U. S.
Naval Reserve Armory and Chevez Ravine in Los Angeles carried
clubs and other makeshift weapons as they went through neighborhoods
near the armory. They attacked anyone who was wearing a
zoot suit, which was a baggy suit popular among jazz
musicians and in communities of color. For days, servicemen, police officers,

(00:52):
and civilians beat and harassed Mexican Americans in Los Angeles.
There were no deaths, but about a hundred Mexican Americans
were injured in one hundred were arrested, while about sixteen
servicemen were injured and fifty non Latino servicemen and civilians
were arrested. A zoot suit consists of loose trousers, a

(01:13):
long jacket with wide padded shoulders and white lapels, a
brimmed hat, and a long watch chain. The get up
grew out of the drape suits that were popular in
dance halls in Harlem in the mid nineteen thirties. Zoot
Suits were sort of a political statement because wearing so
much fabric seemed wasteful and irresponsible at a time when

(01:35):
there were wartime rations on fabric. In the nineteen forties,
zoot suits spread from Black communities to Latino communities and
other groups. In Mexican American communities, the Patuco counterculture movement
embraced the zoot suit. For people who were part of
this culture, wearing a zoot suit was also a fashion

(01:57):
and social statement that emphasized rebellion and community inclusion. Too,
many people who were outside of the culture Patukos were
perceived as thugs or too ostentatious for their social status.
In nineteen forty two, the Wartime Productions Board banned a
lot of extra features on clothing, then banned the production

(02:19):
of zoot suits altogether, but some tailors kept making them
and they were still legal to wear. Along with stereotypes
of Mexican Americans who faced discrimination in media and in
daily life, came judgment about the types of people who
wore zoot suits. Many people thought of Mexican Americans and
those who wore zoot suits, especially as criminals and delinquents.

(02:43):
The zoot suit became a sign of suspicion. In nineteen
forty three, Los Angeles was full of service members from
the U. S. Military. The Naval and Marine Corps Reserve
Center in Chavez Ravine, or the Naval Reserve Armorne, was
located in a part of the city that was mostly Mexican.

(03:03):
Many service members thought that wearing zoot suits was an
affront considering wartime rationing. The idea that zoot suitors were
draft dodgers was also floating around. Zoot Suit wearers were
viewed by many as antagonists, and immigrants in general were
looked down upon in the sentiment of the day. Mexican
Americans and service members were often at odds and fought

(03:27):
with each other. By the spring of nineteen forty three,
there were about two or three fights between people in
each group every day. These small but frequent conflicts escalated
into a larger one that became known as the zoot
suit riots. On May nineteen forty three, a sailor left
a fight between zoot suitors and sailors with a broken jaw.

(03:50):
This fight is theoretically the inciting incident for the riots
that began on June three, when sailors attacked people wearing
zoot suits. In the following days, the violence spread. Service
members beat zoot suitors and stripped off their clothes. Police
officers arrested some of the people who had been beaten.

(04:11):
Thousands more people joined the mobs who were punishing people
for wearing zoot suits or donning related hairstyles. In addition
to Mexican Americans, black people and Filipinos were also attacked.
Cab drivers gave service people free rides, so more came
to the city from throughout southern California. The violence made

(04:32):
its way from downtown Los Angeles to Watts East Los
Angeles and other nearby neighborhoods. Some people did fight back,
but the violence was largely perpetrated by the service members.
Police officers mainly protected the service members and arrested many
of the victims. Local officials did little to stop the violence,

(04:52):
and service members did not face serious consequences. Many news
reports implied that the violence was justified. The conflict basically
ended on June eighth, when service members were kept from
leaving bases and soldiers and sailors were barred from entering
downtown Los Angeles. The next day, the Los Angeles City

(05:14):
Council banned people from wearing zoot suits in public, and
anyone who did would get thirty days in jail. Two
committees were formed to investigate the riots. The Citizens Committee
report found that race prejudice was part of the cause
of the riots. It also said that the poor living
conditions many Mexican Americans face contributed to any delinquency, and

(05:35):
that the problem of juvenile delinquency in general was not
confined to any race. But the report did not address
the violent actions of the service members. Zoot Suit riots
later happened in other cities in the United States. Zoot
suitors later became leaders in the Chicano movement and were
active in other fights for social justice. I'm Eve jeffco

(05:59):
and hopefully you know a little more about history today
than you did yesterday. If you'd like to learn more
about the riots, listen to the episode of Stuff You
Missed in History class called zoot Suit Riot. And if
you can't get enough history, check out Unpopular, a new
podcast that I host about people in history who challenge

(06:19):
the status quo and how their stories can help us
think about protests, dissent, and change in today's societies. Thanks
again for listening and we'll see you tomorrow. For more
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