But why Mijo, what We'd Do?

The Zoot Suit Riots were a black mark in Los Angeles' history between Mexican Amercans and let's just say it, Whites, and it still is prevalent today in 2014. Times have changed throughout the years with minorities making major advances not only academic wise but in other avenues such as politics and population as well(POPULATION,PEOPLE!!). Mexican Americans, it seems though, along with African Americans, seem to be the minorities that receive the most criticism, some deserved, a lot unwarranted. For me, being a native Angeleno(not too many natives left unfortunately), learning about the Sleepy Lagoon trial and the eventual Zoot Suit Riots that followed made me realize that as far as we may have thought we have came, there is always evidence that we are not too far removed from the past.

*http://research.pomona.edu/zootsuit/en/zoot-suit-la

The Beginning of the Chaos

 

    
    
           Who is a pachuco? What is a wetback? What is a cholo?  How many Mexicans does it take to fix a lightbulb? Do Mexicans know anything else besides soccer? Or why are Mexicans seem to be lazy and drinking on the job?
Sounds pretty racist, doesn't it? Those among other stereotypes are ones that Mexican Americans probably have to endure on a regular basis depending on which state in the US they live in. Unless it is the state of Arizona, where esteemed gentlemen( and I'm being sarcastic on the word esteemed) such as Good Ol' Sherriff Joe Arapaio and TUSD board member Michael Hicks have their way.. a good Mexican is a Mexican not living in Arizona is most likely their idealogy. States such as Arizona are not alone in that thinking. The most diverse state, California,at times has either shared that same viewpoint of not feeling 'brown pride' or still have those beliefs in some areas. Anyone remember Proposition 187? Almost 20 decades later, remnants of that bill is still a hot button issue. Tensions between Mexican Americans and the dominant society( We can perhaps think of these individuals being of the WASP persuasion) first came to a head back in the year of 1943 during the Sleepy Lagoon Trial and culminated with the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943.

A little video to hit things home

Started From The Bottom.. What We Can Learn

So what happened to the murder of Jose Diaz? How is this connected to the Zoot Suit Riots? And more importantly, what can others learn from the Zoot Suit Riots? First. The murder of Jose Diaz basically remains an unsolved mystery today. There were 12 suspects who were tried and convicted of the murder but were later released due to lack of evidence. The Zoot Suit Riots and the Sleepy Lagoon murder case are connected because without Sleepy Lagoon and the suspicion of Mexican Americans(guilty before convicted), there might not have been the Zoot Suit Riots. What can we learn is an open minded question. You can take the story of both Sleepy Lagoon and the Zoot Suit Riots and chalk it up as bad luck for those individuals. Or you can apply the Sleepy Lagoon/Zoot Suit Riots into today's society. Individuals who were assumed to be one thing but were eventually harassed and beaten up for being something that clashes with the dominant society. Only time will learn if we as a people overall will learn from our previous mistakes or repeat the process over again.

http://loteriachicana.net/2006/01/la/johnny-el-pachuco

Pachuco and We getting Violent up

A pachuco, then, must be a bad thing, right? Negative connotation must be around it or the Zoot Suit Riots would never had occurred in the first place. According to Daniels, a pachuco was "a urban youth among Mexican Americans"(Daniels 2002).  These individuals were neither good nor bad; they just happened to be stigmatized because of the color of their skins. What eventually led to tension and the impending riots of 1943 was an example of microsgressions, clearly built up inside from Whites in Los Angeles, who did not know how to handle Mexican Americans both male and female standing up for themselves. The aggressors in the Zoot Suit Riots were neither African American nor Mexican American. Not Filipino either. The aggressors were White Military men who went into various areas and attacked anyone they saw who was Mexican American. The end result was over 100 Mexican Americans were injured, some seriously, compared to the less than 20 military men who were also involved. What does that show? A fear of something of the unknown? Were these people targeted just because of a certain way of dress or language or color? We still encounter those same microagressions that play a role in today's society.

*http://mariaelenadelcarreras.blogspot.com

Sleepy Lagoon and Fear of the Brown and Black and anything not White

So, what was exactly Sleepy Lagoon? Sleepy Lagoon was the site of a fight that escalated out of control and left one man, Jose Diaz,dead. In that time, the dominant society( Whites) was at a crossroads with minorities. Mexican Americans and African Americans were starting to challenge traditional culture norms( not formal but more informal with their style of dress). Could the way a person dresses in everyday life play a role in who people perceive you to be? Of course. According to author Douglas Henry Daniels, the style of dress not only young Mexican American youths wore but as well as Filipino youths was emulated after African American culture. Daniels writes that the zoot suit trend started "around 1940"(Daniels 2002) with first African American youths then their contemporaries later on. The initial connection between Blacks and Mexican American youths was simply the way they dressed, not having to do with racism. The racial aspect stemming from at first the zoot suit style and then later with the Zoot Suit Riots itself coming from the interactionist perspective being the situation(the Sleepy Lagoon murder itself) and how it escalated into a short duration time period.