Newsgroup: it.arti.cinema
Titolo: [risposta quiz] Spielberg, Ellroy, Pynchon

"Set in the environment of ethnic and racial paranoia that defined the early
1940s in Los Angeles, California, the "Zoot Suit Riots" were a defining
moment for Zoot Suiters and the Mexican American community. The ethnic
populations of California as a whole, and Los Angeles in particular, were
under siege. In March and April of 1942, the entire Japanese and Japanese
American population on the West Coast of the United States were deported to
"relocation centers" (mild euphemisms for concentration camps) located in
the interior of the U.S.. Without the Japanese Americans around to focus the
locals' racial paranoia, Los Angeleans began to look toward the Zoot
Suiters. A "Mexican Crime Wave" was announced by local newspapers
(precursors to today's tabloids and pioneers in "yellow journalism"), and a
special grand jury was appointed by the city of Los Angeles to investigate.
Around the same time, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department also
decided to investigate and appointed E. Duran Ayres to head their Foreign
Relations Bureau. And though Mr. Ayres accurately identified much of the
active discrimination that was occurring against the "Mexican element", he
drew some startling conclusions which were presented to the grand jury:
"He stated that Mexican Americans are essentially Indians and therefore
Orientals or Asians. Throughout history, he declared, the Orientals have
shown less regard for human life than have the Europeans. Further, Mexican
Americans had inherited their 'naturally violent' tendencies from the
'bloodthirsty Aztecs' of Mexico who were said to have practiced human
sacrifice centuries ago. At one point in his report Ayres even compared the
Anglo to a domesticated house cat and the Mexican to a 'wild cat,'
suggesting that the Mexican would forever retain his wild and violent
tendencies no matter how much education or training he might receive.
On the night of August 1, 1942, zoot suiter Henry Leyvas, 20, and some of
his friends were involved in a fight with another group of pachucos at the
Williams Ranch by a lagoon. Later the next morning, a man named José Díaz
was found bleeding and unconscious on a road near the lagoon (later named
the Sleepy Lagoon by a reporter). He later died. The autopsy revealed that
Mr. Díaz was drunk at the time of death and that his death was the result of
blunt head trauma. Though one medical examiner stated that his injuries were
consistent with that of being hit by a car, Henry Leyvas and 24 members of
the "38th Street gang" (as the group had been dubbed by the local tabloids)
were arrested and charged with the murder of José Díaz. Led by the local
tabloids, a public outcry for "justice" and vengeance against the zoot
suiters caused the Los Angeles Police Department to conduct a roundup of
over 600 people on the nights of August 10th and 11th. All were charged with
such things as suspicion of assault, armed robbery, etc., and 175 people
were held on these charges. Of the 600 plus people arrested during this
roundup, every single one was a Spanish surnamed individual!
During the time leading up to the trial and for two weeks into the trial,
Henry Leyvas and his co-defendants were not allowed to change their clothes
by order of the trial judge, Charles Fricke. The district attorney reasoned,
and Judge Fricke agreed, that the jury should see the defendants in the zoot
suits, which were obviously only worn by "hoodlums". During the trial, 22 of
the 24 co-defendants including Henry Leyvas were tried together. They were
not allowed to sit with or talk with their lawyers. Whenever their names
were mentioned by a witness or the District Attorney, the defendants were
instructed by the judge to stand up, regardless of how damning the
statements being made were. Judge Fricke also had E. Duran Ayres come and
testify as an "expert" witness as to his belief of the Mexicans' penchant
for killing and their "blood thirst". The trial went on for five months and
on January 15, 1943, nine of the co-defendants (including Henry Leyvas) were
found guilty of second degree murder, given prison terms of five years to
life, and shipped off to the infamous San Quentin Prison. This entire
incident is documented in the 1981 movie by Luis Valdez, Zoot Suit.
Against this backdrop of hate and vengeance toward the Mexican American
community in Los Angeles, what is known as the "Zoot Suit Riots" (though
they are now often referred to as the "sailor riots") occurred. On the night
of June 3, 1943, eleven sailors on shore leave stated that they were
attacked by a group of Mexican pachucos. In response to this, a group of
over 200 uniformed sailors chartered 20 cabs and charged into the heart of
the Mexican American community in East Los Angeles. Any zoot suiter was fair
game. On this and the following nights, many a zoot suiter was beaten by
this mob and stripped of their clothes, their zoot suits, on the spot. Nine
sailors were arrested during these disturbances, not one was charged with
any crime. On the following nights of June 4th and 5th, the uniformed
servicemen (by this time the sailors had been joined by soldiers) again
invaded East Los Angeles, marching abreast down the streets, breaking into
bars and theaters, and assaulting anyone in their way. Not one was arrested
by the Police or the Sheriff. In fact, the servicemen were portrayed in the
local press as heroes stemming the tide of the "Mexican Crime Wave." During
the nights of June 6th and 7th, these scenes were again repeated. Time
Magazine later reported that, "The police practice was to accompany the
caravans of soldiers and sailors in police cars, watch the beatings and jail
the victims." According to Rudolpho Acuña in Occupied America,
"Seventeen-year-old Enrico Herrera, after he was beaten and arrested, spent
three hours at a police station, where he was found by his mother, still
naked and bleeding. A 12-year-old boy's jaw was broken. Police arrested over
600 Chicano youths without cause and labeled the arrests 'preventive'
action. Angelenos cheered on the servicemen and their civilian allies."3
Finally, at midnight on June 7th, because the navy believed it had on actual
mutiny on hand, the military authorities did what the city of Los Angeles
would not, they moved to stop the rioting of their personnel. Los Angeles
was declared off limits for all military personnel. Though there were little
consequences for the rioters (servicemen and local law enforcement
authorities alike), there was some public outcry. On June 16th, 1943,
Eleanor Roosevelt commented in her column that, "The question goes deeper
than just suits. It is a racial protest. I have been worried for a long time
about the Mexican racial situation. It is a problem with roots going a long
way back, and we do not always face these problems as we should." Los
Angeles' response was typified by the June 18th headlines of the Los Angeles
Times, "Mrs. Roosevelt Blindly Stirs Race Discord," and she was accused of
communist leanings in the accompanying editorial. Governor Earl Warren
(later Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court during their landmark
desegregation cases) convened a committee to investigate the riots and
recommended punishment for all involved in the riots, servicemen and
civilians. Other than the charges filed against the Mexican American
victims, no punishment was ever meted out.
1 The Mexican American Heritage, Carlos M. Jimenez, 1994, p. 159.
2 Time Magazine, June 21, 1943.
3 Occupied America, Rudolph Acuña, 1988, p. 257.
4 ibid."
Ellroy all'inizio di Dalia Nera
Pynchon in parecchi passaggi de L'Arcobaleno della Gravità
Spielberg in 1941 a Hollywood...quest'ultimo stranamente colloca
l'avvenimento due anni prima, memoria storica quando gli pare?
Ciao
--
UFV: Double Vision/Caterina Va In Città/Swimming Pool/Velvet
Goldmine/Identity/19° Stormo Bombardieri/Io Non Ho Paura/Noroit/Out 1: Noli
Me Tangere/Il Maratoneta/Foglie D'Autunno/PFF (25-28 Giugno)/Out 1: Noli Me
Tangere (II Parte)

 Pynchon in parecchi passaggi de L'Arcobaleno della Gravità
(era per questo che mi interessava)
u_Q