Zoot Suit Riots

The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of riots on June 3–8, 1943 in Los Angeles, California, United States, involving American servicemen stationed in Southern California and young Latino and Mexican American city residents. It was one of the dozen wartime industrial cities that suffered race-related riots in the summer of 1943, along with Mobile, Alabama; Beaumont, Texas; Detroit, Michigan; and New York City.

American servicemen and white residents of Los Angeles attacked and stripped children, youths, and teenagers who wore zoot suits, ostensibly because they considered the outfits, which were made from large amounts of fabric, to be unpatriotic during World War II. Rationing of fabrics and certain foods was necessary during the war effort. While most of the violence was directed toward Mexican American youth; African American and Filipino American youths who were wearing zoot suits were also attacked.

The Zoot Suit Riots were related to fears and hostilities aroused by the coverage of the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial, following the killing of a young Latino man named José Gallardo Díaz in 1942 in what was then an unincorporated commercial area near Los Angeles. The riot appeared to trigger similar attacks that year against Latinos in Chicago, Illinois; San Diego and Oakland, California; Evansville, Indiana; Philadelphia; and New York City. The defiance of zoot suiters became inspirational for Chicanos during the Chicano Movement.

Category:1940s in the United States
Category:20th century in Los Angeles, California
Category:Riots in the United States