When Racism Becomes Violent: Short Summary of the Los Angeles Zoot Suit Riots

Racism and discrimination undoubtedly play a major role in explaining the treatment of the young Hispanic men (and some African-Americans and Filipino-Americans). However, there are also events leading up to the riots which encouraged a negative public image of Zoot Suit wearing minorities. This negative public image combined with general ignorance towards Latino culture is a formula for sparking tensions and riots.

Tensions and ignorance between Caucasians and Mexicans eventually leads up to racism and discrimination. The tension starts off during the Great Depression when Mexicans fled from Mexico to California and other border states leading to the belief that there was a threat to White employment. Deportation of Mexicans further fueled the tensions. The Mexican youth adopted their own music, language and style of Zoot Suits which were largely considered unpatriotic and extravagant in wartime. Coupled with increasing interracial violence between the Mexican youth such as the murder of Jose Diaz and followed by the first conflict between Mexicans and military personnel transformed tension into a negative stigma and violence.

The negative stigma that surrounded Mexicans in states like California created a fad of Mexican "cleansing", leading military and law enforcement personnel to assault Mexicans on sight. Though this discrimination of Mexicans can simply be explained by racism, much can be gained by looking at the cause and effects that first lead up to the discrimination, showing that ignorance and negative stigmas must be stopped before they can become discrimination.