In June 1943 Los Angeles erupted. Mobs of servicemen, off-duty police, and civilians attack young Latinos, Blacks, and other people of color. Any man wearing a “zoot suit” is fair game.
The zoot suit had its origins in Jazz. Oversized and baggy, with wide shoulders and lapels, loose-fitting pants and tailored cuffs, they were wildly popular in 1930’s Harlem and Chicago. Jazz and Jump-Blues musicians liked how they looked on stage. Tap and Lindy-Hop dancers enjoyed the freedom of movement. Sporting a zoot suit made one feel like a hep-cat, a jive-talker, a bit of a rogue. A sub-culture emerged. Jazz-speak entered the American lexicon, and zoot suits became flags of cultural pride. Cab Calloway dubbed the fashion, “totally and truly American.”
But by 1943, zoot-suiters drew fire for wasting rationed wool. Clashes erupted, fueled by war fervor and simmering racism. In Los Angeles, full-blown riots spread into ethnic neighborhoods. An LA newspaper reported, “… mobs of several thousand … beat up every zoot-suiter they could find. Mexicans, Blacks, and Filipinos were attacked with sadistic frenzy.” A Governor’s Committee report stated that “the existence of racism cannot be ignored.”
But rather than intimidate people of color, the riots ultimately fueled activism. The zoot suiters’ defiance inspired other minority groups and forged bonds between them. Zoot-suiters Cesar Chavez and Malcolm X. rose to spearhead the demand for racial equality. And historians now consider the Zoot Suit Riots a major impetus in the Civil Rights Movement.
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