THE ZOOT SUIT RIOTS
Citizens of early 1940s Los Angeles lived in an atmosphere of racial tension that ultimately exploded in the Zoot Suit Riots. But what caused the unrest? In the decades leading up to the rioting, Los Angeles experienced an unprecedented population explosion. Along with Midwesterners who flocked to Los Angeles, thousands of Mexican refugees fleeing the Mexican Revolution made their way there. So too did landless white laborers escaping the Dust Bowl in the Southern Plains, and African Americans seeking more opportunity than they'd had in the South. The coming of war in 1941 further complicated the city's dynamics. White men went off to fight in a mostly white military, and women and people of color filled the jobs in the defense industry previously reserved for white males. This situation, which is prompting racial antagonism between the Mexican, Anglo-Saxon and Black communities will undoubtedly have grave international repercussions which will inevitably......
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Approximate Word Count: 1076
Approximate Pages: 5 (260 words per double-spaced page) |