“The integration of U.S. military personnel, such as Sailors and Marines, into a predominantly Mexican-American area of Los Angeles is one of the key causes of the Zoot Suit Riots. U.S. military personnel came from all sorts of different places in America that may not have had a large Mexican or BIPOC population, and therefore have racist prejudice against these people. When the U.S. personnel began interacting with the pachuco teens who refused to be subservient and refused to act submissive to white people, the Sailors and Marines were surprised by the aggressive and loud personalities. This surprise turned into hostility. From the first day the U.S. military personnel arrived to the days the riots broke out, assaults and verbal fights between the two groups broke out. The fights eventually peaked the days of the riots.”
– Frida
“The murder of José Díaz had a huge impact on the Zoot Suit Riots. His murder took place on August 2, 1942 and it happened when there was already a lot of racial tension between Americans and Mexican Americans. Considering the fact that at that time the police practically did not care for Mexican Americans being killed, this time the police “cared” a little too much for the murder of José Díaz but it ended up being an excuse to arrest and imprison Mexican American zoot suiters. About 600 people, mostly Mexican American, were were rounded up in a dragnet. 17 were indicted on charges ranging from assaut to first degree murder. The murder of José Díaz basically added more fuel to what was to come. Due to Diaz’s murder, many Mexican Americans were unjustly with assault, second degree and first degree murder, and were sentenced to 6 months to life in prison. Since 12 Mexican Americans were charged for Diaz’s murder, Mexican Americans did not take the news well and finally had enough of the injustices taking place.”
– Lizbeth
“Although there was a plethora of factors that snowballed and eventually led to the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943, one of the most prominent contributing factors was growing racial tensions amidst World War II. As the United States prepared to enter the Second World War, there was strict rationing of wool and other textiles. As a result, the U.S. War Production Board began implementing restrictions on what clothing could be manufactured. Since suit zoots were excessively over the top and used a vast array of materials, they were banned from being produced. Insistent on wearing the zoot suits, which they viewed as an act of defiance to the assimilation of Western culture and ideals, Pachucos began to rely on bootleg tailors to manufacture them. This further divided patriotic citizens who viewed these actions as unpatriotic and as expressing anti-American sentiment. As a result, when combined with other instances of prejudice and racism, these events garnered the aid of citizens to help attack suit zooters alongside Naval Officers.”
– Ashley
“The last cause of the Zoot Suit Riots was that the zoot suits challenged the established authority. Mexicans and black people dressed the way they wanted to because they knew the community had a negative view towards these clothes. They did it in a sense to provoke the white community since the racial tensions were already so high during this time. It was a way for minorities to stand up against segregation and racial injustice and to show white people they weren’t scared of them. However, minorities did manage to provoke the community and they were harmed because of it. Minorities wearing zoot suits were beaten up and sometimes large groups of whites would gather together and go around hurting people of color regardless of if they had zoot suits on or not. These baggy clothes were meant to prove that minorities wanted to challenge authority.”
– Mark
“An important cause of the Zoot Suit Riots was the establishment of the Naval Reserve Armory in Chavez Ravine, a predominantly Mexican community. As the sailors went out of the base for parties and to enjoy themselves in bars, they would encounter many Mexican-American youth because in that area of L.A. there were mostly people of Mexican descent. This lead to constant fights between them simply because of their race, beliefs, and identity. Also due to the fact that they were sailors/soldiers, many civilians felt that they were doing the right thing by fighting people that were “anti-war effort” and they came to the area to fight the Mexican-American youth as well. All these fights started because of the sailors being in that vicinity and they created such a bad situation that the L.A. City Council banned them from leaving the military base to stop the fights/riots.”
– Jeff