Zoot Suit Controversy Rooted In Racism
Zoot suits took American youth culture by storm in the late 1930s and early 1940s. They featured a long coat with wide lapels and broad shoulder pads. Baggy, tight-cuffed, and high-waist pants accompanied the coat, as did pointy French style shoes. A watch chain dangled from the belt to the knees, then back to a side pocket. Finally, a color coordinated fedora, sometimes with a long feather, completed the ensemble. Zoot suits first appeared in African-American communities in Harlem, Chicago, and Detroit. Eventually, they became popular with the rest of America as part of the emerging jazz culture.
Zoots became a hit with young Latinos, Filipinos, and Italian Americans. The outfit was worn by many young whites, but there was always an “ethnic” aura about zoot suits that made it problematic for much of the white mainstream. Los Angeles area newspapers had whipped up racial tensions with sensationalist reports about a “crime wave” caused by Mexican-American youths. Their signature getup was zoot suits. The crime wave existed only in the newspapers’ imagination. Nonetheless, law enforcement reacted with frequent roundups, in which hundreds of Mexican-American youths were arrested. Their only crime was to wear oversized suits. In June of 1943, mobs of white servicemen roamed that city, and attacked allegedly “unpatriotic” Mexican-Americans wearing zoot suits. The rioters focused on Latino youths, but young African Americans and Filipinos were also targeted. Riots soon spread to San Diego and Oakland, then across the country to Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York City.
