Zoot Suit Riots

Zoot Suit Riots
Zoot suits in 1942
Date	June 1943
Location	Los Angeles County, California, United States
Causes	Conflict between American servicemen stationed in Southern California and Mexican-American youths
Methods	Widespread rioting

The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of attacks in June 1943 in Los Angeles, California, United States, between Mexican American youths and white Americans servicemen stationed in Southern California.

White servicemen and civilians attacked and stripped youths who wore zoot suits because the outfits were considered unpatriotic and extravagant during wartime, in which rationing of fabric was required for the World War II war effort. While most of the violence was directed toward Mexican American youth, young African American and Filipino Americans were attacked as well because they also sported zoot suits. The Zoot Suit Riots were related to fears and hostilities aroused by the coverage of the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial, following the killing of a young Latino man in a barrio near Los Angeles. The riot appeared to trigger similar attacks that year against Latinos in Chicago, San Diego, Oakland, Evansville, Philadelphia, and New York City.

During the early 20th century, many Mexicans immigrated for work to such areas as Texas, Arizona, and California.

During the Great Depression, in the early 1930s the United States deported between 500,000 and 2 million people (including up to 1.2 million U.S. citizens) of Mexican descent to Mexico (see Mexican Repatriation), to reduce calls on limited American resources. By the late 1930s about 3 million Mexican Americans resided in the United States, with Los Angeles having the highest concentration of Mexicans outside Mexico.