*What about those fellows waiting still and silent there on the platform, so still and silent they clash with the crowd in their very immobility, standing noisy in their very silence; harsh as a cry of terror in their quietness? What about these three boys, coming now along the platform, tall and slender, walking with swinging shoulders in their well-pressed, too-hot-for-summer suits, their collars high and tight about their necks, their identical hats of black cheap felt set upon the crowns of their heads with a severe formality above their conked hair? It was as though I’d never seen their like before: walking slowly, their shoulders swaying, their legs swinging from their hips in trousers that ballooned upward from cuffs fitting snug about their ankles; their coats long and hip-tight with shoulders far too broad to be those of natural western men. These fellows whose bodies seemed – what had one of my teachers said of me? – ‘You’re like one of those African sculptures, distorted in the interest of design.’ Well, what design and whose?
*
“Is based upon the spiritual fact that man must have freedom in which to develop his full stature and through common effort to raise the level of human dignity.”(E. Roosevelt)
*
Race, then, lies in the eye of the beholder. Humans show such a mixture if physical characteristics-in skin color, hair texture, nose shape, head shape, eye color, and so on-that there is no inevitable, much less universal, way to classify our many biological differences. Instead of falling into distinct types clearly separate from one another, human characteristics flow endlessly together. Because racial classifications are arbitrary, the categories people use differ from one society to another, and they change over time. In sense, then, race and its accompanying idea of racial superiority are myths.
*
Minorities shared these five characteristics:
1. Membership in ascribed status; that is, not voluntary, but comes through birth.
2. The physical or cultural traits that distinguish minorities are held in low esteem by the dominant group.
3. Minorities are unequally treated by the dominant group.
4. Minorities tend to marry within their own group.
5. Minorities tend to feel strong group solidarity (a sense of “we-ness”).
These condition-especially when combined with collective discrimination-tend to create a shared sense of identity among minorities, and, in many instances, even a sense of common destiny.
*
Young Latinos, unlike their elders, were not content to stay within their barrios, but were spilling into downtown dance halls, movie houses, pool halls and clubs. As young men are prone to do, many young Latino males distinguished themselves with distinctive hairdos (“duck tails”) and apparel (“drape shapes” or “zoot suits” – wide-brimmed hats, broad-shouldered long coats, high-waisted peg-legged trousers and long dangling chains). They called themselves pachucos. They came into contact with swarms of other young men who wore another type of uniform …military men.
*
On June 3, 1943, a number of sailors claimed to have been beaten and robbed by Mexican pachucos. The following evening, a mob of about 200 sailors, tired of boredom and fired up with bigotry, hired a fleet of cabs and rolled into East Los Angeles to beat up and strip the clothing off any young Latino male they could find. The authorities seemed to approve. Police made a few initial token arrests of sailors, but they were quickly released.
*
Nationwide condemnation of the actions of the military rioters and civil authorities followed. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt commented, “The question goes deeper than just [zoot] suits. It is a racial protest. I have been worried for a long time about the Mexican racial situation. It is a problem with roots going a long way back, and we do not always face these problems as we should.” The Los Angeles Times responded with a June 18 headline, “Mrs. Roosevelt Blindly Stirs Race Discord.” The editorial page accused her of communist leanings.
*
“I am one of the most irresponsible beings that ever lived. Irresponsibility is part of my invisibility; any way you face it, it is a denial. But to whom can I be responsible, and why should I be, when you refuse to see me?”
*
It’s gotten way out of hand out here … Just wear it properly. Cover your vital parts. I mean, if you expose your private parts, you’ll get a fine. If you walk up and your pants drop, you get a fine. They’re better off taking the pants off and just wearing a dress.
*
To preserve the peace and good name of the Los Angeles area, the strongest measures must be taken jointly by the police, the Sheriff’s office and Army and Navy authorities, to prevent any further outbreaks of ‘zoot suit’ rioting. While members of the armed forces received considerable provocation at the hands of the unidentified miscreants, such a situation cannot be cured by indiscriminate assault on every youth wearing a particular type of costume.
*
Finally, on June 7, military authorities did what civil authorities would not. Navy and Army commanders sought to get control of their men by ordering that the City of Los Angeles be declared off-limits to military personnel. Nonetheless, the official Navy position was that their sailors were acting in “self-defense against the rowdy element.”
*
American culture is replete with negative stereotypes about Latinos. Whether it’s the “greaser”, “bandito”, or “macho” stereotype, they are portrayed as lazy, shiftless, lawless, thieving, immoral, or violent. Most of these stereotypes go back to the War with Mexico. “Greaser”, for example, came to be applied to other ethnic groups, but originated with the use of Mexicans to grease wagon train wheels. One of the major events that resulted in some permanent social damage was the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943. Young Mexican Americans (and some African Americans) started dressing in long coats with padded shoulders, porkpie hats, watch chains, and peg-top trousers tapered to narrow cuffs. The outfit was later picked up in the 1960s by blacks as the superpimp look, and it has made a comeback in the 1990s with swing music. It was designed to be battle gear to defend themselves in LA from the sailors who were encouraging the red light districts of their neighborhoods. Numerous fights and killings broke out between the Zoot Suiters and servicemen, and for several nights, the police response was to let vigilante bands of servicemen and citizens run amok and with impunity maim or kill as many Latinos and Africans as they wanted. More Mexican Americans died in the Zoot Suit Riots than all who served in WW II. *When a group expands its political boundaries, however, it produces minority groups if it incorporates people with different customs, language, values, and physical characteristics into the same political entity and discriminates against them. For example, after defeating Mexico in war, the United States took over the southwest. The Mexicans living there, who had been the dominant group, were transformed into a minority group, a master status that has influenced their lives since. Referring to his ancestors, one Latino said, “We didn’t move across the border-the border moved across us.”
*
Virginians who wear their pants so low their underwear shows may want to think about investing in a stronger belt. (Spruill)
*
But there is rhythm here
Its own special substance.
I hear Billie sing, no Good Man, and dig Prez, wearing the Zoot suit of life, the Porkpie hat tilted at the correct angle; through the Harlem smoke of beer and whisky, I understand the mystery of the Signifying Monkey. (Neal)
