The Chicano Riots
The riots began in Los Angeles, amidst a period of rising tensions between American servicemen stationed in southern California and Los Angeles' Chicano community. Many of the tensions between the Chicano community and the sailors existed because the servicemen walked through a Chicano neighborhood on the way back to their barracks after nights of drinking. The discrimination against the Chicano minority community was compounded by robberies and fights during these drunken interactions. In July 1942, a group of Hispanic youth fought back against police who attempted to break up a street corner gambling game. In October 1942, over 600 Chicano youth were arrested, and dozens charged, in the killing of Jose Diaz in a supposed gang brawl at the
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Pushing its way into the important motion picture theaters, the mob ordered the management to turn on the house lights and then ran up and down the aisles dragging Mexicans out of their seats. Streetcars were halted while Mexicans, and some Filipinos and Negroes, were jerked off their seats, pushed into the streets and beaten with a sadistic frenzy[3]
The local press lauded the attacks by the servicemen, describing the assaults as having a "cleansing effect" that were ridding Los Angeles of "miscreants" and "hoodlums."[4] The violence only subsided when military authorities intervened on June 7. They declared that Los Angeles would be off-limits to all military personnel. Of the nine sailors that were arrested, eight were released with no charges and one had to pay a small fine.
A week later, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt characterized the riots, which the local press had largely attributed to criminal actions by the Mexican American community, as in fact being "race riots" rooted in long-term discrimination against Mexican-Americans. This led to an outraged response by the Los Angeles Times, which in an editorial the following day accused Mrs. Roosevelt of stirring "race discord."[5]
1^ American Experience | Zoot Suit Riots | Timeline
2^ Historians and WWII page
Pushing its way into the important motion picture theaters, the mob ordered the management to turn on the house lights and then ran up and down the aisles dragging Mexicans out of their seats. Streetcars were halted while Mexicans, and some Filipinos and Negroes, were jerked off their seats, pushed into the streets and beaten with a sadistic frenzy[3]
The local press lauded the attacks by the servicemen, describing the assaults as having a "cleansing effect" that were ridding Los Angeles of "miscreants" and "hoodlums."[4] The violence only subsided when military authorities intervened on June 7. They declared that Los Angeles would be off-limits to all military personnel. Of the nine sailors that were arrested, eight were released with no charges and one had to pay a small fine.
A week later, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt characterized the riots, which the local press had largely attributed to criminal actions by the Mexican American community, as in fact being "race riots" rooted in long-term discrimination against Mexican-Americans. This led to an outraged response by the Los Angeles Times, which in an editorial the following day accused Mrs. Roosevelt of stirring "race discord."[5]
1^ American Experience | Zoot Suit Riots | Timeline
2^ Historians and WWII page