Atlas of Hispanic-American History

the convictions and dismissed all charges

for lack of evidence.

Despite the dismissal, the high-pro-

file coverage of the trial had served to

inflame anti-Mexican sentiment. Re-

gardless of the trial’s outcome, many

Anglos viewed the episode as confirma-

tion of racist stereotypes—that zoot suit-

ers were by nature criminals. Coming in a

time of war when many young Americans

were enlisted in the military, the Sleepy

Lagoon case called attention to the per-

ceived character of those on trial and

ignited some to strike out against them.

As a result, the zoot suiters of Los

Angeles suffered more injustices both

during and after the trial. Minor skir-

mishes between Anglo servicemen on

furlough and pachucos in zoot suits began

increasing in number. Then in June 1943

the tension boiled over. Claiming that

some sailors had been attacked by pachu-

cos, hundreds of sailors and soldiers

roamed Los Angeles, grabbing, beating,

and tearing the zoot suit off of every zoot

suiter they could find. For several nights

the riots continued, aimed at any and all

Mexican-American youths, whether they

were wearing zoot suits or not. The

police not only failed to protect the

Hispanic victims, they arrested them as if

they were responsible. The newspapers,

too, blamed the victims, sensationalizing

any incident of retaliation by pachucos

while lionizing the servicemen for teach-

ing them a lesson.

The riots spread to other cities in

California and sparked similar attacks that

summer on Mexican Americans in

Chicago, Detroit, and Philadelphia. By

mid-June the Los Angeles Zoot Suit Riots

were over, stopped by military police and

the cancellation of overnight passes and

leaves. The incident led to earnest official

explorations of the possible causes of the

riots and short-lived attempts to improve

relations between Anglos and Mexican

Americans. For Hispanic Americans,

Sleepy Lagoon and the Zoot Suit Riots

became spurs to fight harder against bru-

tality and prejudice and towards full

equality with Anglo-Americans.

160 ATLAS OF HISPANIC-AMERICAN HISTORY

Zoot Suit Riots, 1943