SOC SCI 164B Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Zoot Suit Riots, Mexican Mafia, Prison Gang
Document Summary
Second night, anybody wearing zoot suits were beat up and jailed. Third night, over 2,000 military soldiers stripped those wearing zoot suits, burned them, and then beat them up. Lapd officers follow the military and then arrest the people wearing zoot suits. It took a presidential order to keep the military off the streets which meant that lapd either couldn"t or didn"t want to stop the attacks. The military in uniform would hook up with the latinas. The latinas bought kaki pants that were a few inches too big, and a coat that was big, leather shoes (these were gangster uniforms) November, 1943: anthony quinn, orson wells, rita hayward started the appeals to get those guys out of jail: when this came out, the prisoners started being treated better in prison. October, 1944: all convictions (187) were overturned: this is the confirmation for the mexican community that you cant trust the police and the system.