The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of riots that took place from June 3–8, 1943, in Los Angeles, California, United States, involving American servicemen stationed in Southern California and young Latino and Mexican American city residents. It was one of the dozen wartime industrial cities that suffered race-related riots in the summer of 1943, along with Mobile, Alabama; Beaumont, Texas; Detroit, Michigan; and New York City.
Boys stripped and beaten by U.S. Navy sailors
This photograph of three men sporting variations on the zoot suit was taken by Oliver F. Atkins.
"Authorities meet to discuss the Zoot Suit Riots" (photo: Los Angeles Daily News)
The Coordinating Council for Latin American Youth sent this telegram to President Franklin Roosevelt urging his attention to the riots in Los Angeles. National Archives, General Records of the Department of State
Mexican Americans are Americans of Mexican heritage. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United States; they make up 53% of the total population of foreign-born Hispanic Americans and 25% of the total foreign-born population. Chicano is a term used by some to describe the unique identity held by Mexican-Americans. The United States is home to the second-largest Mexican community in the world, behind only Mexico. Most Mexican Americans reside in the Southwest, with over 60% of Mexican Americans living in the states of California and Texas.
Symbols of the Southwest: a string of chili peppers (a ristra) and a bleached white cow's skull hang in a market near Santa Fe.
Mural in Chicano Park, San Diego, stating "All the way to the Bay"
The Henry B. González Convention Center and Lila Cockrell Theater along the San Antonio River Walk. The Tower of the Americas is visible in the background.
An example of a Chicano-themed mural in the Richard Riordan Central Library