L.A. City Council Resolution Would Apologize for 1943 `Zoot Suit Riots'

MEXICO-PACHUCOS

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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The Los Angeles City Council Friday will present a resolution formally condemning the 1943 "Zoot Suit Riots," and apologizing for the treatment of Mexican Americans during the racial turmoil of 80 years ago.

Community leaders, "pachucos" (zoot suiters) and Chicanas are expected to join Councilman Kevin de León in the Council Chamber on Friday as he introduces the resolution.

De León will also lead a presentation commemorating June 3-9 as "Zoot Suit Heritage Week" in the city of Los Angeles.

The attacks began on May 31, 1943, when a group of servicemen and a group of Mexican American youth wearing zoot suits fought in downtown L.A. Three days later, June 3, the violence escalated into a series of attacks against the Mexican American community, including the neighborhood of Boyle Heights.

The violence resulted in more than 50 injuries and more than 500 Mexican Americans arrested.

Sailors stripped the victims of their zoot suits and burned their clothes, "symbolizing a degrading attack on their identify and culture," de León's office said in a statement.

"These events exposed the deep-rooted racism and prejudice that permeated society at that time," the statement went on. "The victimization of Mexican American youth and the assault on their community revealed the systemic injustice they faced."

Later that year, U.S. servicemen were banned from the area and the council at the time backed a resolution -- never codified as a law -- that barred zoot suits in the city.

The Zoot Suit Riots became a dark chapter in the history of the Chicano community, and were commemorated by a Broadway play in the 1970s that became a film starring Edward James Olmos in 1981.

As part of Friday's presentation, zoot suit dancers are slated to perform. The council's ceremony will culminate a week of Zoot Suit Riot-related events.

Manny Alcarez, a "pachuco" culture enthusiast, along with Miguel Vera Lopez of the Chicano Moratorium Committee and representatives from the Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council, are expected to provide remarks.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in May also approved a motion to denounce "the devastation of the Zoot Suit Riots," and "recognize this as a dark chapter in Los Angeles County's history and recommit to fighting against racial discrimination."


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