A resolution condemning the 1943 Zoot Suit Riots, days of violence and attacks against Mexican American community during a dark chapter in Los Angeles’ history, will be considered Friday by the City Council. John Cádiz Klemack reports for Today in LA on June 9, 2023.
A resolution condemning the 1943 Zoot Suit Riots, days of violence and attacks against Mexican American community during a dark chapter in Los Angeles' history, was approved Friday by the City Council.
The resolution includes an apology for the treatment of Mexican Americans during the racial turmoil of 80 years ago.
Councilman Kevin de León introduced the resolution at Friday's City Council meeting as part of Zoot Suit Heritage Week, which concludes Friday.
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The attacks began on May 31, 1943, when a group of servicemen and Mexican American youth wearing zoot suits fought in downtown Los Angeles. Three days later the violence escalated into a series of attacks against the Mexican American community, including the neighborhood of Boyle Heights.
More than 50 people were injuries, and more than 500 Mexican Americans arrested.
Sailors stripped the victims of their zoot suits and burned their clothes. 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.
Miguel Vera Lopez of the Chicano Moratorium Committee, along with Manny Alcarez, a "pachuco" culture enthusiast, and representatives from the Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council gave remarks during Friday's council meeting and joined de León as they discussed the impacts of the Zoot Suit Riots.
Lopez said the group represented the generation that established a voice since the 1960s and 70s to "resist, educate and act on the many wrongs of the past" and take action for future generations.
"I really appreciate the fact that at the local, county, state levels and hopefully soon at the federal level that these recognitions will play a most important role in setting the record,'' Lopez said. "Our children and grandchildren will know the truth of what truly happened.''
The Zoot Suit Riots were commemorated by a Broadway play in the 1970s that became a film starring Edward James Olmos in 1981.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in May also approved a motion to denounce the Zoot Suit Riots.
City News Service contributed to this report.
