Zoot-suiters, mostly young male African Americans and Mexican Americans, earned their name by wearing an ostentatious style of suit, zoot suits, in the early 1940s. Newspapers across the nation sensationalized the outfit, and the term “zoot-suiter” quickly gained a negative association with unpatriotic and criminal activity. Backlash against the “zooters”—rooted in deeper racial and ethnic animosities—reached a zenith in the summer of 1943 with the “zoot suit riots,” a series of mob attacks on minority youth in several American cities.
Zoot suit coats were characterized by wide padded shoulders, sleeves reaching the fingertips, baggy fit, wide lapels, and an extended length, often reaching to the knees. This was paired with loose-fitting pants with very narrow cuffs, and with string ties, gold watch chains, and wide brimmed hats with narrow crowns. The brighter and bolder the color of the suit, the more stylish and noticeable it was—characteristics highly desired by zoot-suiters.
The origin of the zoot suit is found in the vigorous improvisational Music of swing, a highly danceable type of jazz. The narrow cuffs of the zoot suit prevented catching ones shoes while performing the athletic movements of the jitterbug and lindy hop. Swing inspired many young people of all races to spend evenings dancing at large urban dancehalls such as Minton’s in Harlem. Musicians’ use of improvisation in playing was also echoed in the jive or slang language adopted by zoot-suiters. Originating in Harlem, the zoot suits spread across the country to the West Coast.
Many African Americans relocated from rural communities in the SoUTH to northern CITIES in search of new employment opportunities produced by the economic MOBILIZATION for WoRLD War II. Similarly, Mexican Americans moved to West Coast defense industries, especially in and around Los Angeles. The renewed energy created by this economic change inspired young urban Americans to spend more of their earnings on entertainment and on fashionable clothing like the zoot suit. The influx of African Americans and Mexican Americans also produced racial tensions and sometimes conflict in crowded war boom areas.
Clothing regulations issued by the War PRODUCTION Board, including allowable usage of natural materials such as wool, contributed to the disparagement of the zoot-suiters. The WPB promoted the so-called victory suit—and with its slim pants, narrow lapels, and conservative styling, the victory suit was an obvious opposite of the zoot suit. The WPB found zoot suits unpatriotic because of the flagrant excess amount of fabric used and ordered an end to production of the suits.
Newspapers across America amplified antipathy against the zoot suit and its wearers through accounts connecting zoot-suiters to gangsters and moral deficiencies. Zooters were described as shiftless hustlers who dodged the draft and assaulted white women. While some zoot-suiters did engage in criminal behavior, most did not. In Los Angeles and elsewhere, many belonged to gangs, though often for social, not unlawful, activities. For many of these youth, the zoot suit exemplified an independent spirit.
Violence against zoot-suiters erupted in Los Angeles, California, in June 1943. White U. S. servicemen, fueled by rumors that Mexican-American zoot-suiters harassed and molested white women, assaulted zoot-suiters and destroyed and stripped the suits off of them. Bystanders cheered as zoot-suiters were beaten and then arrested by local police. More than 100 Mexican Americans suffered serious injuries, in contrast to only 20 servicemen in the L. A. riot. Racism was a clear motive of the violence, as many victims of the riot were not even wearing zoot suits. Newspaper articles recounted the riot with an air of festivity, further stimulating anti-Mexican sentiment.
Violence against zoot-suiters, part of a more general pattern of racial conflict in the summer of 1943, also broke out in other cities such as New York and Detroit, where violence was directed at young African Americans. The zoot suit’s popularity declined sharply after the rash of riots in the summer of 1943. In California, the zoot suit riots produced an effort led by the governor to combat prejudice and enhance the prospects of Mexican Americans. Similarly, the general outburst of race riots suits in the summer of 1943 sparked efforts elsewhere to address the problems of racial discrimination and conflict.
See also RACE AND RACIAL CONFLICT.
Further reading: Mario T. Garcia, Mexican-Americans: Leadership, Ideology, and Identity, 1930-1960 (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1989); Mauricio Mazon, The Zoot-Suit Riots: The Psychology of Symbolic Annihilation (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1984).
—Courtney D. Mattingly
World History
