During the early 19th century Mexicans who called themselves ‘’Pachuchos’’ were often discriminated by serviceman and serviceman. Pachucos were known for wearing zoot suits, suits that consisted of a broad-shouldered draped jacket, balon leg trousers, and on occasion a hat. Zoot suiters were attached to this style because they found it stylish and cheap. According to Kathy Peiss the author of the book “Zoot Suit: The Enigmatic Career of an Extreme Style ‘’ she believes “I argue that people [wore] it for a whole range of reasons,” she says. “It had many different meanings, including the pleasure of looking sharp and being part of a group of young people in the war years. The zoot suit should not be looked at solely as a costume that conveys…
In the early '40s in Los Angeles, several factors made the city remain under stress, contributing to conflicts known as the Zoot Suit Riots. Decades of discrimination have forced the Mexican-American community to turn inward. By the 1940, LA 240,000 Mexican-American lived in a series of neighborhoods called barrios. These communities were traditional, conservative and self-contained. During those years, segregations was very usual, and any thing was used as an excuse to bad treat Mexicans, with the Zoot Suits, they were seen as criminals and rebels.…
In the film Zoot Suit Riots, Joseph Tovares remarkably portrayed the difficult lives of Mexican Americans in the 1940s. Zoot Suit Riots is a powerful film that explores the complicated racial tensions, as well as the changing social and political scene leading up to the riots in the streets of Los Angeles in the summer of 1943. White Americans, police and service men targeted Latinos with their racist attitudes. Tovares argues that these Mexican American adolescents were victims, but they also stood up for themselves and fought back to gain the respect they felt they deserved. This generation of Americanized Latino children wanted to be recognized as American on their own terms. To distinguish themselves from their parents’ generation, they became zoot suitors, but learned that was not enough as racism was a widespread phenomenon across America.…
Based on the infamous 1942 “Sleepy Lagoon” murder mystery and the resulting “Zoot Suit Riots” in Los Angeles , playwright Luis Valdez weaves fact and fiction to depict the fate of 22 young Mexican Americans brought to trial for a murder they did not commit. The play has symbolic significance for Mexican Americans and tells about the riots during World War II. The Sleepy Lagoon Murder was one step in the fight for the rights and respect of Mexican American's. This riot involved young servicemen and civilians who clashed in the streets of the city with young Mexican Americans who wore the noticeable "Zoot Suit."…
The Sharks a Puerto Rican gang wore more traditional style spanish clothing that always incorporated the colors red and black. The Jets a rivaling white gang wore clothing time appropriate for a 1960’s teenager, like collared bowling shirts, and plain t-shirts. The Jets also kept with a color scheme of blue and white. One of my favorite scenes that sums up the great job the costumes did on making the play great was when Anita, the girlfriend of Bernardo, at the beginning of the play is creating a dress for Maria, Bernardo's sister, who is constantly teasing Anita telling her that the dress should not make her look to up tight. After a good bit of whining Maria finally puts on a beautiful white dress, and continues to spin in front of the mirror admiring herself. In one of the most moving scenes of the play when everyone on stage is wearing white to symbolize purity, and innocence after two influential characters have been stabbed to death. The people who have been stabbed come out in the same white clothing, but it is covered in blood to show. This choice of clothing shows the death of innocence of the young boys who have been corrupted after the murders they committed.…
If the military officials didn’t step into the situation in time, this confrontation could have easily escalated into civil war. The government wanted to have more control over the Mexican-American community. So they allowed the Zoot Suiters to be harassed and be beaten down by the military. In the aftermath, the government of California passed a law to get rid of wearing Zoot Suits to “protect” the community from future violence. In reality, this historical event was to give the government more power in taming the free-will of the “rebellious” men behind the…
In every one of us, there is a savage monster. A monster, that, in our vulnerability, will silently kill off the good parts of ourselves. Lord of the Flies by William Golding is about a group of British boys who must survive on an island after their plane crashes. From the story, it is clear that the monsters inside us can destroy the bonds we work so hard to make. This is shown through symbolism, like the fire, which represents the fear in the group, the boys, which represents how humanity has corrupted the world we live in, and the Lord of the Flies, which represents the monster inside of us and how it affects our lives.…
The zoot suit riots were a serious of conflicts that happened in the 1940’s among Los Angeles between U.S. servicemen and Mexican American youths. The pressures of World War II and racial tensions were the cause of the riots. Workers were needed in agriculture and service sectors so the United States brought in temporary workers from Mexico to help but most whites did not welcome them. During the war, various rationing such as restrictions on wool took place. This affected the manufacture of suits and other clothing. There were also regulations that prohibited the making of zoot suits. But certain tailors made them anyways, this caused racial tension and Mexicans who wore these suits were considered un-American because they weren’t supposed…
William Golding began his writing career after serving in the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom during World War II, and gained global recognition with his 1953 novel Lord of the Flies. The book was a response to Robert Ballantyne's brighter, Victorian era story Coral Island, in which British boys bring civilization to an island of savages. Golding's own take on the deserted island tale revolves around his belief that there is a malevolent side of human nature that is only kept at bay by our perception of civilization. The chances of rescue for the boys in Lord of the Flies faded with their will to control their darkest urges, and they regressed into a tribe chasing violent pleasure. Golding conveys the transition of the kids with a combination…
Many young Mexican Americans felt out of place and they felt as if they weren’t part of America, so they started wearing jackets with big shoulder blades with large pants, to express themselves and be out there. Many people saw this as a rebellious way of dressing even their own family and outsiders. In addition, one specific group who held a grudge towards the zoot suits were the sailors who were coming back from the war. The sailors held grudges towards the ones wearing the zoot suits, because they weren’t in the war defending their country. Many of the issues that caused the riots were the tension between the two groups of young men. It was not right for the sailors to have gone that far as attacking everyone who was dressed as a zoot suit…
The Los Angeles City Council issued a ban on zoot suits the following day. An investigation was opened in order to find the cause of these riots, an official report stated that racism was the cause. Fletcher Brown, the Los Angeles mayor, denied the results and stated that his conclusion to these riots were caused by the violent and juvenile actions that the Mexican-Americans were involved in, he did not take racial prejudice as a component in the riots. Amazingly, no one was killed during the weeklong riot, but it wasn’t the last outburst of zoot suit-related racial violence (Alvarez, 2008). As Alvarez said, over the years, countless recent uprising has displaced the Zoot Suits riots in people’s consciousness, but understanding what happened in 1943 it is important to know what the episodes of violence were about. All these riots demonstrate the rigidity of the American Culture towards any non-white race to a level where the only fact of wearing extravagant suits brings not only verbal reprimand, but also a violent race-based retribution. Moreover, these actions also demonstrated how the government can diminish youth cultural movements can be diminished by a government were politics distort the meaning and importance of having a…
In Native cultures, these feathered headdresses are given to war heroes and chiefs to symbolize honor, power, and respect. However, the war bonnet has somehow also become an "integral" part of the "major music festival aesthetic", and the "finishing touch" to a standard "Native American" Halloween costume.…
Also, the photo indicates that wearing same uniforms is easier to control students. By stating the original reason of being introduced to wear uniforms is help with discipline where appears to tradition and custom, it encourages the reader to resist change, and to feel there are reasons why people chose to wear same uniform in the past. Approvers who are agree in not wearing uniform in schools states a counter example of Australian Army with uniform and discipline. The fact of they reject a new pink uniform positions the reader to agree that uniforms are not reasons of students being self-discipline. Also, combined with the statement of one student, “choosing what you want to wear is a fundamental human right” to make a question of why students cannot be treated equally as the soldiers, which can create a sense of sympathy for the reader. Meanwhile, it indicates how unwilling these students are wearing uniforms, which has effect on making the reader to consider if uniforms is really good for students.…
Throughout the play, Russell explores various themes through the characters, the main being the differences in social classes and the effects on the lives of the characters. Although superstition, fate and violence, are presented as themes, the political message of the play seems to be saying that it is real-world forces that shape people’s lives.…
Walton, L. (2011, July 26). "is it a crime to wear baggy pants?". ABC News, Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3730767&page=1…