American Experience Season 14 Episode 10 Zoot Suit Riots

In season 14, episode 10 of American Experience, viewers are taken back to the 1940s, when a generation of Mexican Americans in Los Angeles sought a sense of identity amid the upheaval of the Second World War and the changing mores of their communities. In Zoot Suit Riots, American Experience chronicles the events leading up to and following a series of clashes in Los Angeles between servicemen and young Mexican American men who wore distinctive outfits that included peaked caps, broad-shouldered jackets, and “zoot” trousers.

As America’s involvement in World War II continued, social tensions in Los Angeles reached their zenith. The predominately white American serviceman community began to clash with the Mexican American youth culture that was embodied in zoot suits and musical styles like swing and bebop. The zoot suiters were seen as undesirables, and were accused of being unpatriotic and lending support to Mexico.

The conflict came to a head on June 3, 1943, when a group of sailors entered Mexico City Café, a popular hangout for zoot suiters, and proceeded to beat up several young Mexican American men. The event set off a wave of violence that lasted for several days, with young Mexican Americans being beaten and stripped of their zoot suits by vigilantes who felt that the government was not doing enough to clamp down on the perceived lawlessness of the predominantly Latino community.

Zoot Suit Riots interviews historians, journalists, and survivors of the period to shine a light on the events that led up to and followed the riots, and to examine the racial and ethnic tensions that were a defining feature of American life in the mid-twentieth century. The documentary also delves into the popular cultural movements of the era, and the role of the zoot suit in empowering Mexican American youth and giving them a sense of belonging in America.

Viewers of Zoot Suit Riots will come away with a nuanced understanding of the complex social and cultural dynamics that played out in Los Angeles in the early 1940s. The documentary is a powerful reminder that social movements and cultural phenomena can have an enormous impact on the political and social realities of a place and time, and that the struggles of marginalized communities can have lasting consequences for future generations.