Talk:Zoot Suit Riots

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Could someone venture whether

often ripping off their clothing and burning them in the streets.

means that the clothing was burned in the street? Perhaps changing it to

often ripping off their clothing and burning it in the streets.

would prevent someone else from doing a double-take?


I would suggest, "ripping off and burning their clothing" thereby removing the vague pronoun and replacing it with one in the proper position with a proper antecedent. It could also be changed to, "ripping off the suits and burning them" to put an antecedent closer to the pronoun and removing the double pronoun. The riots, after all, are named after the suits themselves.

Contents

[edit] The Riots In Popular Culture

The riots are mentioned in the 1988 James Ellroy novel The Big Nowhere, is anyone wants to include that info on the page.

Moreover, "The Black Dahlia" by the same author actually features the riots as an event 217.158.231.226 07:57, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cites

These sentences needs sources. Especially 'convicted of crimes they did not commit'.

Many died in jail from their injuries because they were in dire need of medical attention.[citation needed] Many more were convicted of crimes that they did not commit.[citation needed]

Ashmoo 00:45, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

I added source requests for a couple of clauses related to who started the brawl, etc. Aristophanes68 17:10, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Bias

It seems wrong to me that this article should take such a strong stance on culpability without citing any sources at all. It should be more balanced, or cite sources that the Zoot suiters were purely victims here, that they were attacked indisciminately, that many Mexicans died in jail while their attackers were let free, etc. Uucp 19:40, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

It is on my list. I can't do all the work myself. If you have a library nearby, please help.--Rockero 21:31, 11 July 2006 (UTC)

I agree -- I just read a summary of the incident written by Latino authors that claims that the Mexican Americans did not start the brawl, which I guess leaves the soldiers responsible (the summary also states that the soldiers had entered a barrio, while the Wiki article makes it sound as though the Mexican Americans may have searched out the soldiers. I've also read an article from the NYT in 1943 where the California Governor (Earl Warren) notes that crime among Mexican American youths was less a problem than it was among other ethnic groups. I'll try to find other sources to clarify the events. Aristophanes68 14:16, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

I agree, to my knowledge these were kicked off by marauding sailors looking for "Mexicans to beat up".

I read about the Riots in my high school US History book and all fingers seem to be pointed at the sailors for inciting the riots, and that, my friends, is not a biased look at it. 65.191.159.9 (talk) 04:44, 30 November 2007 (UTC)

Disagree; although in the historical context of the time it might seem logical to place all of the blame on the sailors, one must wonder about the prime incendiary incident(s) that caused these events in the first place. It is doubtful that pure blame for the ongoing conflicts can be affixed to either side, and also probable that the initial event(s) were extremely trivial. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.87.82.0 (talk) 05:46, 1 March 2008 (UTC)

Firmly Disagree- The riots were a result of a culmination of factors. You should certainly mention the trial of members of the 38th street gang. As I understand it, things began to fire up shortly after all of the boys were summarily convicted with little substantial evidence. This conviction led the Mexican youths to become even more upset and agitated, turning segregationist attitudes into a belief that they needed to protect "Their Neighborhoods". The drunken sailors walking through this Mexican "turf" was just a bad combination. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.90.167.252 (talk) 02:28, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] REDIRECT

Sailor Riots should redirect as the name is becoming increasingly popular due to the servicemen's exceeded participation. - signed by an anon IP

The alternative word "Sailor Riots" instead of calling it the "Zoot Suit Riots" is because the term "Ziot Suiter" is sometimes viewed as disparaging and offensive to Mexican-Americans. But the word isn't as loaded like to call a Mexican-American an "illegal immigrant" simply because he/she is of Mexican descent and can prove they are U.S. citizens. + 71.102.53.48 (talk) 04:53, 13 April 2008 (UTC)


[edit] Virtually Unknown

I just took the APUSH exam today and everyone doesn't know that this occured. I was the only one out of about 7 people I asked who got it right and I only heard of it because it was on the History Channel. This is really a vague event that should probably get much more attention. Kevin Rutherford 02:28, 10 May 2008 (UTC)