LA City Council Passes Resolution Condemning `Zoot Suit Riots'

LOS ANGELES -- The LA City Council today publicly condemned the 1943 ``Zoot Suit Riots,'' and acknowledged the city's role in the treatment of Mexican-Americans during the racial turmoil of 80 years ago.

``Today, we gather to honor the resilience of previous generations that endured violence and to formally apologize for the sanction brutality that targeted not just Mexican-Americans, but also African-Americans and Filipinos, and others,'' Councilman Kevin de León said during a presentation on the topic.

The City Council on May 17 adopted a resolution presented by de León that stated, in part, the ``Los Angeles City Council and city of Los Angeles by adoption of this resolution hereby apologizes to the people and communities impacted by the Zoot Suit Riots.''

It also established June 3-9 each year as ``Zoot Suit Heritage Week.''

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.''

De León said it was important to acknowledge the Zoot Suit Riots because ``we can't turn a blind eye to the reality of our past.''

On May 31, 1943, the attacks on zoot suiters began when a group of servicemen and a group of Mexican-American youth wearing zoot suits fought in downtown L.A. Three days later, June 3, the violence escalated into a series of attacks against the Mexican-American community, including the neighborhood of Boyle Heights, and other people of color.

The violence resulted in more than 50 injuries and more than 500 Mexican-Americans arrested.

Sailors stripped the victims of their zoot suits and burned their clothes, ``symbolizing a degrading attack on their identify and culture,'' de León's office said in a statement.

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.

The Zoot Suit Riots became a dark chapter in the history of the Chicano community, and were commemorated by a Broadway play in the 1970s that became a film starring Edward James Olmos in 1981.

-- City News Service