Commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the Zoot Suit Riots

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KQED

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 20 June 2023

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“The first uniquely American suit,” is how Clarissa Esguerra, a Los Angeles County Museum of Art curator of costume and textiles, describes the Zoot suit. Known for its wide-legged pants and long coats, the Zoot suit became infamous in June 1943. That was when servicemen, police officers and white civilians attacked the young Mexican, Filipino and Black Americans who donned the suits in what became known as the Zoot Suit Riots. To commemorate the riots’ 80th anniversary this month, the L.A. Times put together a multimedia project tracing the suits’ legacy and status today as a symbol of Chicano pride — while noting the paper’s own culpability in anti-Mexican American sentiment at the time. We’ll speak with the reporters and editor who authored the project and hear your reflections. Guests: Gustavo Arellano, columnist, Los Angeles Times Steve Padilla, editor of the showcase feature Column One, The Los Angeles Times - and oversaw the LA Times' Zoot Suit Riots 80th Anniversary Package Elizabeth Escobedo, associate professor of history, University of Denver - and author, "From Coveralls to Zoot Suits: The Lives of Mexican American Women on the World War II Home Front" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	Support for Forum comes from Rancho LaPuerta, a health resort with 85 years of wellness experience, providing summer vacations centered on well-being. Special rates on three-and-four-night August vacations include sunrise hikes, water classes, yoga, and spa therapies, all set in a backdrop of a dreamy summer sky. A six-acre organic garden provides fresh fruits and
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1:08.7	From KQED. From KQED.
1:11.6	From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Leslie McClurg in Formina Kim.
1:28.3	Coming up on forum, Los Angeles City Council formally apologized this month for the zootsuit riots, a series of attacks that took place 80 years ago.
1:37.3	Servicemen, police officers, and white civilians targeted young Mexican, Filipino, and black Americans wearing the wide-legged
1:45.7	pants and long coats known as zoot suits, attacking and stripping them and injuring more than
1:50.8	150 people.
1:52.5	The suit is now a symbol of Chicano Pride and hailed by Los Angeles County Museum of Arts as
1:57.5	the first American suit.
1:59.4	We'll discuss the history and legacy of the riots 80th anniversary and talk about the relevance
2:03.7	of the Zoot Suit today.
2:05.1	That's next after this news.
2:10.5	This is Forum.
2:11.5	I'm Leslie McCluregan today for Mina Kim.
2:14.2	80 years ago this month, the Zoot Suit riots took place in Los Angeles. The LA Times has released a series commemorating the anniversary. And the authors say, quote, the name is misleading because it suggests that the zoot suitors, the young Mexican, black, and Filipino men and boys who wore the flamboyant outfits were the perpetrators. In fact, they were the victims. LA County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously
	...

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