Zoot Suit Riots
7.2
“Los Angeles erupts in violence”
On August 1, 1942, a 22-year-old Mexican American man was stabbed to death at a party. To white Los Angelenos, the murder was just more proof that Mexican American crime was spiraling out of control. The police fanned out across LA, netting 600 young Mexican American suspects. Almost all those taken into custody were wearing the distinctive uniform of their generation: Zoot Suits. The tragic murder and the injustice of the trial that followed, coupled with sensational news coverage of both, fanned the flames of the racial hostility that was already running rife in the city. Within months of the verdict, Los Angeles was in the grip of some of the worst violence in its history.
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Cast
1 person
Joseph Tovares Director · Michael Chin Cinematographer James Rutenbeck Editor
United States release March 1, 2002 · Produced in United States · Production GBH
Production
PBS
Production
GBH
Production
United States
Produced in
Languages
Original language
English
Spoken on screen
English
Release dates
United States · March 1, 2002
TV
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