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79-626: The zoot suit was the most salient identifying feature of "pachuquismo", a Mexican American youth subculture. This subculture emerged during a time of increased racism and the fight for Mexican American rights and equality within American society. Both men and women wore the fingertip coats, but for women it became more than just a style. Pachuca gangs, like the Black Widows and Slick Chicks, with their black drape jackets, tight skirts, fishnet stockings and heavily emphasized make-up, were ridiculed in

158-536: A pork pie hat , a long watch chain, and thick-soled shoes. They called themselves pachucos . In the early 1940s, arrests of Mexican-American youths and negative stories in the Los Angeles Times fueled a perception that these pachuco gangs were delinquents who were a threat to the broader community. In the summer of 1942, the Sleepy Lagoon murder case made national news. Nine teenage members of

237-448: A "blouse and the oxford shoes, black and white, with the white socks", bell bottoms and hip-huggers. They teased their hair up higher into a beehive, they wore heavy makeup, and continued to hang out in club-like "gangs" which they gave names like "Copper Queens". They continued to use 'no dejarse' as their motto and portray a "tough" demeanor. As for lifestyle choices most Pachucas would party or cruise with their male counterparts. Most of

316-560: A "zoot suit orgy". Many of these reports began building up and was one of the major instigators of the coming riots, as servicemen had declared that they will take matters into their own hands since the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) had supposedly done nothing to stop the attacks from pachucos on their women. On the contrary, Horace R. Cayton, a writer for the Pittsburgh Courier , "attributed

395-671: A Master of Education in 1973 at Juarez-Lincoln/Antioch Graduate School and a Master of Art in 1981 from San Francisco State University . As of 1976, Garza lives in San Francisco, California. The initial roots of Garza's artwork lay in her family, to whom she is close, and in the Chicano Movement . Garza later wrote that the Chicano Movement nourished her goal of being an artist and gave her back her voice. She says that her artistic creations helped her "heal

474-432: A Mexican American woman and later considered a cholita, was arrested for disturbing the peace and carrying a concealed weapon after cursing at police officials. According to the press, "twenty-two-year-old, mother of a toddler and wife of a sailor, had incited violence by urging a gang of pachucos to attack sheriff's deputies in her East Los Angeles neighborhood." Additionally, newspapers reported that she "attempted to smuggle

553-494: A Razor Blade is a "portrait of teenagers getting dressed for a dance with one young woman concealing a razor blade in a barrette, no doubt, to be hip and protected".  As far as the razor blade concealed in a barrette, protection for young women were of the utmost importance, especially during a time of increased violence and racism toward Mexican Americans. Early Pachucas/os pre-WWII were not recognized for their actions or their looks but rather their language. Their use of calo

632-684: A badge of hoodlumism." No ordinance was approved by the City Council or signed into law by the Mayor, but the council encouraged the WPB to take steps "to curb illegal production of men's clothing in violation of WPB limitation orders". While the mobs had first targeted only pachucos, they also attacked African Americans in zoot suits who lived in the Central Avenue corridor area. The Navy and Marine Corps command staffs intervened on June 8 to reduce

711-576: A bus and started walking along Main Street in Downtown Los Angeles . Encountering a group of young Mexican Americans in zoot suits, they got into an argument. The sailors later told the LAPD that they were jumped and beaten by this gang, while the zoot suiters claimed the altercation was started by the sailors. The LAPD responded to the incident, including many off-duty officers who identified as

790-485: A campaign of harassment, intimidation, and resistance a year prior to the riots, the Chavez Ravine area would later be a hot spot for encounters between the zoot suiters and sailors. Lalo Guerrero became known as the father of Chicano music, as young people adopted music, language, and dress of their own. Young men wore zoot suits —a flamboyant long jacket with baggy pegged pants, sometimes accessorized with

869-410: A film was being screened, stripped them in front of the audience, and then urinated on their suits. Although police accompanied the rioters, they had orders not to arrest any, and some of them joined in the rioting. After several days, more than 150 people had been injured, and the police had arrested more than 500 Mexican American civilians on charges ranging from "rioting" to "vagrancy". A witness to

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948-587: A national education policy. Over 50 percent of the children in school were Spanish speaking. After the Zoot Suit Riots began, articles were written about the Pachucas characterizing them as bloodthirsty. Pachucas were described as manly and a danger to society. Those articles that were produced in Los Angeles caused a crisis for all Mexican American women in general. It left Mexican American women in

1027-473: A pair of brass knuckles to "zoot suit hoodlums" to assist them in their street brawls with sailors." The Los Angeles Times   featured a photograph of her baring teeth and shaking a threatening fist at the  camera. The press deemed Venegas a "pachuco" girl,  a label that then suggested gang  affiliation. Las Pachucas faced much backlash from their own Mexican American community. Specifically, the Pachuca, became

1106-695: A point of rebellion standing against the wealth and status that many of these youth were unable to access due to their economic and racial identities. The urban, Mexican-American youth often called themselves " pachucos ". The female parallels were called " pachucas " and wore tight sweaters and relatively full, flared skirts, often paired with high hair-dos, large earrings, and heavy makeup. Many young Mexican-American women who were not pachucas avoided these clothing styles and hairstyles in order to avoid being seen as troublemakers by white people. Some women even reported that they had heard of pachucas hiding knives in their hair. Pachucas formed their own gangs, joined

1185-464: A strategy of not allowing oneself to be treated unfairly or badly"- and hanging out in groups with their friends. The real difference was the tattoo of a small cross that Pachucas often wore clearly distinguishing them from their Los Angeles counterparts. After WWII the Tucson Pachucas style evolved with the times. They still spoke caló, wore tattoos, put their hair up high, wore short skirts,

1264-542: A  contested figure in the Mexican  American community during the time of the riots and WWII. Some women admired and wore the style, creating their own identities within the American culture and feminist movements.  However, others like Patricia Adler, an Anglo female historian, saw them as dangerous and disruptive to the ideal Mexican American womanhood, something that was developing in comparison to Anglo feminism ideals. Adler commented that Pachucas "scandalized

1343-534: Is trivial in itself -- popular culture and its attendant styles". The zoot suit was originally a statement about creating a new wave of music and dress, but it also held significant political meaning. The flamboyant and colorful material indicated a desire to express oneself against the boring and somber slum lifestyle. The zoot suit provided young African American and Mexican youth a sense of individualistic identity within their cultures and society as they discovered "highly charged emotional and symbolic meaning" through

1422-544: The 38th Street Gang were accused of murdering a civilian man named José Díaz in an abandoned quarry pit. The nine defendants were convicted at trial and sentenced to long prison terms. Eduardo Obregón Pagán wrote: Many Angelenos saw the death of José Díaz as a tragedy that resulted from a larger pattern of lawlessness and rebellion among Mexican American youths, discerned through their self-conscious fashioning of difference, and increasingly called for stronger measures to crack down on juvenile delinquency. The convictions of

1501-546: The American GI Forum , and Garza followed in their footsteps by organizing a book store Chicanos on her college campus. In 1972, she received a BS in art education and a Texas Teaching Certificate at Texas Arts and Industry. During her undergraduate studies, she decided that it was important for her to create art that would be understood by people of all ages. Garza learned to be proud of her culture and wanted to educate others using her art. Later, Garza received

1580-747: The Chicano Movement . California was a part of Mexico for 27 years, and part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain for centuries, before becoming part of the United States following the Mexican–American War . Because of this history, there has always been a large Latino population in California. During the early 20th century, many Mexicans immigrated for work to US border states that needed workers, areas such as Texas , Arizona , and California . They were recruited by farmers for work on

1659-561: The Chicano movement . Events like the Sleepy Lagoon incident of 1942 and Zoot Suit Riots of 1943 have been described as "a boyish fight over a pretty girl" and a brawl involving "homeboys". However, records show that many women also participated in these events and had important roles in shaping their outcomes. In the Sleepy Lagoon incident, both men and women were attacked by a group of youths that later court documents referred to as

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1738-694: The National Lawyers Guild was an "effective communist front". Later scholars generally characterize the Zoot Suit riots as a " pogrom against the Mexican American community". Many post-war civil rights activists and authors, such as Luis Valdez , Ralph Ellison , and Richard Wright , have said they were inspired by the Zoot Suit Riots. Cesar Chavez and Malcolm X were both zoot suiters as young men who later became political activists. On June 9, 2023, roughly 80 years after

1817-454: The Pacific theater . Servicemen and zoot suiters in Los Angeles were both immediately identifiable by their dress. Some servicemen and others in the community felt that the continued wearing of zoot suits represented the youths' public flouting of rationing regulations. Officials began to cast wearing of zoot suits in moral terms and associated it with the commission of petty crime, violence and

1896-1043: The Smithsonian American Art Museum , the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden , the National Museum of Mexican Art , the San Jose Museum of Art , the Mexican Museum , the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts , and the Oakland Museum of California , among other institutions. Garza was born in 1948 in Kingsville, Texas . She is the second of five children. Garza loved watching her mother paint, and felt like what her mother did

1975-595: The Zoot Suit Riots , often in documentation being seen throwing things and yelling at law enforcement. Las Pachucas were unique in relation to their pachuco counterpart because of their newfound sexual and cultural identity, within both their own Mexican American communities and American society. Las Pachucas feminized the masculine style of dress by wearing, in addition to the coats, sheer blouses, shorter, pleated skirts, fishnet stockings or bobby socks, platform heels or sandals. Their use of make-up and beauty products

2054-548: The "Downey Boys". The pachucos and pachucas left Sleepy Lagoon after the attack, heading to the 38th Street neighborhood to gather reinforcements. They returned to Sleepy Lagoon to find that the Downey Boys had departed, and then headed to a party at the Williams Ranch where a fight broke out upon their arrival. Claims have asserted that there were women screaming and yelling as the fighting ensued. Continuing into

2133-572: The San Francisco Water Department and a sculpture at San Francisco International Airport . In Chan Kaajal Park , a park opened in 2017 in San Francisco's Mission District, features renderings of a California condor and a great blue heron by Garza, commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission . As an author-illustrator, Garza has authored bilingual children's books that are notable for

2212-467: The Southwest with a bad reputation, they were perceived as evil and cruel - a bad stigma placed upon their heads as the riots grew. They were always known as dangerous, but now they would be ridiculed with derogatory remarks towards lesbianism and remarks regarding their dress. They had seen themselves as fierce and powerful, yet the media mocked them and portrayed them based on their appearances. Within

2291-468: The Vengeance Squad. The officers went to the scene "seeking to clean up Main Street from what they viewed as the loathsome influence of pachuco gangs". The next day, 200 sailors got a convoy of about 20 taxicabs and headed for East Los Angeles , the center of Mexican-American settlement. The sailors spotted a group of young zoot suiters and assaulted them with clubs. They stripped the boys of

2370-541: The War Production Board's guidelines. But the demand for zoot suits did not decline; a network of bootleg tailors based in Los Angeles and New York City continued to produce the garments. Youths also continued to wear clothes which they already owned. Meanwhile, American soldiers , sailors , and Marines from across the country travelled to Los Angeles in large numbers as part of the war effort; they were given leave while awaiting to be shipped out to

2449-423: The activities of female pachuca gangs, the media suppressed any mention of the white mobs that were also involved. The Los Angeles City Council approved a resolution criminalizing the wearing of "zoot suits with reat [ sic ] pleats within the city limits of LA" with the expectation that Mayor Fletcher Bowron would sign it into law. Councilman Norris Nelson had stated, "The zoot suit has become

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2528-565: The adults of the Anglo and Mexican communities alike with their short, tight skirts, sheer blouses, and built-up hairdos". Many women felt this way, because las pachucas and the wearing of the suit was associated with delinquency and rebelled against proper feminine behavior and definitions of Mexican femininity. Within Mexican American history, the role of Pachucas within the Chicano movement has been minimized. Carmen Lomas Garza 's Pachuca With

2607-450: The attacks, confining sailors and Marines to barracks and ordering that Los Angeles be declared off-limits to all military personnel; this was enforced by Navy Shore Patrol personnel. Their official position was that their men were acting in self-defense. As the riots subsided, the most urgent concern of officials was relations with Mexico, as the economy of Southern California relied on the importation of cheap Mexican labor to assist in

2686-527: The attacks, journalist Carey McWilliams wrote, Marching through the streets of downtown Los Angeles, a mob of several thousand soldiers, sailors, and civilians, proceeded to beat up every zoot suiter they could find. Pushing its way into the important motion picture theaters, the mob ordered the management to turn on the house lights and then ran up and down the aisles dragging Mexicans out of their seats. Streetcars were halted while Mexicans, and some Filipinos and Negroes, were jerked from their seats, pushed into

2765-492: The attacks, the Los Angeles City Council publicly condemned the Zoot Suit riots and apologized for its role in contributing to it. Carmen Lomas Garza Carmen Lomas Garza (born 1948) is an Chicana artist and illustrator. She is well known for her paintings, ofrendas and for her papel picado work inspired by her Mexican-American heritage. Her work is a part of the permanent collections of

2844-899: The bilingual text and vivid illustrations. She draws on Chicano culture, family stories, memories, and her heritage. Her archives are held by the Benson Latin American Collection . In 2013, Garza's Cama para Suenos (1985) and Loteria-Tabla Llena (1972) were included in the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art Garza was also featured in the University of Texas at Austin's 7th Annual ¡A Viva Voz! where she talked and exhibited over 20 of her works. The exhibit ran from April through August 2009. Carmen Lomas Garza: A Retrospective

2923-484: The borderland regions, Mexican American women were able to confide in themselves and express their need to support their families. Although society had trouble with the socioeconomic and political changes, the women who worked near the borderlands and the American Southwest held that sense of community and identity as they found support within their families. While working, it helped influence a woman's role in

3002-434: The end of World War II , Mexican-American women were at the center of much conflict between Anglo-American servicemen and Mexican American youths. In the weeks before the riots, servicemen reported that pachucos had been harassing, molesting, raping, and insulting their wives, girlfriends, and relatives. One local Los Angeles newspaper included a story of two young women who had allegedly been abducted in downtown and raped in

3081-554: The first conflicts between the sailors and the zoot suiters was in August 1942, near Chinatown . The sailors who trained in the Chavez Ravine went to Chinatown on leave. A sailor and his girlfriend were walking when four zoot suiters blocked the sidewalk in front of them. The zoot suiters refused to let them pass and pushed the sailor into the street. The young zoot-suiter and the sailor stood their ground in silence until finally,

3160-553: The folk tradition. She also employs the tradition of paper picador (cut paper) as the basis for her large, cut-steel, public art pieces. . . The imagery often refers to aspects of Tejana (Texan Mexican American) culture, including daily family life." Garza has made Day of the Dead ofrendas , or ritual altars, to honor not just family members, but also people from history. She has made ofrendas for Frida Kahlo , Doña Sebastiana , and Tenochtitlán . She has created eight paintings for

3239-456: The guitar. Roughly any fights broke out, their time together during these parties was to just be together and have fun. On accounts they would drink in the desert, and the girls would accompany guys in their cars for parties to impress other individuals. In places such as Tucson, Arizona the schools were segregated up until the 1970s. To combat the large immigration numbers, most government officials saw it necessary for public schools to conform to

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3318-629: The harvesting of California crops. After the Mexican Embassy lodged a formal protest with the State Department , Governor Earl Warren of California ordered the creation of the McGucken Committee (headed by Los Angeles bishop Joseph McGucken ) to investigate and determine the cause of the riots. In 1943, the committee issued its report; it determined racism to be a central cause of the riots, further stating that it

3397-608: The immense war buildup attracted tens of thousands of new workers to factories and shipyards in the West Coast , including African Americans from the South in the second wave of the Great Migration . The most serious ethnic conflicts erupted in Los Angeles. Two altercations between military personnel and zoot suiters catalyzed the larger riots. The first occurred on May 30, 1943, at around 8:00 p.m., four days before

3476-516: The large farms and also worked in those states in non-agricultural jobs. During the Great Depression , in the early 1930s, the United States deported between 500,000 and 2 million people of Mexican descent (including the expulsion of up to 1.2 million children who were U.S. citizens but accompanied their parents back to Mexico.) to Mexico (see Mexican Repatriation ), in order to reduce demands on limited American economic resources. By

3555-552: The late 1930s, about three million Mexican Americans resided in the United States. Los Angeles had the highest concentration of ethnic Mexicans outside Mexico. Job discrimination in Los Angeles forced minorities to work for below poverty level wages. The Los Angeles newspapers described Mexicans with racially inflammatory propaganda , suggesting a problem with juvenile delinquency. These factors caused much racial tension between Mexican immigrants, those of Mexican descent, and European Americans . During this time, Los Angeles

3634-452: The male pachuco gangs, and carried weapons. This behavior was often said to have been a divergence from the expected feminine beauty and manners of the middle-class. Often, for parents of Mexican-American girls, the pachucas "embodied not only a dissident femininity but a threatening, distinctly American identity as well". For some young women, the characteristics of the style promoted a sense of social mobility and "cultural hybridity" that

3713-439: The movement, music, and dress. The zoot suit typically included bright-colored fabric, long suit coats that often reached the knees, wide shoulders, and gathered or tapered pants. The arm and ankle areas were often much tighter than the rest of the fabric, giving the whole look a triangular shape. Often the suit was paired with accessories such as chains and leather-soled shoes, which were typically worn to exaggerate and prove

3792-635: The movement. In the Los Angeles newspapers "las pachucas were vilified as incorrigible delinquents." Similarly, " La Opinion referred to them as "las malinches"–traitors to established Mexican codes of chaperoned feminine conduct." In general, the Pachucos were praised in community for taking a stand against the Anglos, but the Pachucas were frequently criticized in media and in community  for being so open about their sexuality, and new found social and political identities within American society. Amelia Venegas,

3871-624: The next day expressing outrage: it accused Mrs. Roosevelt of having communist leanings and stirring "race discord". On June 21, 1943, the State Un-American Activities Committee, under state senator Jack Tenney , arrived in Los Angeles with orders to "determine whether the present Zoot Suit Riots were sponsored by Nazi agencies attempting to spread disunity between the United States and Latin-American countries ". Although Tenney claimed he had evidence

3950-532: The nine young men were ultimately overturned, but the case generated much animosity within the United States toward Mexican Americans. The police and press characterized all Mexican youths as "pachuco hoodlums and baby gangsters ". With the entry of the United States into World War II in December 1941 following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor , the nation had to deal with the restrictions of rationing and

4029-455: The press. This was not just the case for pachuca women in gangs, but pachuca women in general. Participation in the movement was a way to openly challenge conventional notions of feminine beauty and sexuality, especially in Mexican culture. Las Pachucas or 'cholitas' were the female counterpart to the male zoot suiter, or pachuco. Las Pachucas were involved in much of the violence surrounding

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4108-616: The prospects of conscription . In March 1942, the War Production Board (WPB) regulated the manufacture of men's suits and all clothing that contained wool . To achieve a 26% cut-back in the use of fabrics, the WPB issued regulations for the manufacture of what Esquire magazine called, "streamlined suits by Uncle Sam ". The regulations effectively forbade the manufacture of the wide-cut zoot suits and full women's skirts or dresses. Most legitimate tailoring companies ceased to manufacture or advertise any suits that fell outside

4187-742: The riots to non-Mexican servicemen, who he claimed envied Mexican American male zooters and desired the 'pretty brown creatures' with whom they consorted". However, the press was dominated by the stories which often claimed that "loose . . . girls of the Los Angeles Mexican quarter" were responsible for taking advantage of unaware sailors who had money. Following the Sleepy Lagoon case, U.S. service personnel got into violent altercations with young Mexican Americans in zoot suits in San Jose , Oakland , San Diego , Delano , Los Angeles, and smaller cities and towns in California. During this period,

4266-539: The riots were " [A]xis -sponsored", no evidence was ever presented to support this claim. Japanese propaganda broadcasts accused the U.S. government of ignoring the brutality of U.S. Marines toward Mexicans. In late 1944, ignoring the findings of the McGucken committee and the unanimous reversal of the convictions by the appeals court in the Sleepy Lagoon case on October 4, the Tenney Committee announced that

4345-498: The role racial prejudice played in the riots and blamed Mexican youth gangs. On June 16, 1943, a week after the riots, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt commented on the riots in her newspaper column. "The question goes deeper than just suits. It is a racial protest. I have been worried for a long time about the Mexican racial situation. It is a problem with roots going a long way back, and we do not always face these problems as we should." The Los Angeles Times published an editorial

4424-409: The sailor backed away. Zoot suit fashion found its origins in the urban black scene during the 1940s. This style of clothing cultivated a sense of racial pride and significance; however, the fashion statement soon made its way into the wardrobes of young Southern Californian Mexican Americans, Italians and Filipinos, who became the quintessential wearers of the zoot suit. The transfer and sharing of

4503-434: The snubbing of national wartime rules. In 1943, many servicemen resented the sight of young Latinos wearing zoot suits after clothing restrictions had been published, especially as most came from areas of the country with little experience or knowledge of Mexican-American culture. Although Mexican-Americans were overrepresented in the armed forces , they were not common or respected enough to defuse these tensions. One of

4582-544: The spaces they inhabit show how Chicano/a identities are connected to the places she paints. Her paintings are also idealized and the figures become archetypes. Her flattened figures and sense of space create "a sense of immediacy," letting the viewer interact directly with the subject matter. Art Hazelwood, et al, write in Mission Gráfica , "Garza's work follows and updates a traditional style both subject matter and in techniques. Her figures are flat and colorful in

4661-453: The start of the riots. A dozen sailors, including Seaman Second Class Joe Dacy Coleman, were walking down Main Street in Los Angeles when they spotted a group of Mexican women on the opposite side. The group, except for Coleman, crossed the street to speak to the women. Coleman continued, walking past two zoot suiters when the sailor turned and grabbed the arm of one of the young men. On the night of June 3, 1943, about eleven sailors got off

4740-432: The streets and beaten with a sadistic frenzy. The local press lauded the attacks, describing them as having a "cleansing effect" to rid Los Angeles of "miscreants" and "hoodlums". As the riots progressed, the media reported the arrest of Amelia Venegas, a female zoot suiter charged with carrying a brass knuckleduster . While the revelation of female pachucos' ( pachucas ) involvement in the riots led to frequent coverage of

4819-564: The subculture it is not particularly elaborated on in the book. Zoot Suit Riots The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of riots that took place June 3–8, 1943, in Los Angeles , California , United States, involving American servicemen stationed in Southern California and young Latino and Mexican American city residents. It was one of the dozen wartime industrial cities where race-related riots occurred during

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4898-405: The summer of 1943, along with Mobile, Alabama ; Beaumont, Texas ; Detroit, Michigan ; and New York City . American servicemen and white Angelenos attacked and stripped children, teenagers, and youths who wore zoot suits , ostensibly because they considered the outfits, which were made from large amounts of fabric, to be unpatriotic during World War II . Rationing of fabrics and certain foods

4977-489: The teenagers within the Pachuco culture would drive fast cars and drink alcohol. While only some were able to attend house parties that were not chaperoned, Pachucas would rarely be seen at one of those unchaperoned house parties. The women were never able to attend parties due to the strict rules set by their families and overall community. Teenagers would drive over and hang out with friends while they drank alcohol and played

5056-575: The time of WWII the wearing of the pachuca style was a statement to the communities of their identity, for others it was a symbol of rebellion. The emergence of the coverage and documentation of Las Pachucas, as well as "the appearance of female pachucos coincided with a dramatic rise in the delinquency rates amongst girls aged between 12 and 20 years old" after the Sleepy Lagoon Case . During the case, Pachuca women were involved and like their pachuco counterparts were not given due process. During

5135-484: The time of increased discrimination against Mexican Americans and Mexican culture, this inclusion of Pachuca women complicates their potential status as "patriotic Americans". Pachuca women face both backlash from their own communities for their newly sexualized styles and contributions to the riots, but also the Anglo communities and they felt that pachuca women were "unfeminine," and could never conform to or exude Anglo standards of feminine beauty due to their involvement in

5214-429: The world. They were starting to be seen in the workforce and played a larger role within labor and society. This helped shape the development for woman around the border states and Southwest. Women were now being seen as an asset to society not only for their roles as a mother or a wife, but as a woman. While in Los Angeles the youth subculture of Pachuco/as was clearly dominated by Chicana/os, Mexican American youth, this

5293-514: The wounds inflicted by discrimination and racism." Garza also feels that by creating positive images of Mexican-American families, her work can help combat racism. Her choice to use personal and family images to combat racism is a departure from more political works by many Chicano artists. The creation of her narrative, rather than one that is forced on her, however, speaks against racism on its own. Garza incorporates little figures ( monitos ) in her artwork. The figures and their interactions with

5372-410: The zoot suit fashion indicated a growing influence of African American popular culture on young Mexican American , Italian American and Filipino Americans . Additionally, "analysis of the Los Angeles zoot-suit riot and journalists' and politicians' in and the outfit's connections with race relations , slang, jazz music and dance permit an understanding of the politics and social significance of what

5451-517: The zoot suits and burned the tattered clothes in a pile. They attacked and stripped everyone they came across who were wearing zoot suits. Media coverage of the incidents then started to spread, inducing more people to join in the mayhem. During the next few days, thousands of servicemen and residents joined the attacks, marching abreast down streets, entering bars and movie houses, and assaulting any young Mexican American males they encountered. In one incident, sailors dragged two zoot suiters on-stage as

5530-536: Was "an aggravating practice (of the media) to link the phrase zoot suit with the report of a crime". The governor appointed the Peace Officers Committee on Civil Disturbances, chaired by Robert W. Kenny , president of the National Lawyers Guild to make recommendations to the police. Human relations committees were appointed, and police departments were required to train their officers to treat all citizens equally. Mayor Fletcher Bowron downplayed

5609-582: Was Garza's first retrospective and featured work from the mid-1970s to the present. It was organized by the San Jose Museum of Art , where it was on view from January to April 2001; it later traveled to the San Antonio Museum of Art , South Texas Institute for the Arts , Ellen Noël Art Museum , National Hispanic Cultural Center , and the Polk Museum of Art . A primary school in Los Angeles,

5688-522: Was another identifying feature, as they wore dark lipstick and used foam inserts called rats to lift their hair up into a high bouffant/up do, and most often sported plucked and thin eye brows. Las Pachucas became a figure for Mexican American femininity and sexuality during the time of WWII and the Zoot suit riots due to their change in dress and use of make up that stood in stark contrast to previous conventional ideals within Mexican culture. For some, during

5767-406: Was expressed through "increased interracial/ethnic relations, bilingualism , and pachuco slang ". Pachucas and Chicanas were less referred to in the media, partly because they threatened the gender and sexuality norms that existed at the time. When acknowledged, they were regarded mainly as secondary members to the male gang members. Many scholars exclude the pachuca narrative in major events in

5846-480: Was magic. Garza helped her grandmother create embroidery patterns using paper cutouts as a young child. The influence of her mother's and grandmother's art-making was very strong and by age thirteen Garza had decided she would be an artist. Her parents encouraged her to pursue her interests in college. Most of the families living in her community growing up were Mexican-American just like her family. When Garza and her brother started to attend school, speaking Spanish

5925-575: Was not the case in Tucson where the Pachuca/o movement was made up of Chicana/o, Yaqui Indian and to some extent Apache Indian youth. Thus, native traditions, such as the small cross of protection that was placed on traditional Yaqui dance masks, made its way into the Pachuca tradition of tattooing a small cross either on the face or the hand. While specific placement is shown to have deeper meaning within

6004-427: Was not tolerated. They were often teased by other children who did not understand their culture. Even when Garza attended high school, speaking Spanish was still not tolerated. She and her friends were hit with a paddle as a punishment if they spoke Spanish. Garza first attended Texas Arts and Industry University (now Texas A&M University, Kingsville ). Her parents had been involved in political organizing through

6083-645: Was required at the time for the war effort . While most of the white mobs targeted Mexican American youth, they also attacked African American and Filipino American young adults and children. The Zoot Suit Riots followed the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial, after the death of a young Latino man in what was then an unincorporated commercial area near Los Angeles. Similar racist violence against Latinos happened in Chicago , San Diego , Oakland , Evansville , Philadelphia , and New York City as well. The defiance of zoot suiters became inspirational for Chicanos during

6162-512: Was the main signifier for them as Cumming states that the "early Pachuco identity was manifested in linguistic practice." Pre-WWII Pachucas dressed the same as their peers, the main signifiers being tall hairstyles such as the "pompadour" or high rolls in which, much like the Pachucas of Los Angeles, they often hid knives. Unlike their later Los Angeles counterparts, Tucson Pachucas did not seem to take to gang life other than simply being aggressive- as shown from their motto 'no dejarse' which "describes

6241-495: Was undergoing an expansion, which caused disruptions in communal sites, family sites, and family patterns of social interactions due to poor city planning. One major decision was to put a million-dollar Naval training school for the Naval Reserve Armory in the Chavez Ravine , a primarily working-class and immigrant area for Mexican-Americans. As young Mexican-American men from the neighborhood grew agitated and began

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