Part I: Zoot Suit Riots
The scope of the Zoot Suit Riots can be traced back to the Sleepy Lagoon Murder trial, a case concerning the death of Gallardo Diaz; a young Latino man, which occurred in August, 1942. While the cause of Diaz’s death remained unknown, Police in Los Angeles arrested close to seventeen Mexican-American suspects. Despite the lack of sufficient evidence, the suspects were charged for murder and held in prison without being accorded bail. Ending at the beginning of the year 1943, the trial of these suspects was the primary factor that elicited the Zoot Suit Riots. Mexican-Americans developed resentment as a result ...
