Re: Support PEACE by wearing no zootsuits

Carla wrote:

> shar-on wrote:
>
> > >From my own historical perspective i think the zoot suits were
> > originally worn by gangster members of particular ethnic groups who
> > sure enough dressed "smartly" enough to call attention to themselves
> > with their message in mind to impress their importance: YOU WILL NOT
> > IGNORE ME/US!!! (or else). The garb was a in-your-face way to say
> > how important and recognizable they thought themselves to be as
> > enforcers of their will, which often resulted in violence, control,
> > destruction....when you saw 'em (like human peacocks) coming you paid
> > attention for the sake of your life, your business, etc. Please
> > someone(s) correct me if i'm wrong here. (And don't get me wrong....i
> > kinda more than like the spiffy zoot suit look, but not the negative
> > connotations associated for those who might remember.)
>
> I suppose that's one interpretation. For a more balanced view try this
> one (from: http://www.bookrags.com/history/popculture/zoot-suit-bbbb-03/)

snip article

or try this one for excerpts of the governor's statement on the Zoot Suit
Riots--sounds as if the violence was the other way around:

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/mexican_voices/voices_display.cfm?id=104

>
>
> Zoot Suit
>
> Enormously popular among young African American and Mexican American
> (Chicano) men in the 1940s, the zoot suit was more than a piece of
> clothing. Designed sleek enough to be stylish and loose enough for
> dancing (see entry under 1900s? The Way We Lived in volume 1), the zoot
> suit also represented a culture that belonged to people of color in the
> United States.
>
> It reflected an open pride in nonwhite ethnic roots that was new in
> American society. Many whites felt threatened by displays of pride and
> racial identity among people of color. Some even reacted violently to the
> sight of young men wearing the distinctive zoot suit.
>
> Some say the zoot suit was designed in 1941 by Chicago tailor and band
> leader Harold C. "Zoot Suit" Fox (1910?1996). Inspired by the styles he
> saw on poor urban teenagers, who cut down large men's suits to fit their
> smaller frames, Fox wanted to design a dancing suit with style. Because
> jazz (see entry under 1900s?Music in volume 1) slang labeled everything
> cool and hip as "the end,"? and the letter z was the end of the
> alpha-bet?he called his suit a zoot, and designed it with a "reet pleat,
> reave sleeve, ripe stripe, and drape shape." In less hip English, the
> zoot suit had a long jacket with broad padded shoulders and baggy pants
> with narrow cuffs. It was often worn with a flat crowned hat called a
> pork pie, a long key chain, and shoes with thick soles.
>
> The zoot suit was soon adopted by many hip young blacks and Chicanos. The
> suit became part of a larger zoot culture that included jazz music and
> dance and jive talk. Young Chicano zooters spoke a slang called Calo that
> was a rich mixture of Spanish and English. This zoot suit culture set
> young African American and Chicano men apart from mainstream white
> culture, and whites soon began to fear and mistrust the zoot suited
> "gangs" (see entry under 1980s?The Way We Lived in volume 5). The fear
> erupted more than once into violence, the most famous incident being the
> "zoot suit riots" in Los Angeles, California. In June 1943, hundreds of
> uniformed white sailors and marines attacked zoot-suited Mexican
> Americans and African Americans, beating them severely and tearing their
> suits off. The riots lasted almost two weeks. Los Angeles police did
> little to stop the violence, and local newspapers supported the
> servicemen's actions. Hundreds of Chicanos were injured. The publicity
> surrounding the incident did serve to educate white Americans about the
> large Mexican American minority that lived among them.




.

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