Zoot Suit Riots Essay

The idea of a dominant cultural status, throughout history (and from what we have learned in class), has rooted from the old American custom of white and male supremacy. While white and male supremacy are no longer popularly accepted American values, the outright racial and sexual discrimination that originated from our past continues to exist today, but in a more complex way. As individuals, it is an essential part of everyday life to make important choices. Whether they are big or small, the choices we make have been greatly shaped by social structures that are established by a seemingly infinite number of organizations. It could be in areas such as education, employment, or housing. However, when these choices are created to discreetly limit

During the heightened phase of US patriotism in World War II, the fear of communists provided a backdrop for a gruesome riot between Mexican Americans and the white military servicemen (Fabionar, 2014). The Zoot Suit riots took place in Southern California in the 1940s, meaning Mexican Americans had a big role. The Zoot Suit Riots were the Latinos attempting to create a new youth culture. As immigrants, these young Mexican Americans had somewhat successfully created a new way to display their culture. However, doing so in US in amidst of a World War, sparked danger. The violent attacks against these Zoot Suit wearers had escalated in a “war” created the white servicemen (Video: The Zoot Suit Riots). The ongoing aggression appeared natural, because there were arrests, but it still remained very oppressive, even for a non-violent action like wearing suits. The US once again establishes itself as the dominant figure against their neighbor, Mexico. The discrimination has remained very one-sided because of the institutional background and creation of a well-established, yet unbalanced society. The Zoot Suit riots were a physical and emotional hardship. The concept of arriving somewhere new puts them in a tough situation of being stuck from harsh realities. The escape from their native land only leads to newer opportunities that will be beneficial or detrimental, which are in

The waves of Asian immigrants have led to, however, a new wave of discrimination. Martin Marger, the author of Race and Ethnic Relations, describes the acts of discrimination against Asian Americans in recent years have been simple cases, but it has started to become more overt and violent. Asian Americans have been more relatively successful than other ethnic groups (Marger, 2006). It seems that the discrimination may be the result of their economic and educational prowess over the long-standing dominant white Americans. One of the most compelling examples is the story of Vincent Chin. Chin, a young Chinese engineer, had been beaten to death by two white American workers who claimed that his kind was the problem of their unemployment (Chin, n.d.). This incident laid out the message that these two murderers are willing display their animosity in order to promote that they want to maintain the system of a single worldview. While the Vincent Chin event was culture shock, it brought clearer movement towards assimilation, which has overall been, demonstrated through the success the Asians’ adaptation to America’s seemingly one-sided society. Although it seems like the Asian immigrants chose to migrate to America for sitting opportunities, others had no choice. In The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir, Kao Kalia Yang experiences first hand what like to narrowly escape