Zoot suits, associated with the Mexican race, consisted of a long jacket that reached almost to the knees, pants with a “tight stuff cuff”, a “wide, flat hat, and Dutch-toe shoes” (Berger 193). These zoot suits were worn by the Mexican youth who were accused of murder on August 2, 1942. People claimed that Jose Diaz was murdered by a gang that had broken up a party at Sleepy Lagoon ranch located close to Los Angeles. However, even though the lower court did convict them of murder, two years later the district court of appeals took that decision back by stating that there was not enough good evidence and that most of that decision was made based on prejudice issues. This incident became known as the “Sleepy Lagoon Affair” and was made an international topic, especially when it was made to look like Americans were making it a point to harm Latin-American citizens. Afterwards, the “Sleepy Lagoon Affair” opened the doorway to much more discrimination against Mexicans and brought many more riots to Los Angeles between Mexicans and Americans (Gorn 183). Mexican-Americans were highly offended when American citizens, mostly the marines and soldiers, attacked any Mexican they saw on the street wearing a zoot suit. Some of the time these Mexicans were not part of a gang, but were attacked as revenge from that August night in 1942. Police officials were watching servicemen beat the Mexicans on the street then arresting the victims, saying that they provoked the riot (La Op...
City of Pinellas Park v. Brown was a case brought to the District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District by the plaintiff Brown. In this case, the Brown family sued the City of Pinellas Sheriff Department on the grounds of negligence that resulted in the tragic death of two Brown sisters during a police pursuit of a fleeing traffic violator Mr. Deady. The facts in this case are straight forward, and I shall brief them as logical as possible.
Nearby Alfred Bello and Arthur Bradley were breaking into a factory. Bello was the lookout, and his exact location - inside or outside the bar - would be a point of concentration for the next twenty years. The police arrived at the bar within minutes. They took statements from Marins, Valenine, and Bello. Not one of them said they had seen Rubin Carter, one of Paterson’s most well-known citizens, at the scene. A police bulletin radioed officers to be on the lookout for a white car with two black men inside.
On August 23, 1927, Nicola Sacco and Barolomeo Vanzetti were executed in one of the most controversial legal cases in American history. Two men were shot and robbed in Braintree, MA, and two poor Italian immigrants were arrested for the crime. Although neither Sacco nor Vanzetti had criminal records, they both had pistols on them at the time, and followed a violent anarchist leader. Following their arrest, the seven-year case on the crime would drive national and international protests demanding their exoneration. There were numerous elements in the trial that influenced the guilty verdicts for the men including, but not limited to, weak evidence. The Sacco Vanzetti trial displays the social injustices and prejudice in American society during the time. It is evident that even though they are innocent, the court used Sacco and Vanzetti as scapegoats in this crime because of their beliefs and background.
The racial conflict with Japanese-Americans began when the Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. On December 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, a military naval base located in the state of Hawaii. “Behind them they left chaos, 2,403 dead, 188 destroyed planes, and a crippled Pacific Fleet that included 8 damaged or destroyed battleships” (“Attack” 1). The next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war on the Empire of Japan. The fear that resulted from the attack on Pearl Harbor caused many white Americans to hate the Japanese-Americans. Many Japanese were accused of being spies and were arrested without proof. “Rabid anti-Japanese American racism surfaced the first days after Pearl Harbor. The FBI and the military had been compiling lists of "potentially dangerous" Japanese Americans since 1932, but most were merely teachers, businessmen or journalists” (Thistlethwaite 1). In February of 1942, all of the Japanese on the West Coast of the United States were sent to internment camps.
... May of 1963. The poor blacks participated in this event, "on their own terms." They taunted the police, retaliated with fists, profanity, rocks, and bottles in a clear demonstration of their contempt for the police.
Mexican culture is perhaps the largest influence on the state of Arizona, affecting the cuisine of Arizona quite heavily. Mexican food is widely popular in Arizona, meaning that there are plenty of local Mexican restaurants, each giving a unique experience. Mexican culture also has strong ties to the history of Arizona, as it was once territory belonging to Mexico. Mexicans who inhabited the region over a century ago fought with tribes native to the land in order to wrest control from them. However, war erupted with America on April 25, 1846. The war, now known as the Mexican-American War, resulted in the Mexican Cession. The Cession effectively indoctrinated the states of California, Nevada, most of Arizona, and various sections of other current day states. The war’s start can be contributed to many things, one such reason being the acceptance of Texas as a recognized state by the U.S. This created a great deal of tension with Mexico, as Texas was once their territory, until Mexicans and Americans overthrew the governor of the region and appointed their own leader, Samuel Houston. Houston then brought Texas in as a state to the U.S. in order to assuage any aggressive acts by Mexico. However, tensions soon flared when several small incidents along the border of Mexico and Texas lead to the war. Many politicians in the northern states opposed the war, claiming that it was an attempt of the southern slave owners to gain influence in the new territory. While most of the territory of Arizona was obtained by the end of the war, it was the Gadsden Purchase that attained the rest of the state, along with the southwesternmost part of modern day New Mexico. The purchase gets it’s name from the United States ambassador to Mexico, James Gadsden, who signed the treaty approving the purchase of the territory in the year 1853, not all too long after the
On 7 June 1969, hundreds of Puerto Ricans gathered in Spanish Harlem, New York City to protest the arrest of Juan" Fi" Ortiz for a series of falsified crimes.[2] As a crowd gathered outside the People's Church in El Barrio, Felipe Luciano addressed those assembled asserting that, " We will not allow the brutalization of our community to go on without a response. For every Puerto Rican that is brutalized, there will be retaliation."[3]Luciano's statements were not ignored, and as the crowd filtered into the streets their shouts of Despierta, Boricua. Defiende lo tuyo filled the air.
America had experienced many riots prior to the Tulsa Race Riots, but the ones in Tulsa were definitely the bloodiest and most horrific (Hirsch 1). Many events led to the riots, but what truly started the madness would be the incident that occurred on Monday, May
There is some history that explains why the incident on that Chicago beach escalated to the point where 23 blacks and 15 whites were killed, 500 more were injured and 1,000 blacks were left homeless (96). When the local police were summoned to the scene, they refused to arrest the white man identified as the one who instigated the attack. It was generally acknowledged that the state should “look the other way” as long as private violence stayed at a low level (Waskow 265). This police indifference, viewed by most blacks as racial bias, played a major role in enraging the black population. In the wake of the Chica...
Beyond the threats and persecutions of various government agencies, many Americans have engaged in behavior that is clearly dangerous and borders on assault or worse. There are many color people who have been refused medical treatment, or who have been beaten up by an overly aggressive American person endangering their lives. American antics may have even killed. For examples, as MSNBC reported, that many color women’s are refused their rights to breast cancer treatment in vary part of the United states in hospital by doctors for been color skin. As other examples, News World reported, that Helen Grant of seven years old was beaten up, left with cuts and bruises on her face for being color by a school mates in St.
Much history came within the Texas v. Johnson case. It all started during the 1984 Republican National Convention, this is where Johnson participated in a political demonstration to protest what policies Regan was administrating (Brennan 1). A march was occurring throughout the city streets, which Johnson did take part in. Johnson burned an American flag while protesters chanted him on (Brennan 1). No person was specifically injured during this protest; although, many witnesses were severely offended (Brennan 1). Johnson was convicted of Desecration of a venerated object, which violated the Texas Statue. The state court of appeals affirmed Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and reversed the case stating it was a form of expressive conduct, so it was alright (Brennan 1). In a 5 to 4 decision the Supreme Court came to the conclusion that Johnson’s burning of the flag was protected under his First Amendment rights (Brennan 1). The court also found that although witnesses may have found it offensive, does not...
The Chicago riot was the most serious of the multiple that happened during the Progressive Era. The riot started on July 27th after a seventeen year old African American, Eugene Williams, did not know what he was doing and obliviously crossed the boundary of a city beach. Consequently, a white man on the beach began stoning him. Williams, exhausted, could not get himself out of the water and eventually drowned. The police officer at the scene refused to listen to eyewitness accounts and restrained from arresting the white man. With this in mind, African Americans attacked the police officer. As word spread of the violence, and the accounts distorted themselves, almost all areas in the city, black and white neighborhoods, became informed. By Monday morning, everyone went to work and went about their business as usual, but on their way home, African Americans were pulled from trolleys and beaten, stabbed, and shot by white “ruffians”. Whites raided the black neighborhoods and shot people from their cars randomly, as well as threw rocks at their windows. In retaliation, African Americans mounted sniper ambushes and physically fought back. Despite the call to the Illinois militia to help the Chicago police on the fourth day, the rioting did not subside until the sixth day. Even then, thirty eight
Ever since the United States acquired land from Mexico, Chicanos have struggled with finding their own place in the United States. In order to prove that this was a problem, the Chicano movement came about post World War II. When Mexican-American servicemen returned from duty, many were discriminated and were being segregated.
... set on fire. As a result, the governor called in the National Guard. On May 4, 1970 the guardsmen confronted students at a rally. The students threw rocks and bottles and the guards retaliated with tear gas. However, without warning, a group of guardsmen fired their rifles into the crowd and killed four students and wounding nine. New of this violence soon spread to other campuses and more protests erupted nationwide.
Augustine is an extremely known historical town. Mainly known for the Spanish Conquistadors building their famous Castillo de San Marcos fort. However, what many people don’t know is the fight for Civil Rights that took place in this historic town. This town in Northeast Florida is a monumental example of the struggle African Americans had to face to acquire their rights. The Foot Soldiers were not an exclusive group of people fighting for their rights; it was a community side by side fighting for what was right. The Foot Soldiers broke boundaries that had not been broken in St. Augustine. From The Heroic Stories of the St. Augustine Foot Soldiers, it is put as “The Foot Soldiers monument in the historic downtown plaza of St. Augustine, Florida is dedicated to those whose names are not yet written in the history books, whose faces are not yet depicted on postage stamps, whose statues are not yet in our public parks, who are not yet celebrated with street signs in their honor.”9 The St. Augustine Foot Soldiers could be compared to the people activists in Alabama during their sit ins etc. Something that activists would endeavor on would be Beach Wade-ins. These Wade-ins are essentially how the Foot Soldiers handled the segregation of the beaches. Fred Martin recalls one of these Wade-ins at where a young man Arthur Funderburk was approaching the “white only” part of the beach when a group of men came towards him with clubs and things of that sort. He says a young girl that they called JoJo came in between the Arthur and one of the men exclaiming “You want to hit someone black. Well, hit me, not him. Go ahead, hit me.”10 People were willing protect each other to get a point across. JoJo in this situation was trying to see if the man would hit her or not. Another miraculous thing about the Foot Soldiers is that it was just not African Americans protesting or participating in rallies it was also white people as well. There were as well Mass Sit-ins that occurred in