Zoot Suit Riots
“Los Angeles erupts in violence”
2002•NR•53m•7.0•Released
HistoryDocumentary
On August 1, 1942, a 22-year-old Mexican American man was stabbed to death at a party. To white Los Angelenos, the murder was just more proof that Mexican American crime was spiraling out of control. The police fanned out across LA, netting 600 young Mexican American suspects. Almost all those taken into custody were wearing the distinctive uniform of their generation: Zoot Suits. The tragic murder and the injustice of the trial that followed, coupled with sensational news coverage of both, fanned the flames of the racial hostility that was already running rife in the city. Within months of the verdict, Los Angeles was in the grip of some of the worst violence in its history.
Director
Joseph Tovares
Writer
Joseph Tovares
Languages
English
Studio
PBS
Cast
Héctor Elizondo
Narrator (voice)
Production
Company
PBS
Company
GBH
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