Menu
LAMOG
  • Zoot Suit Riots
    • Introduction
    • Native and Spanish
    • Mexico and United States
    • Refugees and Barrios
    • Repatriation and Braceros
    • Jazz and Zoot Suits
    • Sleepy Lagoon and Police
    • The Trial and The Press
    • The Riots
    • Aftermath and Blame
    • SLDC and Release
    • Post-War Changes
    • Chicano Movement and Zoot Suit Play
    • Global Connections
    • Timeline & Biographies
    • Conclusion
  • LA Playlist
  • Kids Club
  • Special Teams
    • Tour Guides
    • Making LAMoG: Behind the Scenes Exhibit
    • Giant 3D Collage
    • Performance
  • Museum Store
  • Old Exhibits
    • Then and Now
    • The Los Angeles River
    • Wattstax
    • Memory and Mapping
    • The California Water Wars
    • Neighborhood Time Travel
    • Mulholland: The Musical
    • Fall 2020 Documentary
    • Fall 2020 Kids Club
    • Fall 2020 Arts
  • Zoot Suit Riots
    • Introduction
    • Native and Spanish
    • Mexico and United States
    • Refugees and Barrios
    • Repatriation and Braceros
    • Jazz and Zoot Suits
    • Sleepy Lagoon and Police
    • The Trial and The Press
    • The Riots
    • Aftermath and Blame
    • SLDC and Release
    • Post-War Changes
    • Chicano Movement and Zoot Suit Play
    • Global Connections
    • Timeline & Biographies
    • Conclusion
  • LA Playlist
  • Kids Club
  • Special Teams
    • Tour Guides
    • Making LAMoG: Behind the Scenes Exhibit
    • Giant 3D Collage
    • Performance
  • Museum Store
  • Old Exhibits
    • Then and Now
    • The Los Angeles River
    • Wattstax
    • Memory and Mapping
    • The California Water Wars
    • Neighborhood Time Travel
    • Mulholland: The Musical
    • Fall 2020 Documentary
    • Fall 2020 Kids Club
    • Fall 2020 Arts

Aftermath and Blame

Picture

This is Franklin D. Roosevelt, former U.S. President and husband of Eleanor Roosevelt.

Picture

General Maxwell Murray ordered the punishment of sailors caught rioting.

Picture

Joseph T. McGucken, author of the McGucken Report, established racial descrimination was the cause of the riots.​

On June 8, 1943, the Zoot Suit Riots finally concluded, but the lives of Mexican Americans hadn’t changed for the better. The press advertised the riots, publishing pictures of bleeding Mexican boys after fights. They sensed the riot's racial prejudice was damaging LA's reputation and wrote the apparent racism was exaggerated. Mayor Fletcher Brown claimed the riot’s eruption wasn’t due to racial tension in LA, and juvenile delinquency caused them. Major General Maxwell Murray issued a memorandum warning the military they wouldn’t tolerate rioting. Military officials blamed the police for lawlessness in the riots, so they were charged with negligence. On the other hand, the police said  servicemen were at the center of the rioting. Eventually, the McGucken Report came out, which determined the cause of the riots was racial discrimination. Nonetheless, there were many conflicting views on who could actually be blamed for the riots.
As the news of the Zoot Suit Riots and McGucken Report spread across the country, Los Angeles received a lot of backlash. Eleanor Roosevelt felt the Zoot Suit riots were caused by racism, and she expressed concern about how the states bordering Mexico treated Mexican Americans. She thought the state needed to work on stopping discrimination. However, the LA Times argued the Mexican American’s “juvenile phase” was instead to blame. They proceeded to call Mrs. Roosevelt “ignorant” and a “communist.”  The LA Times stated, “Mrs. Eleanor had reasons of her own and twisted the Zoot Suit Riots into something that it isn’t– a race hatred problem.”  The LA Times brought important race issues out of the spotlight and disregarded the real issue of the riots. Ironically, this debate on racism occurred at a time when Mrs. Roosevelt’s husband had signed an order to imprison Japanese Americans in internment camps. Mrs. Roosevelt’s and the LA Times’ views conflicted, dividing the country yet again.
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.