June 3, 1943: The Zoot Suit Riots

June 3, 1943: Riots break out in Los Angeles, between servicemen stationed there and Mexican-American residents of the city.

Some of the Mexicans, calling themselves "Chicanos," had begun wearing fancy suits, or "zoots" in their accent. The term got doubled up, as "zoot suit." They had high baggy pants, jackets with long tails, wide-brimmed hats with feathers, and ties that were wide, often wild, to match the suits' colors. Some of them wore belts, others chose suspenders. Like some of the big cars of the time, the suits were a way of striking back against a culture of brown and gray tenements, and the black & white pop culture of the Great Depression and World War II years.

Thankfully, we have cosplayers showing us

what these suits looked like in color.

The servicemen, famously getting, in the words of Tony Pastor and His Orchestra, "Twenty-one dollars a day, once a month" (in other words, $21 a month, about $351 in 2022 money, although being in the service, they had free housing, food and clothing, such as they were), were jealous of these outfits, and angry that these were young men not fighting for their country. So they attacked the Chicanos, and the fighting became known as "The Zoot Suit Riots."

The Los Angeles Police Department took the side of the servicemen. Many of the cops were "immigrants" as well, from the Dust Bowl of the American South, coming West in the 1930s. They took their prejudices with them, and put the "Southern" in "Southern California." Some of them lasted long enough to be guilty of the kind of police brutality that led to the Watts Riot of 1965, and passed their beliefs down to the younger cops, leading to the Rodney King beating of 1991 and the South Central Riot of 1992.

There is no record of anyone dying as a result of these riots, but 150 people were admitted to hospitals, and over 500 were arrested.

The wearing of Zoot Suits spread to African-American and Asian-American teenage boys and young men. Black jazz bandleader Cab Calloway became known for wearing them.

Mexican-American women, known as Pachucas, had their own variations on the outfits: High hairdos, heavy makeup, large earrings, tight sweaters and flared skirts. White people looking to peg the Mexican-Americans as troublemakers spread the rumor that the Pachucas hid knives in their hair.

Like most fads, zoot suits didn't last long. By the time The War ended, they had been played out. But not forgotten: Writers Luis Valdez, Ralph Ellison and Richard Wright, and civil rights activists Cesar Chavez and Malcolm X remembered that wearing zoot suits help cement in their minds the identities they would like to have, distinct from the dominant white society and what it expected of black and Hispanic people. Malcolm X took to wearing dark suits with a bowtie, as did most Nation of Islam officials; but, inspired by his zoot suit days, he wore the best suits money could buy.

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June 3, 1943 was a Thursday. Billy Cunningham was born on this day. The Philadelphia 76ers have never won an NBA Championship without him: He was a reserve player on their 1967 title team, and he was the head coach of their 1983 title team.

These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the St. Louis Browns, 2-1 at Yankee Stadium. Ernest "Tiny" Bonham went the distance.

* The New York Giants lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-6 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Mel Ott went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the Chicago Cubs, 8-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Boston Red Sox, 6-4 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians, 10-4 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Washington Senators, 8-2 at Griffith Stadium in Washington.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Boston Braves, 7-4 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati.

* And the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-2 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Stan Musial went 1-for-4 with 3 RBIs.