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This week in 1943, thousands of US military members, racist white civilians & off-duty cops formed mobs in LA & attacked any Mexican-American youth & other minorities they encountered. The mob injured hundreds w/ pipes, bottles & clubs in a week of violence. #ZootSuitRiot 
At the time, Mexican-American youth & other minorities were demonized in the US. The jazz-influenced pachuco subculture & its zoot suit clothing--both popular with minorities--were deemed identifiers of gang & criminal affiliation by the media.
For many Mexican-Americans & other minorities, the pachuco subculture represented a spirit of defiance against US segregation. Racist mobs were anxious to put these immigrants "in their place"; they searched for anyone wearing a zoot suit & attacked them, ripping their suit off.
