Angelo Rodriguez
Zooters and the Sleepy Lagoon Case
Sleepy Lagoon was a popular hangout for Latino Americans in the 1940’s. Sleepy Lagoon
is situated in a reservoir along the Los Angeles River. In August 1942, Henry Diaz was found
dead, and they believed that the culprits were the rebellious “zoot-suitors”. Police arrested, 21
Latino’s, whom they all presumed guilty before innocent. This trial eventually led up to the
“zoot-suit” riots. The dueling documents take views from both the District Attorney case, and
the Defense teams. The DA’s cornerstone research is gathered by a social psychologist’s; who
believes that Latino’s are violent in nature, and must be contained. The defense in rebuttal,
points out, that you cannot place such a rash statement, on such a large group of people. Los
Angeles’s time for change was now. Growth sometimes hurts.
“Zoot-suiter’s” were Mexican-American youth who wore long trench coats, and had slicked
back their hair. This was a form of basic rebellion, and non-conformity. The people of Los
Angeles feared them, because they were considered the criminal element, at the time. Since
the Latino communities were mostly lower class, opportunity to go to school, and get an
education was limited on the meager salaries of the families. Most of these youth turned to
hoodimumistic behavior, and crime. The panic got to be so bad, that newspaper editorialists
made up stories that the youth were wreaking havoc on the city.
Since 1942, the Mexican-American population in California has become more structured.
Education levels and income has both seen increases. Although no matter what socio-economic
status you come from, opportunity exists in every part of the spectrum. You are more likely to
behave, a certain way, if opportunity is presented to you. If you live in a lower income area, the
opportunity to engage in deviant behavior is more prevalent. Whereas if you are brought up in
a good neighborhood; the opportunity to become more educated is the most common
outcome. This is called the illegitimate Opportunity Structure.
The defense team’s strategies were simple, just disprove every point that the DA came up with.
Just state the obvious. How 130,000,000 people could not be labeled as knife toting heathens.
The DA’s case could not be justified on biology. California, during that time period was
experiencing major industrialization. World War 2 brought about the mass production of
aircraft to the West Coast. Boeing was the leader in Aeronautical advancement. They
strategically built their plants in places like El Segundo, Long Beach, and Seattle. Their location
was perfect when holding the Japanese at bay. California was home to 44 percent of the United
States Air Force’s manufacturing plants.
Although the Mexican’s held 13 percent of the total population, they were still discriminated
when it came to employment. This directly relates to opportunity, and income. The Mexican
people were held down, and not given opportunities to advance.
Furthermore, the defense pointed out, President Roosevelt’s recent visit to Monterey Mexico.
The defense reported that the people of Mexico shared the same values as American’s. After
World War 1, The United States, and Mexico realized how important it was to be good
neighbors to each-other. The Sleepy Lagoon case was a great opportunity to put words into
action. For the District Attorney to basically call President Roosevelt a liar, and have that
comment highlighted, did not help the DA’s case.
Throughout the study of sociology, there have always been arguments that pertain to evolution
amongst human beings. Cesare Lombroso’s work has always gravitated towards the study of
people, and their body conformation. When you look at body structure, you have ectoskeletal,
endo-skelatal, and meso-skelatal. Meso-Skelatal is the specific body-type in which he warns has
the most potential for social deviance Also, his work has pointed out that genealogy is a major
factor in animal instincts in humans. The older the family line, the more evolved the individual
tends to be. Although these debates have been quite provocative, they are not proven.
Therefore you cannot base a defense solely on biology.
I think the reason the DA’s office used wild and domestic cats in their document was because at
that time, the general consensus was that people of colored skin were inferior to the white
race. Also For lack of a better comparison, the only thing that people can compare humans to is
animals, or other people. So in the use of wild and domestic cats, Ayers analogy was the most
fitting for his side of the argument. I think that the city of Los Angeles, whose population in
1942 was around 130,000. Not including surrounding areas were simply going through growing
pains of any other large city.
The case ended with 12 convictions. The city of Angels was at a boiling point. Mexicans were
being held under the gun. All Spanish speaking people were considered to be dangerous. The
entire Latino community was labeled as being criminals. The top blew off with the “zoot-suit
riots”. Labeling theory states that if a person or groups of people are expected to act a certain
way, than they will do so.
Information about the case varies. Some web sites say that at least 5 of the accused spent life in
prison. Other sources say that the case was escalated to the Supreme Court, where it was
overturned. Regardless, the Sleepy Lagoon was viewed as a pivotal and dark time in Los
Angeles’s history.
If you look at the history of Los Angeles, you will see an increase in violent crime since the
1940’s. Large cities are always the breeding ground for riots. Los Angeles, throughout the years
has gained a reputation for police brutality, and corruption within the department. On the
other hand, if you look at the views of the establishment, you can see that Los Angeles street
gangs are diverse. This is because of the diverse culture Los Angeles holds. Throughout the last
60 years, we have witnessed more street violence unfold. The evolution of these criminal
elements has only gotten worse. To say that the “zoot-suiter” started the decline if the
establishment might be going to extremes, but 1942 does signify the start of a new trend.
A biological basis of crime by Edward Ayers at the time does seem almost relevant. But
common sense prevailed, despite some obvious setbacks; Los Angeles is a melting pot, with
almost every culture in the world living within the proximity. With the Japanese of the West
Coast all occupying internment camps, the focus of racial discrimination shifted to the Latino
community. People have always viewed The United States the land of opportunity, and racial
oppression. Mr. Ayres was called on as a “key” witness, by the District Attorney’s. This was
because he was supposedly an expert on human behavior. The entire case was built on the
basis that Mexican-American’s contained an animalistic blood lust, which was not seen in other
races of human beings. This is what the defense team clearly pointed out when they stated that
it wasn’t just a group of boys on trial, but rather an entire race of people.
In conclusion, the Sleepy Lagoon murder case, and the “zoot-suit “riots was a witch hunt, in the
likes that other big cities, especially on the East Coast, and South experienced with AfricanAmericans. It was simply California’s time to go through some growing pains. The views from
both sides are interesting, but sometimes the status quo needs to be changed. History as I have
viewed it tends to have a perpetual sense of trial and error. The Sleepy Lagoon case was a
prime example of change, reluctance, and expedition on both sides.