Diversity in Zoot Suit

In the film Zoot Suit, we follow the steps of Henry Reyna, a 18 year old Zoot Suiter, who has decided to join the navy and leave his gang. The time is early 1940's, where the diversity in Mexican American's and whites continued to grow as gang affiliated violence grew to disrupt citizens and the law every single day. From the beginning of the movie we see an alter ego of himself, more evil and doing what he wants alongside him. In the film wee see gang violence that leads to Henry Reyna and his gang to be sent to jail, where they are put against the odds and the court, jury, police, are all to get them put in prison for a long time. In the court room, there is already diverse and prejudice toward the Hispanic men who are being falsely charged with murder and must continue to stand down while the judge does not let them speak for what they are being accused of. A woman named Alice, who is a communist Jewish woman, has fought for cases like this involving race, unequal rights, and discrimination of any type.

The Zoot Suiter riots took place while Henry and his gang were in prison, and it created mayhem, sailors would beat men of color for no reason and take their women. While the war was going, in LA the gang and white violence grew, gangs actually wanted to join together to fight the sailors, but pride and respect got in the way regardless of color. As the months progress the case keeps on getting more and more publicity leading it to be dropped. The diversity of religion, ethnicity, appearance, and language each person in the film had was directed to every single one of them. In the end once they were released, the press was confronted by them, and they called Henry and his gang "Zoot Suiters" but the real term they wanted to use against those of brown skin or Hispanics, was Chapaco, dirty Mexicans, to try and drive them out. Eventually, the charges and acquisitions formed were ridiculous enough to be forgotten and ended the Zoot Suit Riots.