Liberty Ships, Closed Doors · Episode 8 of 13 · 17 min
The Bracero Bargain and the Zoot Suit Riots
In one era the United States did two things to people of Mexican descent: it imported Mexican men by the hundreds of thousands under the Bracero Program as temporary hands on contracts often broken, and in June 1943 it let servicemen beat and strip Mexican American youths in Los Angeles for wearing zoot suits while police arrested the victims. Together they show a welcome extended to labor and refused to workers.
Where it happens
- Los Angeles, California+13 more episodesSite of the June 1943 Zoot Suit Riots
- Mexico+10 more episodesSource of bracero workers
Timeline
- August 1942U.S. and Mexico sign the Bracero Program agreement
- 1942Sleepy Lagoon murder case inflames anti-Mexican sentiment
- June 3-8, 1943Zoot Suit Riots in Los Angeles
- 1964Bracero Program ends after bringing over four million workers
Still debated
For many participants the Bracero Program was a chosen economic opportunity as well as a system of exploitation. Death tolls from the riots are uncertain, and the violence was initiated by servicemen and civilians, not the youths blamed at the time.
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