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What were the Zoot Suit Riots? |
Latinos were an essential part of WWII. Latinos that were already in the United States, fought for the country over seas but also had a war back home on the home front. Latinos were being targeted and were apart of hate crimes known as the Zoot Suit Riots. The Zoot Suit Riots were violent acts committed against young Latino boys because of the type of clothing they wore. They wore Zoot Suits and during World War II, these outfits were deemed unpatriotic but the Latinos were not going to change their style.
Within the war, there were many heroic Latinos that deserved recognition. Latinos have been serving in the United States wars for many years despite still not being treated equally or having all of the same rights as whites. A program implemented to help the United States have more people in the military was the Bracero Program. The Bracero Program had people from Mexico come to the States and help in the war effort. There were many pros and cons to this program a pro being the Mexicans were able to find work, a con being they were still treated terribly and not like humans. |