Back in 2018, some reading I did regarding Native American (including Canadian) history reminded me of some things from my mission. While at the time they sounded vaguely wrong -- which is why they stuck with me -- what I read years later clarified something that was definitely wrong and racist.
https://sporkful.blogspot.com/2018/02/nahm-mission-memories.html
This time it happened during a different reading month.
Our branch president in one area had served in the Navy in World War II. He was telling a story at one time about going out and looking for these "zoot suiters".
I don't remember exactly how I expressed my chagrin, because it sounded like looking for trouble and beating people up, which is of course not very Christian. He defended it by describing the way they dressed, giving the impression of them as being disreputable people who were really asking for it.
He did not make clear that they were Hispanic.
It would not have made the story sound better, but it was key.
It made sense that he focused on how they were dressed, because part of the war efforts involved saving fabric by using less cloth. A good zoot suit used some extra yardage.
But it was really the racism.
There was prejudiced newspaper coverage about the dangerous gangs before there was a fabric issue, and much of that coverage appears to have been based on insinuation rather than actual threat.
It does make sense that he did not mention them being brown people; we were there working with Laotian refugees and it might have seemed hypocritical.
It was more surprising that he mentioned going out and looking for a fight, except that I think there was a part of him that felt good and strong and right then. After all, they wasted cloth!
Fifty years later, I don't think he had moved past that understanding.
There would have been opportunities. After then-governor Earl Warren appointed a commission to look into it, the results included this statement:
“In undertaking to deal with the cause of these outbreaks, the existence of race prejudice cannot be ignored.”
Also, what eventually stopped the riots was military personnel being confined to barracks. The "dangerous, criminal" element was not rioting on their own, despite making up the bulk of those arrested.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/zoot-suit-riots
Surprisingly, this additional learning did not damage my view of President Shepherd that much; I mean, I felt that it wasn't good, even without understanding why, and it was not the sum total of him as a person.
It does get me really irritated about the song "Zoot Suit Riot".
The song does pay some homage to Mexican-American musician Lalo Guerrero, but mostly I started realizing it is a song of cultural appropriation.
Musician Steve Perry calls it "an expression of proud marginalism", admitting that it is not deep.
Well, that makes sense too. They needed to capitalize on increasing popularity by rushing out a new album, including four new songs. That's not a situation that encourages depth.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoot_Suit_Riot_(song)
Without wanting to be too hard on the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, we should be deeper. When there is a marginalized identity that you can play around in for fun, but it is rooted in racism that you never have to experience, ignoring that is part of upholding systemic racism.
We need to be better.
That can start by listening to those who are marginalized.
The specific materials for this were watching Zoot Suit, the 1979 play by Luis Valdez or, in my case, the 1981 filmed version.
In addition, I read Jazz Owls: A Novel of the Zoot Suit Riots by Margarita Engle.
The siblings in this book may enjoy the music and dancing, but they also have schooling and jobs and they face prejudice. That part of their experience reminded me of two other books:
Dolores Huerta Stands Strong: The Woman Who Demanded Justice by Marlene Targ Brill
Dolores Huerta's youth and schooling shows some more about the racism at the time, as a a biography this book was very much a part of this reading. The other was not:
Heartbeat of Struggle: The Revolutionary Life of Yuri Kochiyama by Diane Fujino
Being Japanese-American had different challenges for World War II, but there are similarities just the same.
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