On July 21, 2015, I had the opportunity to take a trip down to “The Great Wall of Los Angeles”. I was amazed to see the creativity and the empowerment of the art. The wall is a mural designed by Judith Baca, and a group of community youth from diverse ethnical backgrounds.
The mural paints the history of California through different eras; it starts with colonialism and makes its way to the Chicano Movement of the 1960s. The Great Wall of Los Angeles places emphasis on the history of Native Americans and minorities groups along with their struggles. A particular piece of the mural that caught my eye was the “Zoot Suit Riot LA. 1943,” where a pair of black boots where over an individual, this image expressed so much about the hierarchy, dominance, and power of White people.
Zoot Suit Riots, Los Angeles 1943 represents some of the struggles Chicanos faced, while trying to represent themselves in a racist discriminatory society. High-waisted,
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As presented in the film “Zoot Suit Riot,” the young Zoot Suits disclosed a division between two youth groups: the gangs of African Americans, and Mexican youths who created a portion of the zoot-suit subculture, and the white sailors and Marine servicemen stationed along the Pacific coast. The riots had racial and social differences but the primary issue seems to have been patriotism and attitudes towards the war. Nonetheless, the white servicemen abused their power and through that riot, they shred light on racial discrimination and that what the art work at the Great Wall represents. The boots standing above the person of color demonstrates the power and authority of the law, it has the power to strip away the little that a person has, and cares less if they hurt or cause damage. The Zoot Suit just like the rest of the Chicanos were struggling to represent themselves in this racist society whether it was through fashion as a way of political