A striking similarity…

Albina months earlier during the celebration of Maroon Day, on October 10, 2009. Here, a Ndyuka woman can be seen pounding cooked plantains to make ‘tom-tom’ for the celebrations. Albina, located some 140 kilometers (approx. 87 miles) east of the Surinamese capital, Paramaribo, devoted two whole days to the event, which took place at the Marimbo Park near the village of Marijke. (Photo courtesy of: de Ware Tijd Online/ Hugo Den Boer)

Please also do a logo for Faria as done for Barclay, Petamber et al

IN MAY 1943, at the height of World War II, groups of white US Navy and Marine personnel stationed in and around the California city of Los Angeles racially abused and attacked Mexican-American men.

The incidents came to be known as the ‘Zoot Suit Riots’, because of the type of suit the Mexicans were wearing. Things escalated after a man was killed.

Early last week, reports from the South American republic of Suriname, next door to Guyana, indicated that a racist mob attacked a group of non-Surinamese, including Brazilian migrant miners and people of Chinese descent. Reports are that seven were killed and 20 women raped in the mining border town of Albina close to the border with neighbouring French Guiana. Apparently, it all started after the death of a Surinamese.

In this December 26, 2009 photograph, Brazilian and Chinese residents take refuge in a makeshift camp set up by the Surinamese Army. (Photo courtesy of REUTERS/Hugo Den Boer)

The historical conjunctures are different. The scale of economic forces prompting the incidents are not exactly the same. But, even after more than sixty years apart, it is worth looking once again at how easy it is for racist and anti-foreigner sentiments to result in such unnecessary violence and division among working people.

Of all the US cities at the time, Los Angeles had a high concentration of people of Mexican descent. It wasn’t very far from the Mexican border. The ‘Chicanos’, as they came to be popularly known, were a visible ethnic minority. They were a swarthy, Latin-looking people. Many were descendents of the aboriginal Amerindian people.

At the time, moulded by a dominant racist press such as the Los Angeles Times, controlled by the Hearst Corporation, sections of the longer-established white community had racist and stereotypical views about the Mexicans. Certain local politicians also fanned the flames of racial hatred and intolerance. While some democratic and fair-minded whites welcomed them, the Chicanos were often described in the media as ‘aliens’ bent on criminal activity. People in California and other US states suffered greatly with the harsh economic Depression of the 1930s. Mexican-Americans and other newcomers were accused of “taking people’s jobs.” Twelve thousand were deported to Mexico in the early 1930s.

The famous ‘Zoot Suits’

Some of the Mexican youths were easy to identify; they wore zoot suits, though mainly on special occasions. The style of suit originated in the 1930s jazz culture of New York. The main characteristics were a long coat, with wide lapels and padded shoulders. The trousers were baggy. A watch chain looped from a front pocket down to the knee and back to a back pocket.

Essentially excluded from mainstream ‘white’ society, the Mexicans’ way of formal dress in Los Angeles was essentially as a result of, and a rebellious statement against, such discrimination and alienation at the time.

According to Wikipedia, to which I am indebted for most of this information, the incidents started when some Chicanos were arrested — they were later acquitted — for killing a man. White sailors and marines got into confrontations with groups of zoot-suit-clad Chicanos. Some of the whites got beat up. Egged on by racist papers like the Times, which openly urged the “cleansing” of the city of the Mexicans, 500 of them were arrested for “rioting.”

Though people of Mexican descent were the main targets, Filipino-Americans and African-Americans were also beaten up. Some were dragged out of cinemas and street cars.

In fairness, certain reports said the sailors pointed to the US War Production Board’s ruling that such a suit wasted material. This, however, was a minor “justification.” Mexican-Americans served in the US military in active duty, in numbers way out of proportion to their population.

Eventually, the navy and marine high command ordered the soldiers to be confined to barracks. Then First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, took a commendable position: She described the attacks on the Mexicans as “race riots,” and rooted in long-time discrimination against them. For this principled statement, Mrs Roosevelt was described by the Times as having “communist leanings.”

If reports in the Guyana and international press this past week are reliable, the mob-like violence against the Brazilian and Chinese nationals in Suriname must be condemned in the strongest of terms. Suriname, formerly Dutch Guiana, is composed of several races, including Amerindians and the descendents of former African slaves.

From what I know, there appears to be relatively good racial harmony there. The present Surinamese authorities appear to have reacted quickly and detained some of those responsible for the attacks.

All democratic-minded opinion, including the left, must speak out against such xenophobic and racist attacks. The Surinamese authorities must be supported in the justified crackdown on such miscreants, whose running loose will bring the good image of the country into disrepute. It appears that Surinamese of all races will join ranks to stop such divisive elements, who were probably instigated by opportunist opinion makers trying to use migrant workers as scapegoats, though more details would be welcome, including on present immigration regulations in force.

Back in the 1940s in Los Angeles, the Mexican-Americans and others did nothing wrong. Perhaps they were insensitive to flaunt their type of clothing, which took a lot of material, when people were being urged to contribute to the war effort. But this was no reason for them to be attacked on the basis of their race. And the press had no right to fan the flames of division with inflammatory and unprofessional coverage.

History shows that unless principled political leadership, the media, and people’s organisations stand up for good and decent human values of sharing and togetherness, then the interests of all the people will suffer. This includes the possible going against the grain of what certain popular sentiment may think of ‘foreigners’ at a particular juncture.

Certainly all the people, including those newcomers who, as US and other histories show, have contributed enormously to the advancement in many spheres of the receiving states. They have generally worked in unity alongside longer established residents, and this noble yearning must always be supported.
(NORMAN FARIA <nfaria@caribsurf.com> IS GUYANA’S HONORARY CONSUL IN BARBADOS)