1 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:06,600 Speaker 1: You're listening to American Shadows, a production of iHeartRadio and 2 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,520 Speaker 1: Grimm and Mild from Ari and Manky. 3 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:19,000 Speaker 2: The locals at Ye Old Hobpub were going to have 4 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:23,120 Speaker 2: none of this nonsense. The night was winding down, last 5 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:25,799 Speaker 2: call was at hand, and the time was ripe for 6 00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 2: a scuffle. There had been a series of race riots 7 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:32,479 Speaker 2: in Detroit, Michigan, and for days the white American troops 8 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:35,560 Speaker 2: stationed in bamber Bridge, England, had been throwing a fit. 9 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:39,960 Speaker 2: Many of them felt helpless, and Moore felt angry. To 10 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 2: ease their furied hearts, they decided they wanted a color 11 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:48,080 Speaker 2: ban on all local pubs, effectively making them white only establishments. 12 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:52,520 Speaker 2: No black soldiers would be allowed in. The Brits were furious, 13 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:56,400 Speaker 2: how dare these arrogant nitwits show up and try to 14 00:00:56,520 --> 00:01:01,280 Speaker 2: enforce Jim Crow in their village? In reactions including ye 15 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:06,080 Speaker 2: Old Hob hung black troops only signs, The white servicemen 16 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:10,200 Speaker 2: found this unamusing. A Black private by the name of 17 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:13,039 Speaker 2: Eugene Nun was just about ready to head home from 18 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:16,959 Speaker 2: the pub when two white soldiers came in. They puffed 19 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:19,160 Speaker 2: up their chests and tried to detain him for what 20 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:23,240 Speaker 2: they claimed was a uniform offense. The soldiers and barflies 21 00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:26,160 Speaker 2: began to argue, and Eugene was caught in the middle. 22 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:29,960 Speaker 2: A staff sergeant on hand managed to diffuse the situation 23 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:34,319 Speaker 2: and sent the offending troops packing, That is until someone 24 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:38,080 Speaker 2: lobbed a beer at their backs like a grenade. For 25 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 2: the soggy troops, that was the last straw. They went 26 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:45,120 Speaker 2: back to the base and lay in wait. As the 27 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:48,400 Speaker 2: Black soldiers made their way home, they were ambushed. A 28 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:50,639 Speaker 2: fight broke out in the road and a shot was fired. 29 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 2: A private was struck and was soon dead. This was 30 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:58,440 Speaker 2: anything but friendly fire. Those injured in the melee made 31 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:01,800 Speaker 2: their way back to base and were spread quickly. Panic 32 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:06,320 Speaker 2: rose and rumors snowballed. Soon several jeeps packed with white 33 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:10,520 Speaker 2: soldiers arrived at the Black battalion's camp, including one improvised 34 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:14,680 Speaker 2: armored car with a large machine gun. Black soldiers fled, 35 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:18,360 Speaker 2: dodging more assailants in route to the village. Once there, 36 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:21,440 Speaker 2: they warned the locals to stay inside. It was good 37 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:24,799 Speaker 2: that they heeded that call. Soon a firefight broke out, 38 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 2: wounding seven more soldiers and killing one. Shots popped in 39 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:33,480 Speaker 2: the darkness until calm broke around four a m. Top 40 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:38,040 Speaker 2: Brass immediately ordered an investigation. The Black soldiers were accused 41 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 2: of mutiny, and two trials were conducted. Four soldiers involved 42 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 2: in the initial scuffle were dishonorably discharged and sentenced to 43 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:50,240 Speaker 2: hard labor, including Eugene. The second trial tried thirty four 44 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:54,600 Speaker 2: more soldiers for mutiny. The locals, though, came to their defense. 45 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:57,799 Speaker 2: They were horrified at the events that had taken place 46 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:00,400 Speaker 2: on their home turf and made it clear where the 47 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:03,959 Speaker 2: fault lay. Upon appeal, most of the sentences were reduced 48 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:08,400 Speaker 2: or forgiven entirely. The newspapers back in the States managed 49 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:12,240 Speaker 2: to quiet the story. It wasn't fully recalled and documented 50 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:14,960 Speaker 2: until the nineteen eighties, when bullet holes were found in 51 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:19,080 Speaker 2: the woods surrounding the village. The press, at its best 52 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:22,040 Speaker 2: shines a light on the dark corners of our world, 53 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:25,600 Speaker 2: but it can also serve as a tool to manipulate 54 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:30,280 Speaker 2: narratives in the service of domineering powers. It's a story 55 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:32,919 Speaker 2: that we know all too well, in one that is 56 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:49,000 Speaker 2: long had devastating consequences. I'm Lorn Vogelbaum. Welcome to American Shadows, 57 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:54,480 Speaker 2: A place named Sleepy Lagoon, as bucolic as it sounds, 58 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:57,000 Speaker 2: doesn't seem like it should have been the scene of 59 00:03:57,040 --> 00:04:00,360 Speaker 2: a violent murder, But in the early morning hour of 60 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 2: August second of nineteen forty two, such a paradox wasn't 61 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:08,119 Speaker 2: out of the question. Twenty two year old Jose Gallardo 62 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 2: Diaz had a strange feeling when he set out the 63 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:14,600 Speaker 2: night before, and even told his mother so, but that 64 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:18,279 Speaker 2: didn't stop him from going to the party. He danced, 65 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:21,839 Speaker 2: he drank, he reveled with friends until the dawn light 66 00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:25,599 Speaker 2: began to streak across the sky, and as the band 67 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:28,760 Speaker 2: packed up and the crowd began to then, Jose began 68 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:32,880 Speaker 2: walking home, but he would never make it. From the 69 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:37,320 Speaker 2: road came in ambush, a vicious attack that left him beaten, stabbed, 70 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:41,600 Speaker 2: and nearly dead near the Sleepy Lagoon Reservoir. Jose was 71 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:44,960 Speaker 2: soon found unconscious by a neighbor, a halo of blood 72 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:48,040 Speaker 2: around his head. A small crowd gathered and watched as 73 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:51,920 Speaker 2: an ambulance sped him away. Jose died at the hospital, 74 00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:55,880 Speaker 2: never having regained consciousness and never having told the truth 75 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:59,599 Speaker 2: of what happened that early morning. The violence of Diaz 76 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:02,760 Speaker 2: is Dead was barely mentioned in police reports or the media. 77 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:08,840 Speaker 2: The press, it seemed, wasn't concerned about a dead brown boy. Unfortunately, 78 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:13,080 Speaker 2: this attitude was pretty common in California back then. The 79 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:16,640 Speaker 2: state had originally been Mexican territory, but the United States 80 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:19,680 Speaker 2: officially acquired California, along with the land that would later 81 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 2: contribute to six other states, as a concession to end 82 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:27,000 Speaker 2: the United States insurgents into Mexico. Mexico seated over half 83 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 2: of itself to America, where suddenly people were expected to 84 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:36,000 Speaker 2: fall in line with the dominating Anglo culture. White Americans 85 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:39,479 Speaker 2: were hungry for the rich farmland and were quite perturbed 86 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:43,120 Speaker 2: to find it already occupied. In response, the US government 87 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:47,040 Speaker 2: rounded up and deported massive numbers of residents, including their 88 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:51,159 Speaker 2: American born spouses and children. By the nineteen thirties, this 89 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:56,279 Speaker 2: had become common practice. Even so, Mexican citizens continued to 90 00:05:56,320 --> 00:06:00,560 Speaker 2: flee the violence of their country's revolution. The Diasily was 91 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:03,680 Speaker 2: among them. The family settled on the East side of 92 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:07,480 Speaker 2: Los Angeles. They took up work as farm laborers, spending 93 00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:10,680 Speaker 2: their precious downtime making a new life under the oppressive 94 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:14,159 Speaker 2: watch of the American powers that be. They through birthday 95 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:18,440 Speaker 2: parties hosted barbecues, made music, and created new families in 96 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:21,400 Speaker 2: a place where immigrants had long been teased with the 97 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:25,360 Speaker 2: promise of the American dream. The children from these families 98 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:29,160 Speaker 2: faced the harsh realities of being born poor in Mexican. 99 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:32,720 Speaker 2: In Los Angeles, they were turned away from restaurants, they 100 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:35,640 Speaker 2: were harassed by police. This was the time of the 101 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:38,600 Speaker 2: Jim Crow South, and it was hard not to notice 102 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:42,880 Speaker 2: how it echoed and morphed across Los Angeles. But young 103 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:47,279 Speaker 2: people are resilient, and a counterculture was born. They took 104 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:51,040 Speaker 2: over swimming holes, through dances and screened films. They were 105 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:53,560 Speaker 2: proud of doing their own thing, and the way they 106 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:58,600 Speaker 2: dressed naturally became an extension of that. Style is a language, 107 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:04,560 Speaker 2: a statement, and when deployed effectively, style often ends in 108 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:09,960 Speaker 2: an exclamation point. At that time, black jazz musicians were 109 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:13,960 Speaker 2: the arbiters of taste. Their uniform was the zoot suit, 110 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:17,720 Speaker 2: made popular in the dance halls of Harlem, Detroit, and Chicago. 111 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:22,560 Speaker 2: Zoot Suits were loud and proud, with mountainous shoulder pads, 112 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:27,080 Speaker 2: sprawling lapels, and billowing pants. The flowing trouser legs were 113 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:31,119 Speaker 2: strategically tapered at the ankles, preventing jitterbugging couples from getting 114 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:34,800 Speaker 2: tripped up. They were a flashy choice that begged onlookers 115 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:38,480 Speaker 2: to take notice of the person behind the buttons. And 116 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:40,840 Speaker 2: one of the places you could see these suits in 117 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:43,960 Speaker 2: all their glory, pressed tailored and primed for the night 118 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:48,280 Speaker 2: were the dance halls of Los Angeles East Side. One 119 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 2: of the favorite moves was a pachuco hop. Soon, as 120 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:55,640 Speaker 2: you might imagine, zoot suits became demonized for what they 121 00:07:55,680 --> 00:08:02,160 Speaker 2: represented fun freedom, black and Mexican pro defiance of social roles. 122 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 2: They became something to be on the lookout for, especially 123 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:10,360 Speaker 2: when zoot suits were seen traveling together about town. The 124 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:14,200 Speaker 2: word pachucos came to represent these young zoot suited Mexican 125 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:18,520 Speaker 2: American men, and there were pachukahs too, Mexican American women 126 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:22,720 Speaker 2: who wore zoot suits, and in the wider cultural lexicon, 127 00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:28,760 Speaker 2: these words became interchangeable with thug or juvenile delinquent. The 128 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:31,760 Speaker 2: press lamented that these young people failed to conform to 129 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:35,640 Speaker 2: American society. Newspapers went on to claim that there were 130 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:39,319 Speaker 2: rival pachuco gangs constantly fighting on the East Side, and 131 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:41,840 Speaker 2: that it was these gangs who were responsible for Jose 132 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:46,280 Speaker 2: Diez's death. The very articles condemning violence on the East 133 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:51,320 Speaker 2: Side also demanded actions against the zoot suitors. The police 134 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:54,280 Speaker 2: would go on to arrest some six hundred young Mexican 135 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:57,960 Speaker 2: American men and women on the pretense of investigating Jose's murder. 136 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:03,000 Speaker 2: The press responded by billing the police's heroes. Those arrested 137 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:09,040 Speaker 2: were put through brutal interrogation, squeezing out coerced confessions. Finally, 138 00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:11,760 Speaker 2: the police announced that they had found those responsible for 139 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:15,120 Speaker 2: Jose's death, a group of young people from off thirty 140 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:19,280 Speaker 2: eighth Street, sometimes called the thirty eighth Street Gang. But 141 00:09:19,400 --> 00:09:22,640 Speaker 2: for everything that had gone through, their trial was worse. 142 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 2: The jury was packed with white men and women. The 143 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:28,880 Speaker 2: judge allowed the chief of the Foreign Relations Bureau of 144 00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:31,880 Speaker 2: the LA Sheriff's Office to testify as an expert witness. 145 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:36,120 Speaker 2: He claimed that Mexicans as a community were more bloodthirsty 146 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:40,080 Speaker 2: than other Americans and had a biological disposition for killing, 147 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:44,040 Speaker 2: handed down by their and I quote as tech ancestors. 148 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:48,760 Speaker 2: The trial lasted for thirteen weeks. During this time, the 149 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:51,959 Speaker 2: judge didn't allow the defendants the courtesy of a change 150 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:55,199 Speaker 2: of clothes nor haircuts. They weren't allowed to speak to 151 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:59,439 Speaker 2: their lawyers. Of the seventeen young men charged, twelve were 152 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:03,199 Speaker 2: declared Gus guilty of murdering Diaz. The five others were 153 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:07,880 Speaker 2: convicted of assault. After the conviction, activists sprung into action. 154 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:11,800 Speaker 2: They formed the Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee to try to 155 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:16,280 Speaker 2: exonerate the teenagers. This had gone on long enough. This 156 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:20,480 Speaker 2: miscarriage of justice was the last straw. The city was 157 00:10:20,559 --> 00:10:27,800 Speaker 2: priming itself for more violence. It takes only a few 158 00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:31,199 Speaker 2: bombs to change the course of a nation. After the 159 00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:34,560 Speaker 2: attack on Pearl Harbor, life would never be the same. 160 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:39,320 Speaker 2: Thousands of troops arrived in Los Angeles, young, green, and 161 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:42,040 Speaker 2: committed to fighting a war the country had been reluctant 162 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:45,880 Speaker 2: to enter. This would be their launching point, a place 163 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:50,080 Speaker 2: to live, train, and wait for their marching orders. For 164 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:53,640 Speaker 2: those they left behind, the specter of European and Pacific 165 00:10:53,679 --> 00:11:00,560 Speaker 2: theaters loomed. Large foreign correspondents filed, victory gardens sprouted, American 166 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:06,240 Speaker 2: homes and businesses rationed, and fashion certainly wasn't spared. In 167 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:09,600 Speaker 2: nineteen forty two, the War Production Board began to regulate 168 00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:14,599 Speaker 2: the manufacturing of men's suits. They wanted to scale back fabricues. 169 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:19,760 Speaker 2: They created what Esquire magazine called streamlined suits. By Uncle Sam, 170 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:23,200 Speaker 2: it was yet another way to wear patriotism on your sleeve. 171 00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:28,880 Speaker 2: Slim was in. However, the demand for zoot suits didn't decline. 172 00:11:29,559 --> 00:11:34,000 Speaker 2: Bootleg tailors popped up. The defiance inherent in the style 173 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:38,640 Speaker 2: sharpened to a fine point. Young people continued to snap 174 00:11:38,679 --> 00:11:42,000 Speaker 2: them up and flaunt the ones they already owned. The 175 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:45,760 Speaker 2: refusal to give up the zoot suit infuriated many red blooded, 176 00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:49,760 Speaker 2: white skinned Americans, but this fury was nothing compared to 177 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:52,520 Speaker 2: what the newly enlisted soldiers felt when they arrived in 178 00:11:52,559 --> 00:11:56,320 Speaker 2: the city. As fifty thousand new military men on leave 179 00:11:56,559 --> 00:12:00,480 Speaker 2: poured into La every week, they often broke the long 180 00:12:00,559 --> 00:12:05,199 Speaker 2: standing invisible barriers between white LA residents and everyone else. 181 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:10,400 Speaker 2: This often involved harassment of all flavors and disruption of 182 00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:15,119 Speaker 2: local communities. The Mexican American community had been forced into segregation, 183 00:12:15,679 --> 00:12:18,600 Speaker 2: and they weren't about to allow these white servicemen to 184 00:12:18,679 --> 00:12:23,280 Speaker 2: invade the only places they could freely spend time. Almost 185 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:26,400 Speaker 2: every Mexican American in the LA area had family and 186 00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:29,880 Speaker 2: friends who had enlisted. The two groups shared a common 187 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:33,520 Speaker 2: enemy abroad, but at home they were pitted against one another. 188 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:37,720 Speaker 2: By May of nineteen forty three, tension in the Venice 189 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:42,320 Speaker 2: area had been mounting for months. Around sunset one Sunday, 190 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:46,160 Speaker 2: a police sergeant working security at a local ballroom overheard 191 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:48,880 Speaker 2: a group of high school boys talking about going to 192 00:12:48,960 --> 00:12:53,760 Speaker 2: confront the zoot Suitors. Some sailors standing nearby egged the man. 193 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:56,320 Speaker 2: They had heard a rumor that a sailor had been 194 00:12:56,360 --> 00:13:00,600 Speaker 2: stabbed near Lick Pierre. They didn't know by whom, necessarily, 195 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:06,080 Speaker 2: but assumptions were made. The zoot Suitors were a convenient target. 196 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:08,800 Speaker 2: The sergeant stepped in and urged the group to leave 197 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:11,960 Speaker 2: things to the police. He insisted that this was all 198 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:15,440 Speaker 2: a rumor, but at this point his words didn't matter. 199 00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:21,760 Speaker 2: Blood was boiling, common sense dissipated. This throbbing mob didn't care. 200 00:13:22,720 --> 00:13:26,559 Speaker 2: More people were joining by the minute. Nearby, a dance 201 00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:30,120 Speaker 2: was ending. A crush of Mexican American teenagers started to 202 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:32,880 Speaker 2: leave the ballroom, only to see a crowd of merely 203 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:36,320 Speaker 2: five hundred sailors and civilians being held off by one 204 00:13:36,480 --> 00:13:41,839 Speaker 2: lonely sergeant. It didn't look good. The teenagers saw a 205 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:45,560 Speaker 2: dangerous tidal wave of bodies and began to run. The 206 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:50,200 Speaker 2: mob made chase. Two more policemen arrived, hardly enough to 207 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:53,760 Speaker 2: dissuade a vengeful mob and found a brawl. They were 208 00:13:53,760 --> 00:13:57,240 Speaker 2: pulled into the seething undertow and beaten themselves. There was 209 00:13:57,240 --> 00:14:01,360 Speaker 2: no match for the bloodlust. This went on for hours. 210 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:05,640 Speaker 2: It spilled and sprawled until two am, when Harbor patrol 211 00:14:05,679 --> 00:14:09,240 Speaker 2: and the LAPD arrived and finally managed to scatter the rioters. 212 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:13,120 Speaker 2: It's hard to imagine what took so long, but then again, 213 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:18,760 Speaker 2: maybe it isn't. By daybreak, the casualties showed themselves. A 214 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:22,480 Speaker 2: number of Mexican American teens were badly beaten, and scores 215 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:27,200 Speaker 2: had been jailed for their own protection. This riot and 216 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:31,720 Speaker 2: the crowd control measures set a dangerous precedent. It was 217 00:14:31,800 --> 00:14:34,120 Speaker 2: clear that the police were prioritizing the rights of the 218 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:37,960 Speaker 2: invading soldiers over the local residents, a philosophy that would 219 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:43,360 Speaker 2: prove to have catastrophic results. Al Waxman, the editor of 220 00:14:43,400 --> 00:14:47,560 Speaker 2: a small Jewish newspaper, was losing sleep. He had been 221 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:50,640 Speaker 2: watching all of this unfold against the backdrop of the 222 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:55,560 Speaker 2: City of Angels, and what he saw confounded him. In 223 00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:58,040 Speaker 2: his office, he gathered some of the young men who 224 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:03,440 Speaker 2: had been attacked to ask them questions, why this, why now? 225 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:07,760 Speaker 2: He begged them to forget their differences with the military. 226 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:11,560 Speaker 2: The young men responded with questions of their own, and 227 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:16,040 Speaker 2: with that Al sobered up. Isn't it a free country? 228 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:19,200 Speaker 2: They asked? Why can't we wear whatever kinds of clothes 229 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:21,600 Speaker 2: we like? And why did we have to make the 230 00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:27,120 Speaker 2: sailors happy? The attacks were gaining momentum and the scenes 231 00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:30,240 Speaker 2: on the street were harrowing. Al was part of the 232 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:34,280 Speaker 2: media machine that worked to engineer and script these riots, 233 00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:38,840 Speaker 2: using racially charged headlines and inflammatory news reports to incite 234 00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:44,240 Speaker 2: further violence. The Los Angeles Times had just reported fresh 235 00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:46,760 Speaker 2: in the memory of Los Angeles is last year's surge 236 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:49,600 Speaker 2: of gang violence that made the zoot suit a badge 237 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:54,640 Speaker 2: of delinquency. Public indignation seethed as warfare among the organized 238 00:15:54,680 --> 00:15:57,800 Speaker 2: hands of marauders prowling the streets at night brought a 239 00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:03,160 Speaker 2: wave of assaults and finally murdered. Baked into these articles 240 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:06,800 Speaker 2: was a subtext the general public was being called to vigilance, 241 00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:09,680 Speaker 2: which was felt by many as a call to action. 242 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:14,400 Speaker 2: But Al was trying so hard from his small office 243 00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:19,160 Speaker 2: at this small paper to turn the tide al, and 244 00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:21,400 Speaker 2: the young men went over the details of the past 245 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:26,320 Speaker 2: few days, and they went something like this. On the 246 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:29,400 Speaker 2: night of May thirty, first of nineteen forty three, as 247 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:32,640 Speaker 2: the early summer's warmth and melted into twilight, a dozen 248 00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:36,280 Speaker 2: soldiers had been afoot. They were out carousing, as they 249 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:38,960 Speaker 2: often did when the day's work was done. At some 250 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:41,720 Speaker 2: point they spied a group of young Mexican American women 251 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:45,960 Speaker 2: across the street and decided to pay them pleasantries. But 252 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:49,280 Speaker 2: while most of the group crossed to the women Seamen's 253 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:52,920 Speaker 2: second class, Joe Dacy Coleman and a friend stayed behind. 254 00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:56,240 Speaker 2: It was then that a group of zoot suitors rounded 255 00:16:56,240 --> 00:17:00,080 Speaker 2: the corner and headed in their direction, and as they 256 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:04,360 Speaker 2: crossed paths, Coleman reached out, grabbed one of their arms 257 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:10,119 Speaker 2: and yanked. In a flash something someone had struck the 258 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:13,680 Speaker 2: back of Coleman's head and knocked him unconscious. The other 259 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:16,640 Speaker 2: servicemen ran back across the street and the two groups 260 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:21,320 Speaker 2: began to scrap. The military men, badly beaten, retreated and 261 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:26,159 Speaker 2: began to plot their next attack. The next evening, around 262 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:29,840 Speaker 2: six pm, around sixteen sailors got off a bus on 263 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:32,960 Speaker 2: Sunset Boulevard and began to walk north towards the US 264 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:36,600 Speaker 2: Naval Reserve Armory. Here they came across a group in 265 00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:40,040 Speaker 2: zoot suits who yelled at the troops and made rude gestures. 266 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:45,359 Speaker 2: The sailors decided to do something about it. Soon, a 267 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:49,120 Speaker 2: group of about fifty sailors armed with crude homespun clubs, 268 00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:53,160 Speaker 2: left the base and began marching toward downtown LA. They 269 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:55,560 Speaker 2: planned to strip the zoot suits off all the young 270 00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:58,920 Speaker 2: men they found wearing them in club anyone who resisted. 271 00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:03,760 Speaker 2: They found their first targets at the Carmen Theater, a 272 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:07,880 Speaker 2: spot known as a local Mexican American hangout. The mob 273 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:10,439 Speaker 2: burst in and flipped on the lights, stalking up the 274 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:16,520 Speaker 2: aisles looking for zoot suitors, and there they found them. 275 00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:19,080 Speaker 2: The boys who didn't run were dragged from the theater. 276 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:23,240 Speaker 2: Most were only twelve or thirteen years old. They were 277 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:27,080 Speaker 2: summarily stripped and beaten, their suits piled high and lit 278 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:31,040 Speaker 2: a flame on the sidewalk. Then the mob moved on 279 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:36,480 Speaker 2: a short distance away. At the Alpine Street School, twenty 280 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:39,320 Speaker 2: five young men, some dressed in zoot suits, were just 281 00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:43,720 Speaker 2: leaving a meeting spirits were high, but the mood quickly soured. 282 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:47,360 Speaker 2: They had just missed the sailors and soon came upon 283 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:52,359 Speaker 2: the bloody, smoldering aftermath of the Carmen Theater attack. The 284 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:56,439 Speaker 2: word quickly spread about what had happened. Around nine pm, 285 00:18:56,640 --> 00:18:59,520 Speaker 2: the Armory had been informed that servicemen were causing trouble. 286 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:05,119 Speaker 2: Nothing was done. Around eleven, when the sailors leave expired, 287 00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:08,200 Speaker 2: they were rounded up by the police. They were taken 288 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:10,840 Speaker 2: to the Central Police station and held until a superior 289 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:14,400 Speaker 2: officer sprung them a few hours later. No charges were filed. 290 00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:19,520 Speaker 2: The following night began like the previous one. Around nine pm, 291 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:22,679 Speaker 2: word reached the Armory that zoot suitors who kidnapped a 292 00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:25,679 Speaker 2: group of sailors and were holding them hostage on Main Street. 293 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:31,040 Speaker 2: This was false, completely made up, but it was enough 294 00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:36,080 Speaker 2: to entice another roving mob of servicemen to rally. When 295 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:38,480 Speaker 2: they didn't find anyone there, the leaders of the mob 296 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:42,440 Speaker 2: decided to take the fight to the zoot suitors. They 297 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:45,320 Speaker 2: called the Yellow Cab Company and explained what they wanted. 298 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:49,720 Speaker 2: The company happily obliged, and a caravan of taxis appeared. 299 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:56,520 Speaker 2: The servicemen invaded the nearest Mexican American businesses. The lieutenant 300 00:19:56,600 --> 00:19:59,760 Speaker 2: on watch for the night, Karl T. Cobbs, received phone 301 00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:04,159 Speaker 2: call from concerned onlookers, but though the calls continued to 302 00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:09,560 Speaker 2: roll in, Karl ignored them. Finally, he sent four men 303 00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:13,320 Speaker 2: down to check out the situation. Allegedly, they couldn't find 304 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:17,959 Speaker 2: anything amiss. LA Shore Patrol apparently had better luck and 305 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:22,879 Speaker 2: arrested twenty six offending sailors. Carl continued to ignore phone 306 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:27,120 Speaker 2: calls throughout the night. Rumors spread about suited gangs rather 307 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:31,840 Speaker 2: than gangs of violent roaming sailors. Soon, other military men 308 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:34,639 Speaker 2: stationed around La headed in to pick up where the 309 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:39,920 Speaker 2: armory soldiers had left off. The third night brought further violence, 310 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:44,399 Speaker 2: some of the worst of it. Scores of servicemen began 311 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:47,760 Speaker 2: marching through the streets of downtown La, accosting everyone in 312 00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:50,800 Speaker 2: a zoot suit, and they didn't draw the line there. 313 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:54,840 Speaker 2: When a group of Mexican and Mexican American musicians left 314 00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:57,600 Speaker 2: a local record studio, they were attacked by a gang 315 00:20:57,600 --> 00:21:02,920 Speaker 2: of sailors. Not one had been wearing Zoot's suit that night. 316 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:07,720 Speaker 2: The police responded. The LAPD called in every available officer 317 00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:11,640 Speaker 2: for riot detail, but instead of dealing with the sailors, 318 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:15,760 Speaker 2: the police arrested the injured civilians, allegedly for their own protection. 319 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:20,720 Speaker 2: Leaders of the Mexican American community begged local and state 320 00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:24,280 Speaker 2: officials to do something. The Council for Latin American Youth 321 00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:27,600 Speaker 2: even sent a telegram to President Franklin D. Roosevelt begging 322 00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:32,760 Speaker 2: him to intervene, but they got no response. As dawn came, 323 00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:37,960 Speaker 2: the newspapers continued to revel Editors ran headlines claiming that 324 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:42,520 Speaker 2: suitors were ready to kill every cop they saw. Two 325 00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:47,120 Speaker 2: papers reported that seven hundred grotesquely clad hoodlums Rome lay 326 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:50,359 Speaker 2: bent on the common purpose of engaging in battle with servicemen. 327 00:21:52,160 --> 00:21:56,200 Speaker 2: The papers planted details of the purportedly planned attacks, giving 328 00:21:56,320 --> 00:22:01,280 Speaker 2: times and coordinates to readers. As a result, thousands of 329 00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:04,720 Speaker 2: other servicemen were given the chance to make plans, rally 330 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:08,800 Speaker 2: and show up. Back in Waxman's office, news of more 331 00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:13,120 Speaker 2: rioting servicemen reached Al and his company. He would later 332 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:16,160 Speaker 2: describe a terrible change that came over the young men, 333 00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:19,479 Speaker 2: who looked at each other in total exhaustion as they 334 00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:24,720 Speaker 2: began making plans to rescue their friends. Al followed the 335 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:27,640 Speaker 2: boys down to the scene at Main Street, he saw 336 00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:31,359 Speaker 2: servicemen beating and kicking people who could barely fight back. 337 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:34,320 Speaker 2: He watched police arrive on the scene and begin arresting 338 00:22:34,359 --> 00:22:38,600 Speaker 2: more Mexican Americans. He witnessed piles of zootsuits being burned 339 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:43,120 Speaker 2: and boys stripped, naked and beaten. When one young man 340 00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:46,280 Speaker 2: asked why he was being arrested, a policeman savagely clubbed 341 00:22:46,359 --> 00:22:50,120 Speaker 2: him with a nightstick. He collapsed unconscious and was subsequently 342 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:54,119 Speaker 2: booted in the face. His mother, clutching an infant in 343 00:22:54,160 --> 00:22:56,720 Speaker 2: her arms, rushed up to the police and begged the 344 00:22:56,720 --> 00:23:00,280 Speaker 2: officers not to arrest her son. In response, the police 345 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:02,879 Speaker 2: officer turned around and hit her across the face with 346 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:08,520 Speaker 2: his nightstick. Rushing back to the east side, Al Waxman 347 00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:11,760 Speaker 2: found a second mob of riders stopping street cars and 348 00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:15,880 Speaker 2: dragging off anyone who was black or brown. The riders 349 00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:20,040 Speaker 2: crashed through bars and shops looking for pachucos, and through 350 00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:24,040 Speaker 2: it all Al saw the police silently stand by watching 351 00:23:24,119 --> 00:23:28,800 Speaker 2: the mob. Finally, at eleven thirty that night, the mob 352 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:31,879 Speaker 2: began to break up and police moved in to arrest 353 00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:37,200 Speaker 2: the remaining Mexican Americans. Morning came and people on both 354 00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:42,680 Speaker 2: sides retreated, though tensions continued to sporadically flare. That night 355 00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:46,560 Speaker 2: had been the worst of it. Instead of taking action 356 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:50,680 Speaker 2: on the servicemen, the Los Angeles City Council did something else. 357 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:56,199 Speaker 2: They passed a resolution banning zoot suits, declaring them to 358 00:23:56,240 --> 00:24:02,480 Speaker 2: be a public nuisance. Local and stated investigations began almost immediately. 359 00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:05,960 Speaker 2: The FBI even came to town, though this was to 360 00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:11,040 Speaker 2: rule out the involvement of foreign agents. Shockingly, no one 361 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:14,840 Speaker 2: was killed in the week long riots. But ten days 362 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:18,080 Speaker 2: after the conclusion of the violence in La massive race 363 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:23,560 Speaker 2: riots against black people exploded in Detroit. There the riots 364 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:27,359 Speaker 2: were even more violent. In the end, twenty three people 365 00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:30,760 Speaker 2: were killed and five hundred and thirty injured and thirteen 366 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:35,400 Speaker 2: hundred arrested. Similar riots would soon break out in Philadelphia 367 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:39,439 Speaker 2: and Chicago as well. A Citizens Committee was appointed by 368 00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:42,600 Speaker 2: the California Governor to investigate the cause of these collective 369 00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:45,240 Speaker 2: riots and recommend how to prevent them in the future. 370 00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:50,359 Speaker 2: The committee's report found that in undertaking to deal with 371 00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:53,840 Speaker 2: the cause of these outbreaks, the existence of race prejudice 372 00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:58,560 Speaker 2: cannot be ignored. The Sleepy Lagoon convictions, which had drummed 373 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:01,720 Speaker 2: up fears of the Patuco gang were re examined in 374 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:05,560 Speaker 2: the wake of those few days in June. In October 375 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:09,040 Speaker 2: of nineteen forty four, the State Court of Appeals unanimously 376 00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:12,320 Speaker 2: decided the evidence in the case hadn't been sufficient and 377 00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:17,880 Speaker 2: reversed the guilty verdict. All twelve defendant's convictions were exonerated, 378 00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:21,040 Speaker 2: and the appeals court went so far as to criticize 379 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:23,639 Speaker 2: the clear bias of the judge in the original trial. 380 00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:28,840 Speaker 2: It would take the country a long time to realize 381 00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:32,080 Speaker 2: that it wasn't these particular clothes nor the people who 382 00:25:32,119 --> 00:25:36,200 Speaker 2: wore them, that were to blame for this violence. Clothes 383 00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:39,560 Speaker 2: make the man, they say, but they can also be 384 00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:47,200 Speaker 2: his or her undoing. There's more to this story. Stick 385 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:49,960 Speaker 2: around after this brief sponsor break to hear all about it. 386 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:58,240 Speaker 2: Jackie flexed his hands, grabbed his bat, and strode to 387 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:00,920 Speaker 2: the plate. But he couldn't hit his mind off of 388 00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:04,840 Speaker 2: the letters, the stacks and stacks of them. They had 389 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:07,919 Speaker 2: been arriving at his house for weeks now, envelopes and 390 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:12,440 Speaker 2: telegrams postmarked from all over the country. Their tone was 391 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:17,600 Speaker 2: a departure from his usual fan mail. Instead fans, politicians, 392 00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:21,640 Speaker 2: and reporters all had something to say. In their words, 393 00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:26,840 Speaker 2: troubled him. Jackie Robinson put both hands on his bat 394 00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:30,200 Speaker 2: and locked eyes with the pitcher. It was Opening Day 395 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:33,320 Speaker 2: of nineteen forty nine and the Brooklyn Dodgers were playing 396 00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:36,840 Speaker 2: the New York Giants. Jackie had fought his way here, 397 00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:40,760 Speaker 2: making waves in the Jim Crow world. He was the 398 00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:43,760 Speaker 2: first black person to play in the major leagues, breaking 399 00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:46,320 Speaker 2: the color line that had existed since the creation of 400 00:26:46,359 --> 00:26:50,520 Speaker 2: professional baseball. In doing so, he had become a hero, 401 00:26:51,359 --> 00:26:55,640 Speaker 2: but he had also become target. In the years following 402 00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:59,520 Speaker 2: World War Two, America went through some serious growing pains, 403 00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:03,720 Speaker 2: largely centered on ideas about what was and wasn't American, 404 00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:07,560 Speaker 2: and since few things were considered to be more American 405 00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:12,080 Speaker 2: than a baseball uniform, all eyes were on Jackie. Some 406 00:27:12,359 --> 00:27:15,680 Speaker 2: questioned whether he deserved to wear it, not only because 407 00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:18,920 Speaker 2: of his skin color, but because of his personal politics. 408 00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:22,800 Speaker 2: Robinson's boss, branch Rickey, had received a call from a 409 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:26,159 Speaker 2: man named Alvin Stokes, an investigator for the House on 410 00:27:26,280 --> 00:27:33,040 Speaker 2: American Activities Committee. He wanted a word with Robinson. Communism 411 00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:36,560 Speaker 2: was the threat du jour, and Americans felt it imperative 412 00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:40,000 Speaker 2: that they take a stand on the home front. The 413 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:44,200 Speaker 2: House and American Activities Committee was charged with investigating alleged 414 00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:48,119 Speaker 2: disloyalty and subversive activities on the part of private citizens, 415 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:52,639 Speaker 2: public employees, and those organizations suspected of having fascist or 416 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:57,399 Speaker 2: communist ties by the late nineteen forties. Being called to 417 00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:03,040 Speaker 2: testify before the Committee could destroy someone's life. Stokes was 418 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:06,520 Speaker 2: a black man himself and all too familiar with navigating 419 00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:09,600 Speaker 2: a country that was built by his ancestors but never 420 00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:13,080 Speaker 2: meant for him. He knew that it was only a 421 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:15,919 Speaker 2: matter of time before the committee's full attention shifted to 422 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:19,239 Speaker 2: the black community, especially with the recent pushes for an 423 00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:24,080 Speaker 2: end to segregation. He believed that it was important for 424 00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:28,040 Speaker 2: black celebrities to preemptively testify before the committee in order 425 00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:32,760 Speaker 2: to remain in good standing. Stokes convinced Ricky that Robinson 426 00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:35,919 Speaker 2: going to testify as a friendly witness would benefit not 427 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:40,960 Speaker 2: only him personally, but his team as well. The risk 428 00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:44,600 Speaker 2: was this, if word got out that the Dodgers were 429 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:48,520 Speaker 2: refusing to cooperate, not only would the organization be in trouble, 430 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:52,240 Speaker 2: but the great experiment of integrating baseball would be doomed. 431 00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:56,360 Speaker 2: Jackie's career might be over just as it was getting started. 432 00:28:57,320 --> 00:29:00,160 Speaker 2: And at that very moment, as Jackie was up to 433 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:03,280 Speaker 2: back calculating his next move in both the angle of 434 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:06,960 Speaker 2: his swing and whether to cooperate, another ball was in play. 435 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:11,400 Speaker 2: Across the ocean in Paris, a speech was happening that 436 00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:15,200 Speaker 2: would weigh heavily on what happened next. Black singer and 437 00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:19,440 Speaker 2: civil rights activist Paul Robeson was giving a speech. He 438 00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:23,160 Speaker 2: himself was a phenomenal athlete, a brilliant thinker, and a 439 00:29:23,280 --> 00:29:27,920 Speaker 2: lum of Columbia Law School, and a talented entertainer. He 440 00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:31,360 Speaker 2: was extremely popular, but his outspokenness on behalf of black 441 00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:34,840 Speaker 2: people had made him a lot of enemies. The House 442 00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:37,920 Speaker 2: on American Activities Committee had long been waiting for an 443 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:42,680 Speaker 2: excuse to drag him in to testify. Paul told the 444 00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:45,280 Speaker 2: crowd that Americans would hesitate to go to war on 445 00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:49,239 Speaker 2: behalf of a country that treated them so badly. In 446 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:55,080 Speaker 2: that cultural moment, the statement was tenemount to treason. Paul 447 00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:57,800 Speaker 2: and Jackie knew each other and had been facing similar 448 00:29:57,840 --> 00:30:02,080 Speaker 2: battles trying to break into wide establishment. However, Paul was 449 00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:06,440 Speaker 2: outspoken in his liberal beliefs. Some of his comments troubled Jackie, 450 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:11,280 Speaker 2: who tended towards conservatism. However, he was also troubled by 451 00:30:11,280 --> 00:30:13,640 Speaker 2: the idea that he could be pitted against and used 452 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:18,800 Speaker 2: to bring down a fellow reformer. Jackie struggled to decide 453 00:30:18,840 --> 00:30:22,520 Speaker 2: whether or not he should testify. He hadn't been subpoenaed, 454 00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:25,720 Speaker 2: but it would look very bad if he didn't appear Voluntarily. 455 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:30,600 Speaker 2: The pressure mounted, and more letters came. Jackie made his decision. 456 00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:35,200 Speaker 2: On the morning of July eighteenth of nineteen forty nine, 457 00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:40,120 Speaker 2: Jackie Robinson arrived in Washington, d C. To testify. Dressed 458 00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:43,720 Speaker 2: in a sharp, tanned, slim tailored suit, Jackie made a 459 00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:47,000 Speaker 2: striking figure as he cut through popping flashbulbs and cheering 460 00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:51,520 Speaker 2: crowds to the courtroom, and there he stood behind the 461 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:54,600 Speaker 2: heavy wooden table and raised his right hand to take 462 00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:59,360 Speaker 2: the oath. If Robinson was nervous, he didn't show it. 463 00:31:00,160 --> 00:31:03,840 Speaker 2: He delivered his testimony calmly and with little flare, trying 464 00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:06,600 Speaker 2: very hard not to be pulled into a feud with Paul. 465 00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:10,240 Speaker 2: He used his time before the committee and the press wisely. 466 00:31:10,760 --> 00:31:13,000 Speaker 2: Jackie told the court that though he was an expert 467 00:31:13,040 --> 00:31:15,600 Speaker 2: at living as a black person in America. Quote with 468 00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:18,920 Speaker 2: thirty years experience at it, it was silly to believe 469 00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:22,160 Speaker 2: that any one man could speak for fifteen million people. 470 00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:26,400 Speaker 2: He went on to use the spotlight to contest racism 471 00:31:26,600 --> 00:31:30,280 Speaker 2: and advocate for integration. He made it clear that black 472 00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:34,680 Speaker 2: people's protests for social justice didn't come from a communist conspiracy, 473 00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:39,960 Speaker 2: but from their faith in the democratic system. When Robinson 474 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:43,920 Speaker 2: finished his testimony, the room erupted with applause. It might 475 00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:46,720 Speaker 2: have felt like a small victory, but the moment didn't 476 00:31:46,800 --> 00:31:50,640 Speaker 2: last long. Paul would go on to be blacklisted from 477 00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:55,080 Speaker 2: mainstream theaters and concert venues. His records were banned from stores, 478 00:31:55,560 --> 00:31:59,920 Speaker 2: the FBI confiscated his passport. Effectively, he was a race 479 00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:04,760 Speaker 2: from public life. Jackie would later look back on the 480 00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:08,360 Speaker 2: decision with a lot of personal regret, but he did 481 00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:11,160 Speaker 2: the best he could in that moment with what information 482 00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:14,360 Speaker 2: he had available. He would continue on for years to 483 00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:17,960 Speaker 2: wear that baseball uniform a symbol of hope, a symbol 484 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:22,640 Speaker 2: of progress, and for him and so many black children everywhere, 485 00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:24,800 Speaker 2: a symbol of resistance. 486 00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:34,120 Speaker 1: American Shadows as hosted by Lauren Vogelbaum. This episode was 487 00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:38,000 Speaker 1: written by Robin Minitter, researched by Ali Stead and produced 488 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:42,400 Speaker 1: by Miranda Hawkins and Trevor Young, with executive producers Aaron Mankey, 489 00:32:42,640 --> 00:32:46,160 Speaker 1: Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. To learn more about the show, 490 00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:50,800 Speaker 1: visit grimminmile dot com. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit 491 00:32:50,840 --> 00:32:59,200 Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 492 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:01,080 Speaker 1: Four