ANTI-RACISM DAILY

June 9, 2024

Weekend Edition

In the News

Last week, four hostages were rescued in an attack referred to as a “massacre” which killed an estimated 274 people (The Guardian). The events were likely comforting news to Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who’s facing increased pressure both internal leaders and allies to reduce the scope of violence in Gaza and Israeli far-right government members fighting against proposed ceasefire strategies (The New Arab).

As this current round of conflict hits its eight-month mark, here’s how you can continue to rally for a permanent ceasefire and honor the dignity and liberation that Palestinian people so desperately deserve. Here are some resources that can help.

Don’t ignore Israel’s ‘ecocide’.
Just as we cannot turn away from the human rights crisis unfolding in Gaza, we must not overlook the intrinsic connection between environmental degradation and justice. Prism >

How to support Palestinians? Boycott, divest from, and sanction Israel.
Sumaya Awad of the Adalah Justice Project explains BDS, its urgency, and why it is essential for ending Israel’s policies of genocide and apartheid. Forge Organizing >

Why the uncanny “All eyes on Rafah” image went so viral.
In the wake of another deadly attack by Israel, a seemingly AI-generated image has circulated on Instagram Stories. Vox >

In Gaza, a hidden threat could kill Palestinians even after a cease-fire.
The United Nations says 7500 metric tons of unexploded ordnance litter the Gaza Strip. The U.N. says it could take 14 years to dispose of. NPR >

Take Action

1. Give to families directly who are trying to escape.

   • Help Muhammad and his family to survive the Gaza war

   • Help me & my family to leave Gaza

2. Follow the work of Operation Olive Branch, which is mobilizing people on how to share fundraisers and rally their communities effectively.

3. Use the latest actions from the BDS Movement to rally against the violence.

4. Join an upcoming protest in a city near you.

5. Read “The Hundred Years' War on Palestine” by Rashid Khalidi with us in Banned Books Book Club.

In the News

Biden administration’s border closure plan sparks concerns over humanitarian crisis. Immigration advocates say that summarily expelling asylum-seekers violates international law and exposes vulnerable individuals to heightened risks. Prism >

Will women voters care about Trump’s conviction?
Trump’s criminal trial was filled with reminders of how he treats women — and how the campaign didn’t want women voters to know about Stormy Daniels’ allegations in 2016. 19th News >

‘How did we miss this for so long?’: The link between extreme heat and preterm birth. Heat waves are making pregnancy more dangerous and exacerbating existing maternal health disparities. 19th News >

Removing race from tests for lung disease could benefit millions of Black Americans. A new study shows that hundreds of thousands more Black people in the U.S. would qualify for a lung disease diagnosis and disability payments if lung function measurements weren’t adjusted for race. Scientific American >

Angel Reese urged the press to review the “double standard” she’s facing. They did. She was right. Reese, a Black WNBA player, has been consistently villainized in the media since the start of her career. This article breaks down the disparities. Sporting News >

These disabled people tried to play by the rules. It cost them their federal benefits.
The rules regarding Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, has become a forgotten safety net that keeps many of its recipients stuck in poverty. NPR >

Inside the Battle to Preserve ‘Black Wall Street’.
Establishing Greenwood as a protected landmark, advocates say, would honor a community that was lost to a racist massacre. Capital B News >

New Workshops

Our upcoming workshops put the lessons in this newsletter into practice. Flexible enrollment, group plans, and discounts for cause-centric organizations are available.

This Day in History

The Zoot Suit riots of June 1943

In early June 1943, a mob of white servicemen went on a multi-day rampage throughout Los Angeles. Thousands of the soldiers, sailors, and Marines tasked with defending American democracy beat, stripped, and mutilated Mexican American, Black, and Filipino youth at random, enraged by their allegedly unpatriotic attire. The Zoot Suit Riots were a shameful episode in U.S. history. Similar forms of oppression and resistance continue to the present day. 

Zoot suits were loose-fitting suits popularized by the dance halls of the 1930s Harlem Renaissance. They were adopted by Mexican American pachucos in Los Angeles who witnessed the zoot suits of touring Black musicians (KCET). For working-class Black and Brown young men to wear such luxurious attire had “profound political meaning,” in the words of author Ralph Ellison (Smithsonian). But white society saw the zoot suit as a sign of criminality, with the Los Angeles Times calling it a “badge of delinquency” worn by “organized bands of marauders” in an article published days before the riots. Pachucos “were increasingly viewed by affluent whites as menacing street thugs, gang members and rebellious juvenile delinquents” (History). 

Since oversized zoot suits violated wartime fabric rationing, mainstream white society painted zoot suit wearers as unpatriotic. And pachucos wearing zoot suits were portrayed as draft dodgers, though many were exempt as minors. A conflict between Mexican American youth and a white sailor on May 31, 1943 was all it took to unleash the violence. On June 3, 50 sailors stormed through downtown Los Angeles with improvised weapons, hunting for people wearing zoot suits (History). By June 7, thousands of military members and white civilians were rioting across the city. Black, Mexican American, and Filipino men wearing zoot suits were attacked and stripped naked in the street. Police officers permitted the violence before arresting the victims. People of color who weren’t wearing zoot suits were also targeted, like a Black man returning from work whose eye was cut out by a white mob. 

According to one witness: 

“On Monday evening, June seventh, thousands of Angelenos … turned out for a mass lynching. Marching through the streets of downtown Los Angeles, a mob of several thousand soldiers, sailors, and civilians, proceeded to beat up every zoot-suiter they could find. Street cars were halted while Mexicans, and some Filipinos and Negroes, were jerked out of their seats, pushed into the streets, and beaten with sadistic frenzy” (History). 

On June 10, 1943, soldiers were finally recalled to their barracks, ending the riots. But there were similar racist zoot suit riots in Philadelphia, Chicago, and Detroit that year (History). And attacking communities of color by associating clothing with criminality never stopped. Sagging pants, clothing of certain colors, bandanas, and jerseys are banned in bars and nightclubs through policies seemingly only enforced against Black or Brown patrons (NPR, Portland Mercury). Black students are forced out of school by policies that categorize dreadlocks or braided extensions as “distractions” (Vox). Police try to justify murders by saying that their targets “looked like” gang members.  

Zoot suits were scapegoated as unpatriotic waste during wartime rationing. Today, the poor are shamed for being poor and for not acting poor enough, especially if they’re Black or Brown. Conservatives circulate horror stories of food stamp recipients having the audacity to buy expensive food with their EBT cards (Huffington Post). Rebellious protesters who took electronics from storefronts during the summer of 2020 were criticized for not, instead, looting pantry staples like proper poor people (NPR). These critics pretended to be unaware that a free-market economy allows people to sell electronics and use the proceeds to then purchase food.

But we should all have access to beauty and luxury. Zoot suits were political because they were opulent clothing created by and for Black and Brown youth in a racist power structure that saw them only as potential laborers or criminals. Poor people claiming space for creativity, self-expression, and luxury remains a political and subversive act. We can honor the legacy of those persecuted in the Zoot Suit Riots by rejecting racist and classist regulations, norms, and ideas. 

Written by Andrew Lee (he/him)

What We Published Last Week

Stop the exploitation of incarcerated individuals in reality television.
Vidal Guzman help us understand how the media helps normalize the horrors of mass incarceration. Read >

Rally against pinkwashing.
How the guise of LGBTQ+ rights are being weaponized in the conflict against Palestinians. Read >

Learn the history of “wade-ins”.
How protests for access to public pools and beaches were part of the Civil Rights Movement. Read >

June Book Club

Join our June book club and read “Everything and Nothing at Once” by Joél Leon! We’re discussing the book all month long on Patreon and gathering virtually on Monday, July 1.

That’s all for this week! Thanks for reading. If you learned something new and want to keep this space going,

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