Pachucos Emergence of a Culture and Future
... In addition to the tensions brought upon by the reverence to servicemen, Mexican-Americans were forced to choose between American assimilation and the Mexican culture of their past—with neither side offering full acceptance. The isolation felt by Mexican youth forged an objective to create a culture of separate and distinct actions and beliefs that incorporated a new zoot-suit or pachuco lifestyle. ... The lifestyle of a zoot-suiter, and consequently the outbreak of the riots, was a historical statement against the expectations imposed on Mexican-Americans by the dominant white culture. To combat racial segregation and cultural insensitivity, the zoot-suit/pachuco movement was initiated and succeeded in defining a distinct cultural outlet for Mexican-American youth—one that served to contest and criticize mainstream isolation of Mexican culture and population through the use of personal expression as resistance. ... In Mexican society, these pachucos or zoot-suiters were seen as caricatures of the American while many in the United States found the pachuco to be the proof of Mexican degeneracy . The Pachuco identity was comprised of both elements taken from native Mexican and American culture—and reflected a style which was unique from either. ... Many of the pachucos of the 1940s era, in addition to English and Spanish, used the Caló language—a deeply rooted gypsy tongue of Old Spain brought to the New World by conquistadores. ... The use of interchanging languages allowed the Mexican-American to blend their native tongue with a dominant English-language culture . ... One concept, second generation Mexican-Americans used to challenge the expectations of the overruling society, was the exchange of an old and familiarly rejected culture for one of completely different outlook. ... During the early 1940s, when pachuco culture grew in popularity, much was being done domestically for the war effort, especially on making material sacrifices. ... ” To white American observers, the suit was overly challenging of the hegemony of the dominant culture. The apparel custom severed ties between Mexican-American pachucos and traditional American men’s attire—essentially depleting respect and support from much of the American public. ... What created even greater problems for these second generation Mexican-American pachucos was their deviance from the American ideal of the serviceman, a group they proudly separated themselves from. ... Though digressing from the American Ideal of servicemen, the pachucos still retained certain similarities to American customs. ... The pachucos, as Octavio Paz stated are, “Instinctive Rebels, and North American racism had vented its wrath on them more than once. ... The treatment of Mexicans in the United States became a topic of great attention among Mexican-Americans as a whole, not only pachucos. ... Undeniably, it was very difficult for Mexican-Americans to willingly consider assimilation to a culture which failed to see their achievements—but instead, promoted false stories of criminal involvement. ... The pachucos and their cultural lifestyle clearly attracted attention, quite often a negative type. ... The establishment of the pachuco culture during the World War II years is no different. ... These pachucos succeeded in creating a life for themselves outside of the public and private restrictions forced upon them.