Article Review

            The Pachuca Panic is an article authored by Elizabeth R. Escobedo which explores a study on individual, familial and communal impasses that were caused during the World War II by the Pachuca people (Escobedo, 2007). The author showed how the womanhood racism was created as an identity for female Mexican Americans. Here is how the Pachucas responded to the World War II in Los Angeles.

            The article shows how the Mexican women dangerously demanded restraint from their counterparts in the United States regardless of their being Second-class citizens. It starts as Amelia Venegas reacting as she witnessed the police officers harassing the zoot suiters group. When she was arrested she was also found with brass knuckles which confirmed that the Mexican American women were (Escobedo, 2007). Venegas was used to feature how the Mexican Americans were becoming a menace in Los Angeles. Changes had occurred among the Mexican American women where they had adopted a new youth culture which did reject both the American culture and the traditional Mexican culture. These women were known as zoot suiters and through their rebellious fashion; they represented debate for a need for social change.

            The Pachucas were associated and likened to many evil doings as asserted by various viewers. According to the contemporary observers, Pachuca was to be identified through her controversial and behavior (Escobedo, 2007). Here look was described by a one juvenile authority as neat but with plucked eyebrows, black socks, short skirts and high pompadour. The Spanish language daily also lamented about the immoral appearance of the Pachucas. It compared the young women to prostitutes and their male counterparts as pimps. The English language press referred them as hyper-sexed degenerates. The newspaper emphasized that the Pachuca gangs were also involved in weird sexual activities that led to their infection with venereal diseases (Escobedo, 2007). According to the news still, the gang girls would give themselves to boys freely and if they did not like the boys, they would gang attack.

            According to the author, she asserted that the young Mexican American women were recognized as elements of the gang menace when they plagued the city streets. They did this after they found a young Mexican man called Jose Diaz dead near the Sleepy Lagoon. There were around six hundred youths involved in the scandal (Escobedo, 2007). This kind of involvement of these young women in scandal shocked the entire population at that time. I dislike the way this young women went about their notorious kind of demonstration. To the extent that they could involve themselves in immoral acts, formed gang attacks, and caused disruption to families (Escobedo, 2007). However I liked the way these women were courageous regardless of their being second class citizens. In addition they showed a spirit of solidarity. To make her work strong, the author could discuss in detail how the people of America responded towards this character of resistance by the Pachuca. This article is majorly addressed to scholars who need to explore the western history on war time and the Mexican culture. This article can also help us understand the California ethnic war. The article expands our knowledge of race identity and community.  It shows how the daily practices can be viewed as cultural experiences just like in the California Ethnic history. The article supports the aspect of competing vision because of the existence of varying cultures.

Conclusion

            This article is important to learners who would like to explore more on how the Pachuca responded towards the World War II. It gives a number of behaviors that the Pachuca group was involved in and how the population reacted against showing which also a lesson to the public in that the people reading can learn how to behave in the society in order to create peace. In addition to this article, we can also refer to Orson Welles war, the story of my teeth.

Reference

Escobedo R. Elizabeth, (2007). The Pachuca Panic: sexual and cultural battlegrounds in World War II Los Angeles. Published by Western Historical Quarterly, Utah State University.