The Low Rider Ritual: Social Mobility On Wheels

Abstract

During the course of the Second World War, America was confronted by the social evolution of a subcultural phenomenon emanating from the depths of the inner city, and characterized by highly distinctive modes of dress, behavior, and speech. "Pachuquismo," as known among Mexican-American youth "gangs" of the Los Angeles area of southern California, was described by George C. Barker (1950:8) as being characterized by highly discreet social variables, of which age, sex, and socio-economic factors were considered of particular relevance. Accordingly, Barker (1950:15) noted that "there is a strong trend among the younger Mexican-Americans to glamorize the pachucos —- or to see them as a type of beloved vagabond or Robin Hood," and furthermore "the jargon borrowed by the pachucos from the El Paso-Juarez underworld has become an important part of colloquial slang or jive talk, and thus has come to symbolize the ways and attitudes of the pachucos and of Mexican-American youth in general."