Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness a phrase known throughout American history, had diminutive meaning to the Mexican American population, until after the turn of World War II. Great debate would have it that there was a vast difference in the treatment of the Mexican American population, before, during and after events such as The Great Depression, World War II, and even with the Presidential elections of both John F. Kennedy and the Great Society advocate himself Lyndon Baines Johnson. This essay is an attempt to grapple occurrences such as the Sleepy Lagoon case, the infamous Zoot Suit Riots case in which more than 17 Mexican American youth were fraudulently accused of committing a heinous crime, the Mendez case in which a father fought valiantly not only his daughters rights to attend a desegregated school system, but the rights of every Mexican American born citizen to have the same. With the emergence and development of advocate groups such as MALDEF, LULAC and the American G.I. Forum, sometime after the year of 1945 the Mexican American population began to see value in their life from a new perspective. Although countless opportunities would arise for the Chicano population, tension with law enforcement seemed to be at an all time high. During the years of 1942, tempers flared as 17 Chicano youth were accused of first-degree murder of a young Mexican American boy. Race and bias would prove to be more than the defense could handle, as the accused were not allowed a change of clothes to upkeep their appearance, or even haircuts for grooming. The influence the media and printing press had and its ability to sway and garner viewers attention, worked against the accused, as many were convicted of a crime they did not commit. Discrimination, inequality, and stereotypes were nothing new to the Mexican American population, so when a fight broke in May of 1943, between several servicemen and the Chicano youth (wearing what would later be called zoot suits) a different type of war was beginning to evolve. Being labeled as such criminals and bandits wearing the zoot suits did nothing but heighten the stigma often associated with Mexican Americans, s