Twenty-five years ago this week, Chinese-American Vincent Chin was murdered. Who is Vincent Chin you ask? Vincent Chin was a draftsman who was bludgeoned to death 25 years ago in Highland Park, Michigan by two men who blamed Japanese carmakers for the demise of the U.S. auto industry (and thought incorrectly, like as if that would make things right, that Chin was Japanese-American instead of Chinese-American). To many in America, Asian-Americans are all the same. Chin was celebrating his bachelor party at a topless bar on June 19, 1982 and was beaten by two displaced
autoworkers, Ronald Ebens and his stepson Michael Nitz. As The Detroit Free press goes on to describe in “Fighting hate, 25 years later“:
The men reportedly mistook Chin for Japanese and blamed him for their unemployment. The men later tracked Chin down at a nearby McDonald’s parking lot, where Ebens admitted to repeatedly bashing Chin’s skull with a baseball bat. Chin was buried the day after he was to be married.
The two later pleaded guilty to manslaughter, sentenced to three years of probation. Rightfully so, there was an outcry of injustice by Asian-American organizations and civil rights groups and the Department of Justice ordered an investigation to see if Chin’s civil rights were violated (you think?). Ebens was found guilty by a federal court jury in 1984 of violating Chin’s civil rights and sentenced to 25 years in prison (Nitz was acquitted). BUT, get this, the decision was overturned two years later after it was proven that a witness was (illegally) coached. There was a retrial and Ebens was cleared of ALL charges!
This was the first modern day hate crime murder of an Asian-American to be nationally covered and considered a seminal event in Asian-American history, uniting disparate groups of Asian-Americans. In 1987, there was an Oscar nominated film released titled “Who Killed Vincent Chin” I think I recall first learning about Vincent Chin in a 60 Minutes piece on the events and feeling outraged and revulsion that those who had killed Chin had gotten away with murder. That makes you wonder – what is the value of an Asian-American’s life in America?
May we all take a moment of silence to remember Vincent Chin twenty five years – may he rest in peace.
Asian Pacific Americans for Progress is sponsoring a “town hall” event on Vincent Chin & hate crimes in San Francisco on June 27th.
What next?
Other posts you may be interested in:
Recent Comments
- ABC’s Modern Family: “I’m from Denver.”
- Jae Young: I love how when I told my coworkers that it enrages me when people ask “Where are you from?”...
- Rachel Lee: Asian Teens Behaving Badly
- Asians Behaving Badly: Japanese American Woman Sues Because Crunch Berries Aren’t Real Berries
- Jake: Nips? Flipz? How about someone take one for the team and sue those racist confectioners for products that...
- Newsflash: Some Asian Men Cheat on their Partners
- Hip Hip Hooray for MVP Hideki Matsui
- Simon Tsui: Hip hip hurry for Hideki Matsui! A lot of people question whether someone else deserved being MVP,...
7 Comments to “In memory of Vincent Chin – twenty five years later”
Jane Chin wrote:
The American Consciousness will be forever saddled with “The Rodney King Incident”. Yet –
Vincent who?
There is much more focus on Asian Americans being a “model” citizen than as targets of hate crimes.
Damned if you assimilate, damned if you don’t.
Posted on 20-Jun-07 at 7:37 am | Permalink
Akrypti wrote:
Having always been involved in the API-activist social circles, I thought the Vincent Chin case held the same notoriety as, say, the Rodney King beating. Apparently, that’s a negative.
Recently I asked my s/o (significant other) about the Vincent Chin case and he drew a blank. He never heard of Vincent Chin. Ever. The name and the situation didn’t even sound familiar to him. And he’s an Asian American.
On a less severe note, I wonder where his fiancee then-soon-to-be-wife is nowadays. How has she evolved over the years? You’d think she’d become an active socio-political voice for raising consciousness of APA issues, but no. She’s virtually disappeared.
Posted on 20-Jun-07 at 11:25 am | Permalink
jozjozjoz wrote:
I’m constantly amazed at how many people have never heard of Vincent Chin.
Then I have to remember, if I hadn’t been an Asian American Studies major in college, I probably wouldn’t have, either.
Thanks for this post, John.
Posted on 20-Jun-07 at 3:16 pm | Permalink
Matt wrote:
Horrific then.
Horrific now. Shameful the lack of knowledge and coverage.
Posted on 20-Jun-07 at 3:49 pm | Permalink
J. Peter wrote:
John thanks for posting about this, it’s news to me
Posted on 25-Jun-07 at 11:39 am | Permalink
8Asians.com » Vincent Who?: An Asian American/Asian Canadian Blog wrote:
[...] in Detroit in 1982 in a case of mistaken identity at the height of anti-Japanese sentiment. I had blogged about Vincent Chin on the 25th anniversary of his death last year. More than twenty-five years later, the documentary [...]
Posted on 05-Apr-08 at 12:10 am | Permalink
8Asians.com » Asian American Groups to Protest Racist Scene in ‘The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard’ wrote:
[...] Teddy, even though Dang is Chinese. I’m sure the screenwriters are probably not aware of Vincent Chin and how that film scene calling a Chinese American a Jap was eerily similar to the beating death of [...]
Posted on 21-Aug-09 at 10:45 am | Permalink
Post a Comment