Vincent Chin Remembered

It’s a given fact that minorities in the U.S. have always been subject to levels of prejudice and acts of discrimination. One may think that as the Asian American population- or any minority population for that matter- become larger and more integrated into mainstream America that incidents of racism would occur less. But sadly the past 30 years have bared witness to enormously increasing rates of violence against minority groups. One of the most graphic and shocking incident to illustrate this was the murder of Vincent Chin in 1982. Beaten to death by two Caucasian men outside a night club, he- though Chinese American- was called a “jap” and accused by the two men as a Japanese autoworker responsible for the recession at the time that had taken their jobs away.

The even more tragic part of this murder was how Vincent's killers- Ronald Ebens and his stepson Michael Nitz- were handled by the criminal justice system. Versus being convicted of second degree murder, they were settled to a plea bargain for manslaughter- basically the act of ‘accidentally’ killing someone. The two men were sentenced to probation for a mere two years and charged with a $3,700 fine- so pretty much no jail time at all.

It’s so important to see here that the Vincent Chin’s murder and all that followed represent another instance of Asian Americans not being taken seriously as "real" Americans. Hence they are left out of the same civil and human rights so many others take for granted. Compared to how “real” Americans are depicted, the lives of individuals of an ethnic minority background are constantly devalued by different aspects of society.

But in every death, there is life. What can be benefited from the tragedy is that though the

case failed in the courts, it woke up an entire ethnic community. Vincent's murder fired up the Asian American community like no event before it. Working hard to draw continuous support for the convictions of Ebens and Nitz, Asian American communities utilized the media, they raised money, initiated rallies and protests, tried to win support from elected officials, and educated the public. Today we see a range of Asian American community organizations and coalitions like the FAPAC and AAJC that work to look after the civil rights of individuals and to mobilize the resources needed to fight for justice. Through Vincent Chin’s case, people got a firsthand sight at the effects of ethnic prejudice and aggression- both at the personal and the social level. Over the years, it’s indisputable that his murder has stood as a symbol of the discrimination inflicted upon Asian Americans in modern society.