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.

'Amerasian' Homecoming

Unlike most of us living securely with our families and loved ones here in beautiful Orange County, most Vietnamese Amerasians did not have this opportunity in life. Vietnamese Amerasians, often called “Amerasians,” refer to children of the Vietnam War- born to an American soldier father and Vietnamese mother. Just looking at the excerpt above, you can tell their story has been unfortunate. Nearly 20,000 other individuals have shared the same ‘Amerasian’ experience with the children in the picture on the left- and sadly never had much of a full opportunity to search for their true identity and be embraced by their society.

The phrase "children of the dust" was used to label Amerasians- like “dust,” they constantly flow with the wind, living a wandering life. The tragedy lied in the reality that most soldier fathers did not want them to be a part of their lives- viewing their children on “the other side of the world” to be merely a byproduct of the war itself, and something to move on and away from. So growing up in Vietnam, many faced cultural identity conflicts within themselves…trying to adjust and work to fit in to their society- living with questions like: what race and country do I belong to? What country can I call home? Out of initial discrimination and strong post-war bias, most were also badly mistreated in Vietnam and often denied the most basic of civil rights, including the right to even a basic education.

But over a few years as America started to recover from the turmoil and bitterness triggered by the war, there developed a collective attitude across the nation to take care of its "forgotten sons and daughters" left behind. And as a result, the Vietnamese Amerasian Homecoming Act went into effect in 1989- basically serving as a “passport” for all allowing children in Vietnam born to American fathers to come and immigrate to the U.S. In a sense the U.S. hoped this would reaffirm their responsibility for Amerasians by encouraging them to come find home here and by taking steps to arrange their passage.

What’s needed to be said I think is that most Amerasians did live a very wandering life in Vietnam. This resulted from the tragic lack of family support and education, making them almost clueless of what and who were real or not. But more than anything, what the Homecoming Act did was to an extent grant Vietnamese-Amerasians the opportunity to be "human" again- to feel a part of something substantial after years of living a wandering life more than half-way around the globe. Put into effect nearly 20 years ago, over 25,000 Amerasians have arrived and found new life in the U.S. with their relatives.

Vietnam War Memorial Controversy

Ariel View of Vietnam Veterans Memorial

         On May 6, 1981 a board of architects and sculptors chose the winner of the design competition for the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial. Out of 1,421 design entries the board unanimously chose the winner, Maya Ying Lin a Chinese American architecture student at Yale University. The design stood out from many of the traditional war memorials that featured statues of veteran soldiers during the war. Lin’s design however was large “V” shaped wall that went down into the earth like an indent, and increased in height as the two sides join together. The black reflective wall houses the names of the fallen U.S. service members that died during the Vietnam War. For Lin, the creator, this design symbolized a wound, the Vietnam War, and the healing process and scar that are formed after. Unfortunately many veterans and the rest of the public didn’t take it that way and a great amount of controversy hovered over the design. Many veterans protested against the design stating that it was a “black gash of shame” and some even went so far to harass Lin with racial slurs.

         However what really created so much controversy was not really the design but the creator, as seen by the many inappropriate comments and reactions from Vietnam veterans.  I’m sure if that if a Caucasian girl presented the same design there would not be a controversy. The true and unfortunate is that Maya Ying Lin is Asian and she has presented a design for the veterans of the Vietnam War. These veterans have been trained during the war that these Vietnam “gooks” were inferior and deserved to die. Because how could you kill many other humans if you still see them as human. This slaughtering had to be justified and it was through the great amount of propaganda that was funneled into the average G.I’s mind. 

         So of course it is not surprising that these veterans reacted this way when an Asian American presents a design for their memorial. We really can’t blame them though, after years and years of brainwashing by the war effort and American propaganda it only seems reasonable that those beliefs stuck, especially with the war just ending. Even today this aftereffect can be seen with the end of the Iraqi war and the controversy with the Muslim mosque near ground zero. Like Maya Ying Lin the group of Muslims that were hoping to build the mosque aren’t even the same ethnic tribe as the Muslims that crashed the planes into the towers on 9/11. However like ignorant America that isn’t taken into notice because all muslims like Asians are grouped together.

         Even though ethnicity shouldn’t matter, the fact that Asians, Muslims, or any other non-white Americans are “some ethnicity”-American, the fact that they are still American is not taken into notice. For they are simply still not totally accepted as Americans in this nation. Despite it all the ground for the Vietnam Memorial was finally broken on March 26, 1982. However the complete memorial was not completely like the original design. The once simplistic design that Lin had intended for was altered and so as a result of the controversy a statue called “The Three Soldiers”.  However despite it all it is in the design’s symbolic sentimental value that Lin has created that makes the Vietnam memorial the most visited public monument in the country. 

Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Night

Sources:

http://www.greenmuseum.org/c/aen/Issues/lin.php

http://www.jackmagazine.com/issue9/essayksands.html

http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/whm/bio/lin_m.htm