Asian Americans: Don't Forget Vincent Chin

Vincent Chin was neither a pioneer nor a leader; he was a murder victim of a racial hate crime. His murder and the subsequent trials brought Asian Americans of different ethnicities together to fight for his justice. Vincent Chin, unfortunately, symbolizes the detestation white Americans have with Asian American. Consequently, Vincent Chin’s death signifies the strength of the Asian American voice and community. 

In the early1980s, the US auto industry was suffering from a depression. Americans, mostly whites, faulted emerging Asian auto industries for the depression. Despite the fact that they were Americans, Asian Americans became targets of racial hate crimes. During his bachelor party in June 19, 1982, Vincent Chin was confronted by Ronald Ebens and his stepson, Michael Nitz, who got laid off from his auto industry job. Mistaking Chin for Japanese, Ebens taunted Chin, blaming him for the decline in the US auto industry. Chin and Ebens started fighting, with Nitz joining in on the fray. The fight was eventually broken up and Chin left the party. Outside, Ebens, who brought a bat with him, and Nitz caught up to Chin and one of his friends. Chin and his friends fled; although his friend got away, Chin was caught by Ebens and Nitz. Nitz held Chin as Ebens strike Chin several times with a baseball bat, including a shot to the head. Vincent Chin die several days later on June 23 in a coma due to head injuries suffered in the attack. 

Anti-Asian hate crimes in America like the murder of Vincent Chin are common in the past. Since Asians came to America as farm laborers, they were discriminated against by white Americans. Fearing that the advent of Asians in America will bring the lost of jobs because Asian laborers offered lower-paying wages, the white working class, using protests and riots, petitioned the US government to passed Anti-Asian legislations like the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.