The brutal killing of a Detroit man in 1982 inspires decades of Asian American activism nationwide

Two white auto workers beat 27-year-old Chinese-American Vincent Chin to death with a baseball bat during his bachelor party in Detroit in 1982, but his loved ones’ cries for justice fell on deaf ears.

Twelve days passed before media reported Chin’s murder by men who blamed Asian manufacturers for the demise of the city’s key auto industry, and no one at the time acknowledged the racism in his killing. The suspects pleaded guilty to manslaughter and were sentenced to three years’ probation. Circuit Judge Charles Kaufman reasoned, “These are not the kind of men you send to prison.”

The injustice spurred Asian Americans to unite across ethnic and cultural boundaries. Hundreds protested the outcome of the trial in downtown Detroit. Chin’s mother traveled across the country sharing his story and pushing for a federal civil rights prosecution.

More than forty years later, activists still fighting to secure Chin is not forgotten, and says his story is inspiring advocacy nationwide. Law students reenact his trial, Hollywood adapted his story into a film, and Asian Americans recall the impact of his murder on their fight for racial justice and equality.

“For a whole generation of Asian American activists, the Vincent Chin case was the thing that got them involved,” says writer and filmmaker Curtis Chin. “It was the thing that brought them to the table.”

After the judge spared Vincent Chin’s killers, Curtis Chin – then 14 – took his parents’ typewriter and wrote outraged letters to newspaper editors. He had found his calling.

Instead of taking over his family’s Chinese restaurant, Curtis Chin—who is not related to the man who was murdered on June 23, 1982—spent the next three decades elevating Asian American voicesand tells the story of Vincent Chin and the racism of Detroit in the 1980s.

For Helen Zia, an Asian American activist who moved to Detroit in the 1970s, Chin’s case exposed the blatant injustice her community faced.

In the absence of local organizations advocating for civil rights for Asian Americans, Zia founded the American Citizens for Justice, which helped secure a federal trial for Chin’s killers. One was acquitted of civil rights violations and the other was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison. His conviction was overturned on appeal.

On June 20, the FBI released a 602-page dossier on Chin’s death, which, among other things, revealed never-before-seen witness statements describing his final moments and the anti-Asian slurs his attackers used. Activists said the Detroit Free Presswho first reported on the FBI documents, that they had not been made aware of the dossier, and that the agency gave no reason for its release.

Last year, Zia launched the Vincent Chin Institute, an advocacy group that combats hate against Asian Americans.

Chin’s case has had an impact that extends beyond advocacy. Students at Harvard Law School have reenacted the trials of his attackers to highlight flaws in the justice system. And his murder has inspired documentaries, a podcast and a film, “Who Killed Vincent Chin?”

Vincent Chin was the victim of brutal, racist violence, but out of that tragedy emerged “a chorus of Asian American voices,” says Curtis Chin.

The auto workers who attacked Chin blamed foreign automakers for the hardships in the American auto industry.

This fear of foreign economic threats parallels modern “anti-China hysteria and scapegoating,” says Cynthia Choi, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, pointing to attacks on Asians by people who accuse them of it debt in the COVID-19 pandemic.

“What’s different for our community today is that we’re speaking out. We’re speaking out loud,” Choi says.

Founded in 2020, Stop AAPI Hate advocates for policy changes and collects extensive data on hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The group has documented thousands of cases across the country, including verbal and physical abuse and discrimination in business and education.

“Nearly 50% of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders reported experiencing some form of racial hatred in the past year,” Choi said.

Advocates say there is still much work to be done.

No extensive history of Asian Americans is included in the core curricula of elementary and secondary education. Asked to name a prominent Asian American in a recent surveymost Americans responded, “I can’t think of any” or Jackie Chan, who is not American.

“For most Americans, we don’t exist at all,” says Zia, who cites the lack of visibility as a major factor in perpetuating stereotypes about Asian-Americans.

John Yang, president and CEO of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, emphasizes the harm stereotypes cause.

“In terms of employment, we are pigeonholed as eternal foreigners,” Yang says. “Asian Americans are not promoted at the same rate. We are not occupying C-suites. We are not occupying boards in the same way as other Americans.”

Discrimination also extends to housing. The Urban Institute, a think tank that conducts economic and policy research, reports that Asian American buyers are shown 18.8% fewer properties compared to white buyers. Yet the stereotype of Asian Americans as the model minority is leading some fair housing advocates to exclude Asian Americans from their efforts.

“Everyone is worried about whether an Asian American is really an American, and so they don’t get to see the same homes,” Yang said. “They don’t get the same opportunities.”

On Sunday, dozens of residents stood with their heads bowed under the gates of Boston’s Chinatown to remember Chin. They wore T-shirts that read “STOP ASIAN HATE,” placed heart-shaped candles and displayed a portrait of Chin with his name in Chinese and “May 18, 1955 – June 23, 1982.”

Wilson Lee, co-founder of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance Boston Lodge and the Chinese American Heritage Foundation, said he and his wife have organized a vigil for Chin every June 23 for six years. Even as the media attention faded, their devotion to Chin’s memory has not diminished.

“We’re in it for the long haul,” Lee says. “Because it’s the right thing to do, not because it’s popular.”

A collection of local dignitaries participated in the commemoration, as well as 16 Asian American elementary and middle school students who Lee described as “stakeholders.” They held orange lilies and yellow flowers to their chests.

“We need to make sure that future generations, especially our young people, know about the experience that he went through,” Lee said. “They stand on the shoulders of giants, and Vincent Chin was a giant.”

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