What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you? Tweet @fkwang #vchin.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you?
What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you? Tweet @fkwang #vchin.
Saturday, June 29, 2013
What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you?
What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you? Tweet @fkwang #vchin.
Friday, June 28, 2013
What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you?
What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you? Tweet @fkwang #vchin.
Thursday, June 27, 2013
What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you?
What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you? Tweet @fkwang #vchin.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you?
What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you? Remembering Vincent Chin.
Tweet your thoughts @fkwang #vchin
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Monday, June 24, 2013
What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you?
What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you? Tweet @fkwang #vchin
Sunday, June 23, 2013
an appropriate bookmark: What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you?
this just in from calvin ho @calvinhyj: Found an appropriate bookmark for today's reading.#rememberingvincentchin #china @fkwang @AsianArguments pic.twitter.com/0NwY19mxp9
What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you? Tweet with tag@fkwang #vchin
Lots of articles and reflections last year archived at: http://www.rememberingvincentchin.com/2012_06_01_archive.html
What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you? Tweet with tag
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Friday, June 21, 2013
What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you?
What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you? Remembering Vincent Chin.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you? Tweet with tags @fkwang #vchin
What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you? Tweet with tags @fkwang #vchin
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
18MILLIONRISING, A mother’s grief can spark a movement: 31 years...
Remembering not only Vincent Chin, but his mother, Mrs. Lily Chin, too. One of my favorite quotes ever is from APALC's Stewart Kwoh who said that there may not be a lot of big flashy heroes in our community, but "There are a lot of Lily Chins." Check out 18MillionRising.org:
18MILLIONRISING, A mother’s grief can spark a movement: 31 years...
18MILLIONRISING, A mother’s grief can spark a movement: 31 years...
Crime Without Punishment: Why the Death of Vincent Chin Resonates Today | InCultureParent.com 2011
rerunning this article from Incultureparent.com http://www.incultureparent.com/2011/05/5009/
Tuesday, May 31st, 2011
Crime Without Punishment: Why the Death of Vincent Chin Resonates Today
By Frances Kai-Hwa Wang
vincent chin
Before I came to Michigan for graduate school, the only thing I knew about Michigan was that it was where Vincent Chin was killed. My parents’ Japanese-American neighbors warned me to sell my father’s Toyota 4Runner and buy a Ford Bronco. I asked about safety as much as I did about academics before I decided to come.
This year marks the 29th anniversary of the baseball bat beating that caused the death of Vincent Chin. Unfortunately, with the recession and rise in anti-immigrant sentiment, the case is even more relevant than ever.
Vincent Chin was a 27-year-old Chinese-American raised in Metro Detroit. A week before his wedding, June 19, 1982, he went to the Fancy Pants strip club in Highland Park with a few buddies for his bachelor’s party. There, they encountered two autoworkers, Ronald Ebens and Michael Nitz, who, like many at the time, blamed the Japanese for the U.S. auto industry’s troubles. Even though Chin was not Japanese and worked in the auto industry himself as a draftsman, Ebens was heard saying, “It’s because of you little m—f—s that we’re out of work,” as well as other anti-Asian racial epithets.
The men were thrown out of the bar, and the fight continued in the parking lot and into the night. Ebens and Nitz searched for Chin and his friends, and upon finding them, Nitz held Chin in a bear hug while Ebens struck Chin’s head four times with a baseball bat, cracking his skull. Vincent Chin died four days later. His wedding guests attended his funeral instead.
On March 18, 1983, Judge Charles Kaufman sentenced Ebens and Nitz to three years’ probation and a $3,000 fine, saying, “These aren’t the kind of men you send to jail. You fit the punishment to the criminal, not the crime.” This was followed by a federal civil rights trial and a civil suit. To this day, neither Ebens nor Nitz has spent a single day in jail.
Such a light sentence for such a vicious crime was a shocking wake-up call for Asian-Americans of all ethnicities who suddenly realized the brutal consequences of the “all Asians look alike” stereotype and anti-Asian slurs. Coming to America, working hard, and keeping your head down per the model minority stereotype was not enough. This could have happened to anyone.
In 2009, the State Bar of Michigan designated the Vincent Chin case as the 34th Michigan Legal Milestone. This case is credited with giving birth to the Asian-American civil rights movement and the victims rights movement. Many legal developments came out of this case that benefit all of us, including the practice of prosecutors attending sentencing hearings, victims and their families making a victim’s impact statement at sentencing, mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines, understanding the sensitive nature of changing venues, the importance of the media, and the formation of Asian-American civil rights organizations.
Outgoing Mayor of Ferndale, Michigan, Craig Covey, who also installed an accompanying Vincent Chin memorial plaque by the City of Ferndale, recognized the struggles for equality throughout American history by “almost every group that has made this place home,” including Native Americans, African Americans, Chinese Americans, Irish Americans, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, gays and lesbians. He continued:
“Equal justice in America is not a given. It is not a guarantee… rather… it is a constant struggle. It takes vigilance and effort and energy. We must always strive toward fair and equal justice, knowing that it may never be fully achieved.”
© 2011 – 2013, Frances Kai-Hwa Wang. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, May 31st, 2011
Crime Without Punishment: Why the Death of Vincent Chin Resonates Today
By Frances Kai-Hwa Wang
vincent chin
Before I came to Michigan for graduate school, the only thing I knew about Michigan was that it was where Vincent Chin was killed. My parents’ Japanese-American neighbors warned me to sell my father’s Toyota 4Runner and buy a Ford Bronco. I asked about safety as much as I did about academics before I decided to come.
This year marks the 29th anniversary of the baseball bat beating that caused the death of Vincent Chin. Unfortunately, with the recession and rise in anti-immigrant sentiment, the case is even more relevant than ever.
Vincent Chin was a 27-year-old Chinese-American raised in Metro Detroit. A week before his wedding, June 19, 1982, he went to the Fancy Pants strip club in Highland Park with a few buddies for his bachelor’s party. There, they encountered two autoworkers, Ronald Ebens and Michael Nitz, who, like many at the time, blamed the Japanese for the U.S. auto industry’s troubles. Even though Chin was not Japanese and worked in the auto industry himself as a draftsman, Ebens was heard saying, “It’s because of you little m—f—s that we’re out of work,” as well as other anti-Asian racial epithets.
The men were thrown out of the bar, and the fight continued in the parking lot and into the night. Ebens and Nitz searched for Chin and his friends, and upon finding them, Nitz held Chin in a bear hug while Ebens struck Chin’s head four times with a baseball bat, cracking his skull. Vincent Chin died four days later. His wedding guests attended his funeral instead.
On March 18, 1983, Judge Charles Kaufman sentenced Ebens and Nitz to three years’ probation and a $3,000 fine, saying, “These aren’t the kind of men you send to jail. You fit the punishment to the criminal, not the crime.” This was followed by a federal civil rights trial and a civil suit. To this day, neither Ebens nor Nitz has spent a single day in jail.
Such a light sentence for such a vicious crime was a shocking wake-up call for Asian-Americans of all ethnicities who suddenly realized the brutal consequences of the “all Asians look alike” stereotype and anti-Asian slurs. Coming to America, working hard, and keeping your head down per the model minority stereotype was not enough. This could have happened to anyone.
In 2009, the State Bar of Michigan designated the Vincent Chin case as the 34th Michigan Legal Milestone. This case is credited with giving birth to the Asian-American civil rights movement and the victims rights movement. Many legal developments came out of this case that benefit all of us, including the practice of prosecutors attending sentencing hearings, victims and their families making a victim’s impact statement at sentencing, mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines, understanding the sensitive nature of changing venues, the importance of the media, and the formation of Asian-American civil rights organizations.
Outgoing Mayor of Ferndale, Michigan, Craig Covey, who also installed an accompanying Vincent Chin memorial plaque by the City of Ferndale, recognized the struggles for equality throughout American history by “almost every group that has made this place home,” including Native Americans, African Americans, Chinese Americans, Irish Americans, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, gays and lesbians. He continued:
“Equal justice in America is not a given. It is not a guarantee… rather… it is a constant struggle. It takes vigilance and effort and energy. We must always strive toward fair and equal justice, knowing that it may never be fully achieved.”
© 2011 – 2013, Frances Kai-Hwa Wang. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
"From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry: Commemorating the Vincent Chin Case."
"From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry: Commemorating the Vincent Chin Case." by Frances Kai-Hwa Wang for Harvard Kennedy School Asian American Policy Review, 2010, p. 23.
isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic855678.files/2010 - AAPR.pdf
isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic855678.files/2010 - AAPR.pdf
Monday, June 17, 2013
Video: Dec 2010 WXYZ News: Plaque honoring murdered Asian man, Vincent Chin, unveiled in Ferndale
Video: Dec 2010 WXYZ News: Plaque honoring murdered Asian man, Vincent Chin, unveiled in Ferndale
wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/oakland_county/plaque-honoring-murdered-man-unveiled-in-ferndale
wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/oakland_county/plaque-honoring-murdered-man-unveiled-in-ferndale
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Schedule | V3 Digital Media Conference presented by AAJA-LA
Check out the awesome cool #v3activism panel at 3:00 at V3con: V3 Digital Media Conference presented by AAJA-LA http://v3con.com/schedule/
- See more at: http://v3con.com/schedule/#sthash.AuE9chbw.dpuf
Schedule | V3 Digital Media Conference presented by AAJA-LA
- See more at: http://v3con.com/schedule/#sthash.AuE9chbw.dpuf
Schedule | V3 Digital Media Conference presented by AAJA-LA
Friday, June 14, 2013
What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you? Tweet @fkwang #vchin
What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you? Tweet @fkwang #vchin
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you?
What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you? Remembering Vincent Chin.
Monday, June 10, 2013
What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you?
What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you? Remembering Vincent Chin
Sunday, June 9, 2013
What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you?
What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you? Remembering Vincent Chin.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Who wants to go with Frances Kai-Hwa Wang to V3con: V3 Digital Media Conference presented by AAJA-LA?
Activist writer Frances Kai-Hwa Wang is giving away one registration to V3con: V3 Digital Media Conference presented by AAJA-LA!
1. Follow @fkwang on Twitter
2. Tweet what the Vincent Chin case means to you. Tag @fkwang and #vchin
3. Go to RememberingVincentChin.com (you're already here!) and Comment below what the Vincent Chin case means to you.
I'll choose a winner on Tuesday, June 11, so don't delay!
Looking forward to meeting you in LA, where I will be speaking on an activism panel "Engaging the AAPI Community in Online Activism," with Angry Asian Man Phil Yu, Taz Ahmed, Lisa Lee, and Jennifer Pae.
2. Tweet what the Vincent Chin case means to you. Tag @fkwang and #vchin
3. Go to RememberingVincentChin.com (you're already here!) and Comment below what the Vincent Chin case means to you.
I'll choose a winner on Tuesday, June 11, so don't delay!
Looking forward to meeting you in LA, where I will be speaking on an activism panel "Engaging the AAPI Community in Online Activism," with Angry Asian Man Phil Yu, Taz Ahmed, Lisa Lee, and Jennifer Pae.
More info about the conference at v3con.com!
Friday, June 7, 2013
What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you?
What does the Vincent Chin case mean to you? Remembering Vincent Chin.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Monday, June 3, 2013
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Saturday, June 1, 2013
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