VINCENT WHO? Documentary
October 28, 7 PM
Campus Center Auditorium
Sponsored by AAPA, AASA, and YKCC at UMass and AASIA and KASA from Mount Holyoke
In 1982, Vincent Chin was murdered in Detroit by two white autoworkers at the height of anti-Japanese sentiments. For the first time, Asian Americans around the country galvanized to form a real community and movement. This documentary, inspired by a series of town halls organized by Asian Pacific Americans for Progress on the 25th anniversary of the case, features interviews with the key players at the time, as well as a whole new generation of activists. "Vincent Who?" asks how far Asian Americans have come since then and how far we have yet to go.
Featured interviews include: Helen Zia (lead activist during the Chin trial), Renee Tajima Pena (director, "Who Killed Vincent Chin?"), Stewart Kwoh (Executive Director, Asian Pacific American Legal Center), Lisa Ling (journalist), Sumi Pendakur (Univ. of Southern California) and a group of five diverse young APA activists whose lives were impacted by Vincent Chin.
Producer and co-director Curtis Chin (featured in the documentary) is an award-winning writer and producer who has worked for ABC, NBC, Disney Channel and more. As a community activist, he co-founded the Asian American Writers Workshop and Asian Pacific Americans for Progress. Co-director Tony Lam is a writer, producer, and director based in Los Angeles. A former Fulbright scholar, he currently produces "Our Role Models" on LA18, where he has interviewed over 100 outstanding leaders and talents in the Asian American community.
A brief story of Vincent Chin
The film is about an Asian American male, Vincent Chin, who was murdered in a racial hate crime. In 1982, Vincent Chin went to a Detroit bar to celebrate his upcoming wedding. There, two white unemployed auto workers taunted him and accused him for their loss of employment and started a fight. After being kicked out of the bar for fighting, the two white autoworkers went to their car, took a baseball bat from the trunk, and chased Chin to a nearby McDonald's restaurant.
One man held Vincent Chin while the other one bludgeoned him in the head with a baseball bat. Four days later, Vincent Chin died in the hospital from severe head injuries. Several hundred people, originally invited to Chin's wedding, attended his funeral instead.
Charged with second-degree murder, the two white autoworkers pleaded guilty to manslaughter and were sentenced to only three years probation fines of $3,000 plus $780 in fees each. This light sentencing outraged the Asian American communities across the country and led to the formation of the American Citizens for Justice and demands for a review of the light sentences. In the end, even after all the outcry and protest, neither of Vincent Chin's white attackers ever spent a day in jail.
Producer Curtis Chin brought the film to UMass Amherst to educate the campus community of this injustice. In addition, guest speaker Jacqui Pinn, the Director of Office of Programs and Services for ALANA gave a brief introduction to the student audience on activism and advocacy for all people of color prior to the viewing. Students of all backgrounds attend the event leaving standing room only, the interest and turnout was outstanding. After the viewing students had the opportunity to engage in a Q&A with the producer Curtis Chin.
