The Birth of a Movement
Vincent Chin’s racially motivated murder sparked diverse communities to come together as a national movement calling for equality, justice and an end to racial discrimination. We are its legacy.
BACKGROUND: A CLIMATE OF HATE
Forty years ago, politicians, business leaders, the media and other influencers declared that an economic enemy was out to destroy America’s economy.
They said that Japan was to blame for America’s economic recession by invading America with fuel efficient cars and buying up prime US assets—even though German automakers and UK moguls were doing the same. By scapegoating Japan as a new Yellow Peril responsible for another Pearl Harbor, the predictable anti-Asian racism was whipped up into a frenzied innuendo that spilled into hate incidents and violence.
In 1982 a 27 year-old Chinese American named Vincent Chin was murdered in Detroit during a climate of intense anti-Japan prejudice.
Vincent’s white killers were autoworkers who believed the innuendo that Japan caused the collapse of Detroit’s auto industry: a witness overheard one of them say, “It’s because of you mother—‘s that we’re out of work”—even though Vincent was an American of Chinese ethnicity who was celebrating his bachelor party, and even though neither killer was out of work. The collective American “we” against the perceived Asian enemy, the perpetual foreign invader, the existential threat.
THE NEED CONTINUES40 years after Vincent Chin was killed, Asian Americans are not only facing the public health crisis caused by the global Covid-19 pandemic, but the tsunami of anti-Asian hate has led to more than 10,000 hate incidents self-reported to a single website, StopAAPIhate.org.
Today, politicians, national security officials, the media and other influencers have declared a new economic, political, military, and public health enemy that is out to destroy America: China. Not surprisingly, history is repeating itself as more than 11,000 anti-Asian hate incidents have been reported to a single community website, in what is widely considered to be a gross undercount. Mass shootings of Asian Americans have taken place in Atlanta and Indianapolis; Asian elders have been fatally attacked; Asian women and girls are targeted two-to-one; and it seems that every day brings more horrific news of Asian Americans being violently assaulted -- simply because they look Asian. Hateful innuendo from prominent people, including the former president, has been clearly linked to spikes in anti-Asian attacks. Meanwhile, viral videos and news media replays give the impression that most anti-Asian attacks are by Black people, when two separate academic studies show that the majority of anti-Asian incidents are committed by adult white males.
THE VINCENT CHIN INSTITUTE
The legacy of Vincent Chin and the campaign for justice offers lessons to all on how people of all races, including between Asian and Black Americans, and from all creeds and walks of life, can organize and come together to stand against intolerance of all kinds to build a beloved community that is safe and welcoming to all.
The Vincent Chin Institute brings together experienced activists with people and communities in need to keep the fight against Anti-Asian hate going strong.
Vincent Chin’s story known is still known today among Asian American community cognoscenti because storytellers made known the injustice, far and wide, in many media forms—articles, essays, film, song, performance, sculpture. But beyond those who were interested in and fortunate to take Asian American studies classes, most Americans are completely unaware of the repetition of history between today and Vincent Chin’s time of anti-Asian violence. Even among those new generations of Asian American activists who might be aware of Vincent Chin’s story, many are not familiar with the strategic lessons that are most instructive from that time.
The Vincent Chin Institute aims to support the newer generations of leadership with the historical knowledge and the intersectional expertise of those who organized the highly effective national campaigns against the anti-Asian hate of the 1980s and 1990s. Through VCI, these original activists will provide integrenerational transmission of the strategic and organizing expertise to mount an effective community rooted, broad-based response to anti-Asian hate.
A Message From Helen Zia on Behalf of the Vincent & Lily Chin Estate
“Today's pandemic of anti-Asian hate has uncanny parallels to the anti-Asian hate of the 1980s. American Citizens for Justice’s (ACJ) founding principles are an important part of Vincent’s legacy: our movement’s commitment to equal justice for all and a stand against racism and discrimination of any kind.
As Vincent’s mother Lily said on national television, “Our skin color may be different, but our blood is the same.” The Chin Estate, ACJ, and the Planning Committee believe that Vincent Chin’s legacy will continue to advance the ideals of equal justice; solidarity against racism and hate that Lily Chin courageously stood for; and respect for the individuals and communities who stood together for justice for Vincent Chin and who are standing up today for all communities to live without fear of violence.”
— Helen Zia, Executor, Estate of Lily and Vincent Chin