Below is a public service announcement by Mr. Tony Lam.
Dear Korean,
This week marks the 28th anniversary of the hate crime murder of Vincent Chin, a case that ignited the first Asian American civil rights movement and gave rise to a new "Asian American" identity and community.
In commemoration, we are releasing a Special Edition DVD of VINCENT WHO?, the 2009 documentary about Vincent Chin and the Asian American experience in political activism (see our new widescreen trailer). We are also launching a new website dedicated to Vincent Chin and his legacy to serve as an educational resource.
In doing so, we hope to contribute toward the day when the momentous, but mostly unknown story of Vincent Chin becomes a familiar one, not only among Asian Americans, but all Americans. Please join us in this effort by spreading the news. Thank you for your support!
Tony Lam
Director, Vincent Who?
Read more about Vincent Chin here.
Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com
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The story of Vincent Chin is quite tragic, and it's definitely something we need to make a household name like Rosa Parks is a household name.
ReplyDeleteRosa Parks stood up for herself and was arrested. Her one brave action changed society as we know it.
Vincent Chin was minding his own business and he was murdered for no reason other than his physical features. The morons who killed him did so because they were laid off autoworkers and were bitter that the Japanese auto industry was surpassing America's. So they decided to kill a Japanese person.
Vincent Chin isn't even a Japanese-American, he's an American of Chinese descent.
If more knowledge about Asian-Americans and Asia in general were more well known at the time, does it mean that Vincent Chin would still be alive?
I don't know, because any person that would murder another person that they don't even know over losing their job probably isn't right in the head to begin with. But, had they perceived Vincent as a fellow American or knew the difference between Chinese and Japanese, then they probably wouldn't have killed him. (They'd go for a Japanese-American, or an actual Japanese... which of course isn't any better)
I feel sad when I think about the Vincent Chin story. What I dislike is when Asian-American "activists" hijack the story for their own purposes in totally unrelated issues.
I've even seen really ridiculous examples of this:
Vincent Chin memorial Dance party at XYZ Club. Asians ONLY
I've even heard someone say the following:
"If so many Asian girls weren't sleeping with white guys Vincent Chin wouldn't have died."
I haven't seen the documentary. I'm very interested in it.