A crowd of students had their eyes opened by the story of Vincent Chin, a hate crime victim, during Asian Society’s screening of “Vincent Who?” on Wednesday. In 1982, Chin, a Chinese-American, was murdered in Detroit by two white autoworkers. The judge in charge of the case fined Chin’s murderers $3000 and ordered them to three years of probation. Neither man spent a day in jail. Incensed, Asian Americans around the country united to protest the racial injustice Chin faced. The documentary utilizes Chin’s struggle as an example of the overarching racial injustice that exists in the U.S. Nneka Anunkor ’11, Vice-President of Asian Society, said, “I think the movie did a great job of showing that we need to take action, especially because the film clearly showed the ignorance of the younger generation.” According to Anunkor, the club decided to screen the film “to show why Asian Americans and Asians in general need to be more active in their communities.” The film commences with interviews of numerous college students, who are all asked the same question: “Do you know who Vincent Chin is?” The majority of the students do not. “[The film gives] an example of why people in their communities should fight and draw attention to what they believe is important and right,” said Anunkor. The Vincent Chin case generated a heated response from various Asian Americans who were outraged at the public disregard towards the hate crime. People of different Asian races, including Filipinos, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, and Indians, engaged in protests and petitions and got involved in publicizing Chin’s case. Elisa Li ’11, President of Asian Society, said, “I thought it was a very inspiring movie in that it points out the fact that the Asian American communities are either very solitary, locked within our own ethnic groups, or that we’re passive and not very assertive. We have to act and speak out.” Yuni Sumawijaya ’12, who attended the screening, said, “The big thing that opened my eyes is that hate still [exists today].” “I would think that in the 20th century, none of this would happen, and that people would have opened and changed their eyes and minds, but they really haven’t. Not much has changed,” she continued. In addition to discussing Asian American progress since the case, the documentary also emphasized the work that still needs to be done in order to attain racial equality. According to the documentary, numerous minority groups, including Asians, are still struggling to achieve equal status in society. The documentary suggested that Asians should take direct action instead of trying to fit in, appease others and passively demand apologies. Elaine Chao ’14 said, “Americans say there isn’t discrimination anymore and that everyone is treated equally, but the film made it clear that this is not true. Even now, people are discriminated against.” Aya Murata, Pine Knoll Cluster Dean and Advisor to Asian and Asian American students at Andover, said, “I feel strongly that the murder of Vincent Chin is a crucial moment in Asian American history that a lot of students should be aware of. The documentary provided information and education that I feel is essential not only for Asians to know about, but for everyone to be aware of.” The documentary had an emotional response for many students who attended the screening. Anunkor said “The disappointment, the sadness and the anger [are] what make people want to go out and take action.” Li said, “It angered me how people who weren’t Asians were not taking actions to do something about the Chin case. More people should stand up for other ethnic groups even if it doesn’t relate to them directly. Like the Japanese community in America that supported the Muslims after the 9/11 attacks, as depicted in the documentary, we must always seek to help others.”
