40 years on, US marks racist killing of Vincent Chin

Asian Americans note unsettling parallels between his killing and current spike in racism and violence against the community

- Charissa Yong

Forty years ago in Detroit, Michigan, a Chinese American named Vincent Chin was brutally beaten to death by two white auto workers, who blamed Asians for the loss of automotive jobs in the US.

Though both killers were convicted of manslaughter, they were each sentenced to three years’ probation and a US$3,000 fine, a slap on the wrist that shocked Asian Americans and galvanised a wave of activism by the community across the country.

Over the past week, Detroit and the United States at large have marked the 40th anniversary of Mr Chin’s death. But Asian Americans have also noted the unsettling parallels between his killing in 1982 and the current spike in racism and violence against Asians, who make up about 7 per cent of the US population today.

The attack on June 19, 1982, took place at a time of intense animosity towards Asians in the US, who were scapegoated for the economic crisis the country was reeling from at the time.

Activist and writer Helen Zia, an executor of the Chin family’s estate and a co-founder of the American Citizens for Justice group set up in response to the killing, said at a remembrance event last Saturday: “The Vincent Chin case today resonates with so many people because people connect to it. They know that that was a time of incredible anti-Asian hate. We are in the midst of one right now.”

The US was reeling from an economic recession in the early 1980s caused by the 1979 oil crisis, while grappling with the collapse of its manufacturing sector.