Who Was Vincent Chin?

Did the killing of Vincent Chin and the activism it sparked change what it means to be Asian American?copy section URL to clipboard

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On the warm summer evening of June 19, 1982, at a Chinese restaurant just north of Detroit, Vincent Chin, a dapper waiter, cheerfully bid his coworkers a good night. The twenty seven year old said that his friends were picking him up to celebrate his last days as a bachelor. They would all be there for his wedding day, only nine days later, along with everyone he and his family knew—more than four hundred guests.

Image 43.01.01 — Vincent Chin (first row, far right) became a confident and well-liked young man who had many friends, as shown in this photo taken at one of the many celebrations in the close-knit Chinatown-based community of Detroit.

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That day that had begun so bright with promise would end in a terrible tragedy: murder. No one imagined that Vincent Chin’s name would become a rallying cry and a symbol for decades to come, or that Asian Americans would launch a movement for social justice because of what happened to him. His story would live on, long after his untimely death.

This module is an overview of who Vincent Chin was, how and why he was murdered, and the social justice movement that was launched among Asian Americans due to the unjust outcome in the courts. 

Who was Vincent Chin, and what happened to him in June 1982?

How did law enforcement and the court system treat Vincent Chin and the men who attacked him?

Why did the Asian American community become angry over injustice for Vincent Chin?