Chicago Screening of ‘Vincent Who?’ Documentary -- Ningin -- Asian Media Exchange -- Blog

Apr

2008

Chicago Screening of ‘Vincent Who?’ Documentary

Though it’s only showing in Chicago, this is post-worthy because many aren’t aware of the story/murder of Vincent Chin, and how his killers basically got away. Come see the documentary VINCENT WHO? during the Asian American Film Showcase in Chicago. Director Tony Lam will be there for a Q & A.

In 1982, Vincent Chin was brutally murdered in Detroit at the height of anti-Japanese sentiment. In a travesty of justice, the judge ruled it a case of manslaughter and the two killers, both autoworkers, never served a day in jail.

More than twenty-five years later, that case remains a touchstone in the struggle for civil rights and the advancement of the Asian American community. In this new documentary, VINCENT WHO?, we take a quick look back at the case, but more importantly we examine the effects the case had on the leading community activists of today and the future leaders of tomorrow.

Saturday, April 19, 2008
5:30pm - 8:30pm
Siskel Film Center
164 North State Street
Chicago, IL

Interviewees and speakers include Helen Zia (leading activist during the Chin case), Stewart Kwoh (Founder & Executive Director, Asian Pacific American Legal Center), Judy Chu (Chair, California State Board of Equalization), Mike Eng (California State Assemblyman), Renee Tajima-Pena (Producer & Director, WHO KILLED VINCENT CHIN?), Frank Wu (Dean, Wayne State University Law School), Janet Yang (Producer, THE JOY LUCK CLUB), Justin Lin (Director, BETTER LUCK TOMORROW), Robin Toma (Executive Director, Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations), Nhung Truong (District Representative, Office of Congressman Adam Schiff), Sejal Patel (Activist, Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy), Ben de Guzman (National Campaign Coordinator, National Alliance for Filipino Veterans Equity) and others.

See the trailer:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=43335075006

http://www.vincentchin.net

Categories:

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Education

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7 Comments

PLam said on 04/12/08 08:04AM

I recently had a discussion with a group of people (non-Asians) about racism. At one point in the conversation, the topic turned towards western media bias and I brought up a comparison between how the US media covered Rodney King versus Vincent Chin. Of course, the response from everyone was “Vincent who?” I described what happened to him and the light sentence given to the murderers. And I was stunned by the reaction...the excuses started flowing trying to explain why it might have been appropriate. Eventually, they backed off. Not sure if it was because I actually convinced them of anything, or if it was because they saw I was growing increasingly impassioned about the discussion and were growing tired of me. I’ve known these people for a while (6-10 years), so it was really disappointing to see them take the initial positions they took on the subject.

Hope this film is successful in raising awareness of what happened to Vincent Chin....

aikyrie said on 04/13/08 11:30AM

They made up excuses for killing a man?…

Aaron said on 04/13/08 01:11PM

Not a day in jail? That’s messed up.

PLam said on 04/13/08 10:34PM

Yeah, the excuses ranged from “maybe he [the killer] was suffering from depression” to “maybe the victim provoked them [the killers]” to “I’m sure the judge knew what he was doing”. Nevermind that the killers admitted to motive (witnesses hear the killers say “It’s because of you motherfuckers we’re out of work” to Vincent, alluding to the fact that the Japanese were beating the US auto companies) and hunted Vincent for an hour after arming themselves with baseball bats (pre-medidated). The fact that the judge gave such a light sentence was obscene; when asked about why he gave such a light sentence (3 years probation, $3000 fine and $780 court fee), he said “These weren’t the kind of men you send to jail… You don’t make the punishment fit the crime; you make the punishment fit the criminal.”

Sakura said on 04/13/08 11:53PM

I don’t see how those reasons are good enough to kill someone.

So according to their reasoning, it was okay for the VT shooter to kill all those college students because he was depressed and social neglected?

PLam said on 04/15/08 10:57AM

I don’t think they were necessarily saying that those were “good enough” reasons to kill someone. But the fact that their first instinct was to sympathize and defend the killers and the judge was what really troubled me.

Divinitys Creature said on 04/16/08 06:19PM

Throw away the key.

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