In 1982, at the height of anti-Japanese sentiments arising from massive layoffs in the auto industry, a Chinese-American named Vincent Chin was murdered in Detroit by two white autoworkers. Chin’s killers, however, got off with a $3,000 fine and 3 years probation, but no jail time. Outraged by this injustice, Asian Americans around the country united for the first time across ethnic and socioeconomic lines to form a pan-Asian identity and civil rights movement.
Among its significant outcomes, the movement led to the historic broadening of federal civil rights protection to include all people in America regardless of immigrant status or ethnicity.
Vincent Who? explores this important legacy through interviews with the key players at the time as well as a whole new generation of activists whose lives were impacted by Vincent Chin. It also looks at the case in relation to the larger narrative of Asian American history, in such events as Chinese Exclusion, Japanese American Internment in WWII, the 1992 L.A. Riots, anti-Asian hate crimes, and post-9/11 racial profiling.
The film screening will be followed by a discussion with students from the Pan Asian Council (PAC) and the Asian American Cultural Center, and a viewing of the exhibit ‘Please Reduce Racism at UConn: The December 3, 1987 Incident.’ The exhibit shares materials from the archives around the harrasement of eight Asian American students attending an off-campus semi-formal dance. The event was a catalyst for change at UConn, leading to the establishment of the Asian American Cultural Center (AsACC).
April 1, 5:30-6:30
Homer Babbidge Library, Room 2119A
For more information, contact: Edward Lim at edward.lim@uconn.edu