Remembering Vincent Chin on His Birthday

Vincent Chin would have been 66 today.

In the summer of 1982, a pair of white male autoworkers murdered Chin outside of a strip club in Detroit, Michigan. They believed Japanese success in the auto industry was forcing American auto jobs to disappear, according to NPR.

Chin was born in China’s Guangdong province, but grew up in Detroit with his adoptive parents Bing Hing “David” Chin and Lily Chin. He graduated from Oak Park High School and studied engineering at Control Data Institute. In 1982, he was working as a draftsman at an automotive supplier

The night of June 23, 27-year-old Chin was out celebrating his bachelor party. Witnesses who later testified at the murder trial say a fight broke out between Chin, his friends and two men: 43-year-old Chrysler foreman Ronald Ebens and his 22-year-old stepson Michael Nitz.

A dancer told the court Ebens shouted, ““It’s because of you motherf***ers that we’re out of work.”

Ebens and Nitz dragged Chin outside and bludgeoned him with a baseball bat. The attack left Chin in a coma for four days before he succumbed to his injuries.

On March 16, 1983, Wayne County Circuit Judge Charles Kaufman found the pair of men guilty of manslaughter. He felt that Chin’s murder was simply the result of a barroom brawl, according to The History Channel. They received a $3,000 fine, $780 in court costs and three years’ probation, but no prison time.

The light sentencing enraged many Asian Americans who felt that Chin had not received justice.

Chin’s murder continues to galvanize the Asian American community. Many have referenced his murder when speaking about the recent rise in anti-Asian hate crimes during the pandemic.

Today, on Chin’s birthday, the House of Representatives passed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act. The legislation aims to stem the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes by expediting the process of reporting and prosecuting the crimes.

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