Resurrecting Vincent Chin
Filmmakers Curtis Chin and Tony Lam dissect the APA icon's legacy in their new documentary.
The question mark in the new documentary, "Vincent Who?", screams for attention. It punctuates a horrifying idea about the Asian Pacific American community that is only now, 26 years after the murder of its namesake, being examined.
Hopefully, it's not too late.
Most of us know the true story about the June 19, 1982, Detroit murder of a 27-year-old Chinese American man by two white former autoworkers who called him a "Jap," while they beat him with a baseball bat. Most of us can recognize the ubiquitous photo of the man with the fluffy hairdo smiling contently before he became known as a hate crime victim.
But is it really a stretch to say that many APAs today don't know who Vincent Chin was?
Filmmakers Tony Lam and Curtis Chin decided to test this premise at a reputable college campus with good APA student representation. They went to the University of Southern California and asked a random sampling of APA students if they knew Vincent Chin. The litany of "no's" is almost chilling. Out of about 70 respondents, only one could muster a vague recollection of the name that she associated to some bar fight somewhere.
Then they knew it was a much bigger problem.
"The fact that one person had heard of Vincent Chin's name ... that says something about our community," said Curtis. "It means we don't know our own history."
A Personal Project
The idea for "Vincent Who?" started last year, on the 25th anniversary of Vincent Chin's murder. Curtis, a Detroit area native and board member of Asian Pacific Americans for Progress, spearheaded a national town hall series about Vincent Chin. He asked Tony to put together a video highlighting the speakers, and the idea evolved into the documentary.
It's been so long since the sensational trial and the 1987 seminal documentary "Who Killed Vincent Chin?" - why not revisit the case and examine its impact?
For Curtis, the Vincent Chin story has a personal note - he was a family friend. The day after the attack, someone burst into Curtis' family restaurant to announce that Vincent was in the hospital. For a while even after his death no one really got angry, said Curtis. Everyone assumed the justice system would take care of it.
But when it became apparent that justice was not working - Vincent's assailants Ronald Ebens and Michael Nitz were sentenced to three years probation and each fined $3,000 plus $780 in fees - the community rallied and protested under a united banner. It's been called the nexus of the APA movement and the awakening of political consciousness, so why has his legacy fallen by the wayside?
What if instead of USC, the filmmakers went to a predominantly African American college and asked students if they knew Martin Luther King, Jr.? What if no one knew? It would be considered a national tragedy, said Tony.
"It's the founding story for our community," he added. "APA identity is meaningless without a shared history."
In a way, Tony could personally identify with some of these USC students. He grew up in Miami, Florida where the only APAs he knew were his relatives.
"Two or three years ago, if someone had asked me if I knew who Vincent Chin was, I would've said no. How was it possible that I went through my own life without knowing about this?"
He was shooting a scene for "Role Models," a TV show he produces for Asian-language channel LA 18, when he heard the name Vincent Chin for the first time. He began reading about the case and brainstorming ideas for the documentary.
Other communities have their icons. Names like James Byrd and Matthew Shepherd roll easily off the tongue.
"What does the Asian American community have?" asked Curtis.
Why Do We Settle?
You can call "Vincent Who?" a revival. It doesn't focus on the case so much as examines the enormous legacy it left behind. So far, the documentary is still a work in progress. Curtis and Tony are hoping for a fall premiere. But the rough version of the documentary provided to the Pacific Citizen delivers a powerful message about a painful reality.
In one scene, journalist Lisa Ling's eyes flash with anger. Enough with trying to fit in and appease, get up and do something. It's emblematic of the community, said Tony. Why do we settle with complacency?
"I think the community tends to be more reactionary. We respond to bad things that happen to us, but we're not building infrastructure," said Curtis.
They've had two advance screenings so far - one at an Asian American Studies conference in Chicago where educators came away hungry for a new way to teach Vincent Chin's story.
Some activists know the story so well that they're tired of talking about it. Some young people say the case is history. Things are better now, so let's move onto other things. Hopefully this film will remove the question mark and spark critical thinking - this is the filmmakers' goal.
"I just want our community to be better," said Curtis.
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