As a part of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, the Asian American Alliance will be holding a week-long memorial from April 29-May 3, 2002 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the murder of Vincent Chin. Chin was a Chinese American who was brutally beaten to death during the anti-Japanese backlash of the 1980s. This case brought into the public consciousness the reality of hate crimes against APA communities and the insidious nature of racial lumping and stereotyping.
“APAs are often the forgotten and silenced community. Crimes committed against this community often go unreported and unnoticed. The posters ask, ‘Do you remember Vincent Chin?’ because chances are, people don’t,” Chinese Students Association organizer Will Dao said.
The memorial also intends to highlight the importance of taking lessons from the past and applying them to current situations. “We’d like to use this memorial not only to shed light on the history of hate crimes since the 80s, but also to make people aware that hate crimes still go on today and are in fact on the rise,” APA community coordinator k.t. shorb said.
The events, which are free and open to the public, stress the need for building and strengthening coalitions within the APA community and also with other POC communities.
The week features a showing of the documentary, Who Killed Vincent Chin on Monday at 9 p.m. on Mudd wall, a candlelight vigil and bonfire Thursday, at 8:30 p.m. on Wilder steps, a speak-out Friday from 12-1:30 p.m. on Wilder steps and an information table located in Wilder Bowl for the week’s duration.