Vincent Who? March 17, 2011

Vincent Chin was a 27 year old Chinese American draftsman and celebrating his upcoming marriage in Detroit when he was attacked with baseball bats in 1982 by Ronald Ebens, a Chrysler supervisor and Michael Nitz, Ebens’ laid-off stepson. The fatal assault, motivated by anti-Japanese sentiment among autoworkers due to Japan’s successful entry into the United States automobile market, ended in Chin’s death and galvanized Asian and Asian Americans around the country to form a real community and movement. This documentary, inspired by a series of town hall meetings organized by Asian Pacific Americans for Progress on the 25th anniversary of the case, features interviews with the key players at the time, as well as a whole new generation of activists. Vincent Who? asks how far Asian Americans have come since then and how far they have yet to go.