remembering vincent chin: 15 years later

The Vincent Chin case is one of those horrific events in American history that seems to be “swept under the rug” so to speak, because frankly, no one really wants to dwell on ugly, terrifying incidents that expose racial tensions and problems within our society.

A young draftsman named Vincent Chin was attending his bachelor party at a suburban Detroit strip club called Fancy Pants. With the party in full swing, Chin and Ronald Ebens, a white autoworker, began trading insults across the bar. “It’s because of you little motherfuckers that we’re out of work,” witnesses later remembered Ebens yelling at Chin.

Chin struck Ebens, and an altercation ensued. Ebens’ stepson, Michael Nitz - who had been recently laid off from his job at an autoplant - jumped in. But it was soon broken up by a parking attendant. Chin and his friends left the bar and went their separate ways. Twenty minutes later, Ebens and Nitz caught up with Chin in front of a fast-food restaurant. Ebens grabbed a baseball bat and delivered a blow to Chin’s leg. Nitz held the wounded Chin, while Ebens struck his head with the bat, bashing his skull in.

Before he slipped into a coma, Chin murmured to a friend, “It’s not fair.” Four days later - and five days before his wedding - Chin died as a result of the injuries he sustained during the beating.

Even I don’t like to dwell on events like this, as painful as they are, and especially in a world in which I believe most people are basically good people.

But these things happen and they need to be brought up so that we can remember….

Vincent Chin unfortunately was mistaken for a Japanese-American, and two white auto workers blamed “him” for the ailing auto industry at that time. But would it matter? I mean, let’s take away all the racial stuff, and look at it for what it was… two men brutally killing another man viciously with a baseball bat! Surely, this would be a life sentence for at least one of those two men, the sentence was reduced to a $3,000 fine and several years probation… no prison time!

The race card aside, this was a failure in the judicial system to properly sentence two men of killing another man. But, this IS also a racial thing as well.

I can imagine Vincent Chin excited about getting married, going to his bachelor party and seeing his life ahead of him with his future wife. It was sadly a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time… a case of mistaken identity, and a case of racial ignorance on the killers’ part…. stupidity… vicious retaliation… hatred.

It all boils down to hatred and ignorance…. and a lack of compassion and understanding…

We create these divisions within our minds. We separate ourselves from others… when in fact, we are no different than any other human being on this planet.

We all want to live a peaceful and happy life. We all wish to be happy and free from pain…

It’s just so sad how life doesn’t always turn out that way. So sad….