I think I’m about to post something pretty controversial about the Vincent Chin case, but I’m interested in hearing other people’s responses. Although I’m personally saying this strictly from the information provided by the video, I’m inclined to believe that Vincent Chin’s fight with Ronald Ebens and his eventually murder can not be simply labeled a hate crime. I’m following Jennifer Lee’s argument in her book, Civility in the City, in which she argues that in a predominantly black populated neighborhood, such as West Harlem, it is the media that marks these areas as violent and brimming with racial hatred, but is not actually realistically reflective of the everyday relationships between Korean/Jewish merchants and their patronizing Black customers. Civility is the norm. Purely economic disputes between merchants and customers escalate into racially charged arguments because they provide channels through which the marginalized community can vent their frustrating situation, when it is one that the structural level is responsible for. I believe that Ebens and Chin’s conflict follows this model and initially began as a bar fight that became racially charged. Where that racial injustice is evident is in following trial where the
posted by Elisa @ 4:53 PM
3 Comments:
I don't think the Ebens had a racist motivation for killing Chin either. The only proof shown that it might be racist was the one sentence that the dancer heard about people in the auto industry losing their jobs because of people like Chin. I don't think this one sentence was the motive to kill Chin. I guess it could have been a factor, but mostly I think it was just a drunken brawl that escalated because two men were too proud to just let it go. The film made it sound like Chin was just as much, if not more at fault. Chin provoked Ebens and was kind of asking for it. I’m not saying he deserved to be killed, not at all, but he definitely instigated the fight.
One thing that bugged me about the film was how much Mrs. Chin's drama was played up. Yes, Mrs. Chin's story was moving (as would any mother's when losing a young son about to be married), but that doesn't make Ebens anymore guilty (i.e. that shouldn't justify a greater punishment than the murder of any other man). Does that make me sound like a bad person? It just seemed like the documentary was kind of skewing the facts of the story with a sympathy vote.
Although I don't think Ebens had racist intentions, I do believe he should have been punished for murdering a man. How he got of scott free is beyond me. He should have at least been charged with manslaughter.
Regarding the judge, however, I’m not sure if he was racist or if that’s how he would have handled any case. (I might be playing devil’s advocate here, but hey…innocent until proven guilty, right?) I think his downfall was not doing a very thorough trial, and not calling other witnesses besides the two white men, but that could just be foolish and careless, not racially motivated.
So here’s my question:
Civil rights attorney Helen Zia said that Vincent Chin would still be alive today if he was not Asian, but would his story still be alive if he was not Asian? In other words, would this big of a deal have been made if Ebens had received the same sentence for killing a white man?
-Kelly Cloward
Ok, so first, I think I have to agree, no, I do not think Ebens harbored explicit, clear hatred and prejudice towards those of Asian descent. Does that make him not racist? Absolutely not. People have to understand that there is something about the way that the Asian American body has been racialized in the United States that has resulted in all sorts of really long lasting and racist stuff. This is definitely not the first example of Asian Americans getting the short end of the legislative stick. Even the first large group of Asian immigrants, the Chinese laborers on the railroads and camptowns, were murdered by white people without any justice. There was legislature that even prohibited the testimonies of Asian peoples in a court of law. The Japanese during WWII were sent to internment camps, so did this have anything to do with the fact that they were Asian? For some reason, the Asian body has been cast as being less valuable than a white body, and I'm sure this was a factor in the beating of Vincent Chen.
I am unsure of why this particular case has taken on such an iconic place in Asian American history, as there are thousands of murders of Asian Americans every year. I'm not the type to point to everything and call it racist, but I do believe that race plays into everything. It is far too early to be writing, so I think I will stop here.
-Min
I agree with Min on this one: the legal outcome of this case cannot be blamed on one individual judge when American history demonstrates systematic discrimination and de-humanizing of Asian American bodies. Violence against people of color that deprives victims of legal recourse is endemic throughout American history. The displacement and killing of American Indians was primarily a state project, but vigilante violence as a way of policing Black and Asian American communities lasted well into the 20th century. It also underlies contemporary instances of police brutality (and their subsequent light punishment at the hands of the legal system).
While the altercation that led to Vincent Chin's murder may not have been as race-motivated as some accounts may suggest, this history of white-perpetrated violence against people of color in America normalized its escalation into a killing. Alcohol may explain why men at a bar got into a fight, but it should in no way excuse the level and type of violence that occurred.
Given the historical relationship of Asian Americans to the American legal system, I can see why attempting to fight within the system (by challenging Judge Kaufman's competence/impartiality) might have seemed hopeless. If race was a factor in the way Ebens and Nitz chose to "resolve" their conflict with Chin, it was certainly a factor in the way his case was handled by police investigators, by the state prosecutor, and by the judge. Even if Ebens himself was not actively thinking/saying racist statements all the time, this case needs to be seen in the context of racialized violence in America.
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