Vincent Who?

Name Of Event: Vincent Who?
Organization: Asian/Pacific/American Institute and The Center for Multicultural Education & Progress at NYU.
Duration: 2hrs

I was very intrigued to see this movie. I think that the title was very appropriate with the purpose of making and screening the movie; which was, from my understanding, to put the word, the story of Vincent Chin, out and the effects of what could be considered as a historical event. So who is Vincent Chin?

Vincent Chin as a victim of a hate crime; he was beaten to death with a bat by two white men. His death is considered has the start of the Asian American movement for social justice as the two men were cleared of second degree murder charges, and instead got 3 years probation and a $3,000 fine.

At the beginning of the movie, they asked many Asian American if they knew about Vincent Chin. Many of them, if not all, had no clue who is was. What I found interesting about this is how the film showed how the tragedy of Vincent Chin brought the whole Asian American community together to fight for justice, but although many people from the community did not know about it. I just think it was a interesting contrast.

Another thing that I also found interesting was the idea that there is a lack of Asian-American that are involved in social justice movement. While I can't say if it is accurate or not, a point one of the speakers made in the movie that I thought made a lot of sense was the idea that this lack is due, partly, to the fact that this particular community doesn't have a Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson, like the Black community has. This really got me thinking. Social justice movement and the fight for civil rights can get very intense and hard to accomplish and to start from scratch sure is not easy. However the movie clearly showed that it did not stop people from fighting for justice, especially the younger community. I think that it really shows that the fight for social justice is a true commitment and even if it starts out small, when more and more people come together it is bound to make great changes.

What was great about Vincent Who? was how people got really passionate about social justice just by hearing and researching his story; and most of them got involved in some type of social justice organization. Which got me thinking. There are plenty of Vincent Chins all around the US. but just like Vincent Chin, not many of us know. So perhaps a great way to start social justice movement is to put all of the different Vincent Chin's out the all sorts of audience and get them as passionate about doing something. But I just might be thinking way over my head.

I'm glad I went to see this movie. Again, as I mentioned before, it really puts all these things that we talk about in class in action. But it also shows how the fight for social justice can, actually is very difficult. However, it is possible and that is a refreshing thought to have.