Courtesy of American Citizens for Justice/Asian American Center for Justice
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Following layoffs in the Detroit area automobile industry in the late 1970s, tensions among former employees were running high. Chrysler had begun importing more vehicles from Japan’s Mitsubishi plant leaving many laid off employees disgruntled with Asian Americans. Vincent Chin was a Chinese American man who was severely beat to death in June of 1982 following an altercation with Roger Ebens and Michael Nitz - both disgruntled about the loss of their jobs. Although guilty of the death, both Ebens and Nitz were only charged with manslaughter and served three years probation. Chin’s death began a movement on “hate crime” and served as a catalyst for the Asian American movement demanding civil rights.
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