Producer Curtis Chin edu­cated stu­dents Feb. 22 on the legacy of Vincent Chin with the pre­sen­ta­tion of the award-winning doc­u­men­tary “Vincent Who?”

Inspired by the 1982 death of Chinese American Vincent Chin, the doc­u­men­tary explored the events which led to one of the first Asian-American civil rights move­ments. Chin’s attack, which included racial slurs, was con­sid­ered by many in the Asian com­mu­nity to be a hate crime.

However, the lenient sen­tences received by both sus­pects drew much atten­tion from var­i­ous Asian-American com­mu­ni­ties. By 1983, sup­port­ers marched the streets wield­ing signs stat­ing “Justice for Vincent.” Chin says the film shows the need to unite all Americans in the face of social injustice.

“We felt this was an impor­tant cause for all civil rights in America,” said Chin. “I wanted to shed light on those involved in Asian-American civil rights and reflect on our polit­i­cal empowerment.”

Ferris stu­dent Amanda Xiong said the film’s mes­sage of uni­fy­ing the Asian-American com­mu­nity is an essen­tial step toward strength­en­ing the cul­ture on campus.

“We have to rep­re­sent one another. We need to pro­mote our­selves,” said Xiong.

Throughout the film, Chin also dis­played key indi­vid­u­als involved in the devel­op­ment of con­tem­po­rary Asian-American civil rights. Activists such as Helen Zia recount their involve­ment in Chin’s trial in detail in the 40-minute documentary.

Asian Student Organization mem­ber Hieu Trinh said he sees the film as an exam­ple of the uni­ver­sity pro­vid­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties for Asian stu­dents on cam­pus to learn more about their cultures.

“Ferris is doing a great job with the Asian com­mu­nity by pro­vid­ing events such as the film and the ISO fes­ti­val,” said Trinh. “We also have RSO’s such as the International Student Organization and Asian Student Organization for every­one to join and learn more about the inter­na­tional and Asian cul­tures on campus.”

Asian Pacific Americans for Progress is cur­rently pro­mot­ing Chin’s story through­out its national tour of col­leges and universities.

The doc­u­men­tary “Vincent Who?” was hosted by Michael Wade and the Office of Multicultural Student
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