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The last words whispered by Vincent Chin, who was beaten to death in 1982 in Highland Park, Michigan, were, "It's not fair." This sentiment would be echoed by Asian Americans as the lenient sentences meted out to his assailants caused an outcry in that community and led to the birth of a civil and victims' rights movement. This article presents Frances Kai-Hwa Wang's remarks about the role of the media in the Chin case and in the birth of the Asian American civil rights movement. Wang was the executive director of American Citizens for Justice (the nonprofit Asian American civil rights advocacy group founded when Vincent Chin was killed) when she gave the speech, which was made at the State Bar's 34th Michigan Legal Milestone ceremony commemorating the Vincent Chin case, "From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry," held on 19 June 2009. A bronze plaque memorializing the case was unveiled and is now installed in Ferndale, Michigan, near the former site of the Golden Star Restaurant where Chin worked as a waiter. These remarks were broadcast on Michigan Government Television on 24 August 2009.
SPEECH BY FRANCES WANG
One of my favorite stories surrounding the Vincent Chin case is how it went from a local story about a barroom brawl to a national one about civil rights in America - at a car rental place. Helen Zia was a founding member of American Citizens for Justice and one of the lead activists, and her car was in the shop, so she had to rent a car. As she stood in line at the rental car agency, she noticed that the tall African American woman in front of her had both the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press open to articles about the case, and she noticed that the woman was also holding a small notebook embossed with the words, "New York Times? So she leaned over and asked, "Are you interested in this case? I have some press packets right here, if you'd like." It turns out that when reporters are on vacation, if they can find some story to write about while they are there, they can get part of their expenses reimbursed. So this New York Times reporter, Judith Cummins, was...