From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry

From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry. Michigan Legal Milestone. , "It's not fair." These were the last anguished words whispered by Vincent Chin as he lay dying, the victim of a hate crime on June 19, 1982. His words became a rallying cry for the Asian American community outraged at the lenient sentences his assailants received, and they spawned a civil rights movement. , , On that fateful evening, Chin and three friends were at a bar in Highland Park, celebrating his upcoming wedding. An argument broke out with two auto workers who blamed Asians for taking away their jobs. , , After the group was kicked out of the bar, the two auto workers pursued and caught up with Chin and his friends on Woodward Avenue. While one held Chin, the other bludgeoned him with a baseball bat. Chin died four days later. , , In state court, the assailants received three years' probation and a $3,000 fine for a reduced manslaughter charge. A subsequent criminal trial on federal civil rights charges resulted in the conviction of one assailant and the acquittal of the other. However, the conviction was later overturned and the assailant was acquitted on retrial. Neither assailant ever served any time in jail. , , The Vincent Chin case galvanized the Asian American community and led to the formation of various groups, including American Citizens for Justice and the Michigan Asian Pacific American Bar Association. The case also helped for the basis for state and federal changes on important legal issues dealing with hate crimes, minimum sentencing guidelines, and victims' rights.