Event in Monterey Park commemorates 1982 racist attack on Vincent Chin – San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Vincent Chin (courtesy of the Chinese American Museum)

MONTEREY PARK – On Sunday, June 23, an event will be held in front of Monterey Park City Hall to remember Vincent Chin, a Chinese-American cartoonist who was killed in a racially motivated attack 42 years ago.

Vincent Chin was a Chinese-American cartoonist who was killed in Detroit in June 1982. He was beaten to death by Ronald Ebens and Michael Nitz, both white men. At the time, Detroit was experiencing an economic downturn that led to a wave of layoffs and unemployment in the auto industry. Before Chin’s death, according to testimony, the two called him a derogatory, anti-Asian name and blamed him for the downturn and job losses in the auto industry.

The Chinese American Museum in downtown Los Angeles organized the event on Sunday to commemorate Chin.

According to the museum, Chin’s murder was a “turning point” in the Asian American civil rights movement.

“This annual commemoration provides an opportunity to reflect on the racial inequality and discrimination that continues to persist in today’s highly polarized social climate, just as it did decades before,” the museum’s statement said.

The event will feature a special shout-out from Brandon Tsay, the hero who disarmed the 2023 Monterey Park massacre shooter at his family’s Alhambra dance studio, preventing another massacre.