美国国家公共电台 NPR His Life Cut Short, Vincent Chin Is Remembered For What Might Have Been

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Today from StoryCorps on this Friday, we have memories of a Chinese-American immigrant killed 35 years ago today. Vincent Chin was a draftsman living near Detroit. In 1982, Chin and a group of friends went out to celebrate his upcoming wedding. He was 27 years old. At a bar, he crossed paths with two auto¹ industry workers angry about recent layoffs², which they blamed on Japanese imports. Gary Koivu was with Chin that night. He recently came to StoryCorps with his wife to recall his childhood friend.

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GARY KOIVU: Vincent was introduced to my first-grade class. And I can remember him standing³ up there and the teacher introducing him. And we were good friends for over 20 years.

KIM KOIVU: He asked you to be the best man for his wedding?

G. KOIVU: He did. I was at work. And he called me up, said - why don't you meet me at the bar tonight? It was one last time to go out with the guys before he got married. We were just having a good time and listening to music. There was an auto worker, and he said to Vincent, because of little [expletive] like you, a lot of Americans are losing their jobs. Vincent wasn't Japanese. He was Chinese, but that didn't matter. He...

K. KOIVU: He was Asian.

G. KOIVU: He was Asian. And with that, Vincent stood up, and he did fight. And Vincent was holding his own. Later, we were outside, and the man went straight to the car and pulled out a baseball bat and started racing⁴ toward Vincent. And Vincent ran, but they found him. I don't know how many times he hit him in the head, but he was swinging the baseball bat like he was swinging for a home run. Still hurts just talking about it. Left an empty hole in my heart.

These men that killed him, they were given probation⁵ and a fine for what they had done. And that was like a punch in the gut⁶. Vincent - he had a good life. He was getting married in a few days. He was looking forward to buying a house. And his mother was going to live with him, and he was going to have kids. And I was happy for him. He was living the American dream.

G. KOIVU: And the rest of us, we got married and lived the rest of our lives. But he missed out on that.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHRISTOPHER BOWEN'S "I WANT TO SEE YOU FLY")

INSKEEP: That's Gary and Kim Koivu in Detroit, remembering Vincent Chin, killed 35 years ago today. The federal case against Chin's killers⁷ marked the first time a civil rights law was used to prosecute⁸ a crime against an Asian-American. It became a rallying point for stronger federal hate crimes legislation. And this interview will be archived by the Library of Congress.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHRISTOPHER BOWEN'S "I WANT TO SEE YOU FLY")