Judy Chu: “30 years ago, Vincent Chin, a young Chinese American engineer, was celebrating his impending wedding in Detroit…”

“30 years ago, Vincent Chin, a young Chinese American engineer, was celebrating his impending wedding in Detroit, Michigan, when two unemployed autoworkers started shouting at him, saying, ``It is you Japanese who are taking away our jobs.'' They chased him down and bashed his head in with a baseball bat. Vincent's murderers were only punished with a $3,000 fine and got off without even spending a day in jail. In the meanwhile, instead of going to his wedding, Vincent's family went to his funeral. This injustice led to the emergence of a national Asian Pacific American identity and movement. This week, as chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific Caucus, I will be introducing a resolution on the significance of the 30th anniversary of Vincent's death. His story remains an important reminder of why we must always combat the dangers of xenophobia and scapegoating. ____________________”