Forty-three years ago this month, Vincent Chin, a Detroit area Chinese American, was beaten to death with a baseball bat. His killing and subsequent court proceedings marked the beginning of the modern Asian American civil rights movement nationwide. 

That story has been extensively reported, including an award-winning 1987 documentary “Who Killed Vincent Chin?” co-produced by Detroit PBS. The city of Detroit installed a new street sign on June 23 in Chin’s memory where a vibrant Chinatown once stood at the corner of Cass Avenue and Peterboro Street. 

The street sign “Vincent Chin Street” was unveiled by Roland Hwang, Co-Founder of American Citizens for Justice, Richard Mui, President of the Association of Chinese Americans Detroit, State Senator Stephanie Chang and Detroit City Council Member Gabriela Santiago-Romero. 

“We are here to thank the city of Detroit,” said Hwang, who explained the city required an ordinance change to allow a non-resident to be recognized with a street sign. Chin lived in Oak Park at the time of his death. 

Also in attendance was Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan. Chin was killed when Duggan was a law school student. Wayne County Circuit Judge Charles Kaufman would issue probation sentences to the two men convicted in Chin’s death. 

“It hit me particularly because one of Judge Kaufman’s colleagues on the Wayne County Circuit Court was my father, who was also a judge. I called him that night, so angry,” Duggan said. 

The new sign fits in with efforts to bring new life to the neighborhood. Many of the people who once lived there moved to the suburbs decades ago. The long-closed Chung’s restaurant building is still standing, has been renovated and awaits tenants, according to One Detroit journalism partner BridgeDetroit. Also, last year a one-million-dollar streetscape project was announced that is expected to revitalize the area. 

At the street sign unveiling, the Detroit Chinatown Vision Committee announced the First Annual Chinatown Block Party to be held Saturday, July 26 from noon to 8 p.m. at the Detroit Shipping Company. The community celebration will include food and cultural entertainment. 

One Detroit’s Zosette Guir and Bill Kubota visited the street sign installation ceremony and heard from the co-chairs of the Detroit Chinatown Vision Committee, Francis Grunow and Sandy Fatt along with Matt Hessler, the owner of one of the last original Chinatown buildings, which he acquired 10 years ago. They also talked to the owner of a Chinese restaurant in the area called The Peterboro, which opened nearly a decade ago — long after the original restaurants left.