MONTEREY PARK — “Commemorating Vincent Chin” in front of Monterey Park City Hall, 320 W. Newmark, from 7 to 8 p.m. on Sunday, June 23.

The Chinese American Museum annually dedicates this evening in remembrance of Chin’s murder, which served as a pivotal point in the Asian American civil rights movement. This commemoration allows for the reflection of racial inequality and discrimination that continues to persist in today’s highly polarized social climate, just as it did decades before. 

The evening’s program will include special remarks from invited guest speakers and will conclude with a candlelight vigil in remembrance of Chin. The speakers are:

Thomas Wong, mayor of Monterey Park and councilmember representing District 1.

Ron Wakabayashi, former regional director of the U.S. Justice Department’s Community Relations Service and former national director of the Japanese American Citizens League.

Brandon Tsay, a community activist who prevented the gunman in last year’s Monterey Park shootings from committing a similar massacre in Alhambra.

Dr. Gay Yuen, board chair of Friends of the Chinese American Museum and member of the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission.

This event does not require a RSVP beforehand, and parking can be found throughout the neighborhood streets. 

On June 23, 1982, Vincent Chin was violently beaten to death in the Detroit area by two white men, Ronald Ebens and Michael Nitz, in a racially motivated attack. The tragedy occurred against the backdrop of an economic downturn in the U.S. wherein many Americans in the auto industry were laid off and they blamed the Japanese auto industry for their plight.

Chin’s assailants never served jail time and walked free with minimal fines for the senseless murder. The verdict of the trial was perceived as a gross miscarriage of justice and highlighted the racial inequities within the American legal system and further galvanized the Asian American community in its aftermath — leading to widespread advocacy for justice and attention to issues of racial violence and discrimination.