Mid-Michigan Asian Pacific American

AssociationA Mini-presentation of Vincent Chin MAPAA and Asian Pacific American

Hate Crimes

Vincent Who? Who? Vincent Chin, Chinese industrial draftsman What? Hate Crime/beaten to death Where? Detroit, Michigan (Woodward Ave.) When? June 23, 1982 (27 years old) Why? Auto industry jobs in America were being lost due to

increase in Japanese auto sales. Ronald Ebens and Micheal Nitz got into an altercation with Chin

at the Fancy Pants club. Ebens and Nitz, like the majority of Americans at the time,

blamed the Japanese, and blamed Chin because of this, even though he was Chinese.

Vincent Chin After they all leave the club, Ebens and Nitz pay a random

guy to help them search the neighborhood for Chin. In June of 1982, Ebens and Nitz brutally beat Chin with a

baseball bat outside a McDonalds believing he was Japanese. Chin’s civil rights were clearly violated.

Ebens and Nitz spend one night in jail and are put on probation. For killing someone.

Judge Kaufman said, “there weren’t the type of men you send to jail.”

Although its fought, virtually nothing is done to see the men face justice.

Public outcry from the Asian American community leads to the creation of MAPAA.

Mid Michigan Asian Pacific American Association (MAPAA)

MAPAA started in 1983 from Margo Lum Smith Mid-Michigan Asian Pacific American Association, or

MAPAA, was a direct reaction of the Asian American community over this injustice.

By 1985 MAPAA is a 501 (C)(3) nonprofit membership association comprised of Mid Michigan individuals and organizations representing ethnic origins from over 30 different nations of the Pacific Ocean rim and Asian continent.

MAPAA got its start by helping justice be brought to another APA hate crime victim in Michigan..

“Who Killed Vincent Chin?”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14lHquzwVkc

0:18-2:25 8:18-8:53

MAPAA takes action

MAPAA assisted in the case of Kit Tien, a young Chinese and Vietnamese American man.

This was the first case that MAPAA handled as an organized group.

Members took turns for court watch activities and met with concerned community leaders from Grand Ledge.

MAPAA also solicited pro-bono legal help for Kit and his family.

MAPAA Members

“Well MAPAA, MAPAA initially, that I mentioned the signers being a bunch of PhDs, MAPAA was a coalition of academics, you know, people associated Michigan State University, and working class people. And its students. And government type people. It happened because those groups came together and wanted MAPAA to exist. Other than that, I don’t think that the people from academia could have organized MAPAA by themselves. Because back then, we had people who were like police officers, CATA bus drivers, yeah, uh, local business men. Who were members of MAPAA. Granted, there were a lot of professors and medical doctors who were there too, but uh, without the working class members I don’t think we could have succeeded.” – Noel Copiaco

Hate crime legislation in Michigan

Michigan protects against: bias-motivated violence and intimidation – criminal penalty, civil action, race, religion, ethnicity, gender, individual vandalism, data collection with sexual orientations but not gender.

Michigan ranks fourth highest in the nation for hate crimes by the FBI and Michigan Department of Civil Right's. The number of organized hate groups in the state has climbed since 2009.

Hate crime legislation in Michigan

The Michigan region of the 2010 Anti-Defamation League (ADL) will be attending the September MIAAHC conference on Hate Crimes to be held in State capital, Lansing. This year, the conference aims to provide organized information and assistance for Michigan residents to develop better response systems, and to help victims of hate crimes. MIAAHC counts with a Community Response System that helps educate, report , and prevent hate crimes.

Recent Hate Crimes Chicago in September 2007, Du Doan, a 62 year-old

Vietnamese man, was pushed off a fishing pier into the icy waters of Lake Michigan, where he drowned.

John Haley, 31, a self-described "skinhead," was charged with first degree murder after he told police how he "pushed our victim in the water — that being taking both hands, shoving them in the back, and literally catapulting him into the water.”

Earlier, Haley reportedly pushed a second Asian man into Lake Michigan who was able to swim safely to shore and also tried to shove a third Asian man off the pier who fought him off.

Despite these reports, police did not charge Haley with a hate crime and have not classified the murder as a hate crime incident.

In September 2005 at the University of Michigan two white students urinated on two Korean students from a second-story balcony while insulting their Asian heritage.

Around the same time members of the United Asian American Organization were painting the rock for someone’s birthday and had raw eggs thrown at them. The students said they were targeted because they were all Asian.

One targeted student said "I think people are more sensitive now, but I wouldn't go as far as saying that people are friendly toward Asians”.

At a November rally held in response to the urination incident, Vice President for Student Affairs E. Royster Harper said that the administration will soon create a centralized hotline for students to report hate crimes. The number will allow University officials to monitor the severity and frequency of hate crimes on campus and build educational programs to help change the "cold" climate on campus. But, a year later, the hotline is still not operational. Students don't know how to react to racial discrimination or where to report it. (Michigan Daily)