- Hi, I'm Satori Shakoor, and here's what's coming up on "One Detroit Arts and Culture."

This month, the city of Detroit commemorates the 40th anniversary of Vincent Chin's murder.

A hate crime that ignited the modern Asian American Civil Rights Movement.

We look at an artist inspired by the story.

Plus the legacy of Vincent Chin told through a powerful documentary.

It's all this week on "One Detroit Arts and Culture."

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(light upbeat music) - Hi, and welcome to "One Detroit Arts and Culture."

I'm your host Satori Shakoor.

Thanks for joining me here at Anthony Lee's Artist Studio.

He's creating this stunning mural of Vincent Chin that will be displayed at Peterboro and Cass, and what used to be Detroit's Chinatown.

Tonight's show is all about honoring and learning about Chin and his legacy.

It's been 40 years since his death put Detroit in the national headlines.

Chin a Chinese American was killed when anti-Asian sentiment was on the rise.

As the automakers were losing market share to Japanese imports.

Artist Anthony Lee was asked to create a mural to honor Chin.

One Detroit's Bill Kubota has more on the creation of this piece.

- What I'm trying to do is build the layers, right now all these are under layers until all the food is really glistening and really popping out, looking super juicy and fresh.

- [Narrator 1] Anthony Lee is finishing this piece of public art to be installed in what was Detroit's Chinatown, later this month.

- When people even talk about Chinatown, a lot of people, especially Chinese people, kind of just like, "What's the point?

Why you even waste your time there?"

Like, and I didn't understand where that mentality came from.

Until later on, I just realized there was a lot of trauma in Vincent Chin, his case was one of the last straws that really added to that trauma, you know.

- [Narrator 1] A tribute to Vincent Chin, killed in 1982, a case of anti-Asian hate, 40 years later a key piece of Asian American history.

- I'm an illustrator, signage painter, but I'm primarily a muralist.

I like large-scale drawing, getting things really big.

But I also like working with businesses, local restaurants, cafes, nonprofits, to kind of activate their spaces.

- [Narrator 1] Lee's worked all around Metro Detroit, some with Asian themes, others not.

- I spent like six years at the college of creative studies trying to find what was my thing.

And my senior year, senior thesis, they're like, "All right, what you wanna do?"

And I was like, "I think I wanna mural paint."

And they're like, "Great.

Well, none of us teach that, so good luck."

(Anthony laughs) But it was cool.

I had a professor named Gilda Snowden, she's a really famous artist in the Cass Corridor.

She just said, "Just keep making art until something happens."

And then she knew that I was looking for something.

Someone had given her a mural commission for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Detroit, and she passed it on to me.

But she said, "Like how we do things in Detroit, that like, if someone passes you a gig, you have to see it through, will you see it through?"

And I was nervous, 'cause I had never painted large-scale anything before.

Growing up in Detroit area, there wasn't a lot of Asians American artists.

You know, I've always wanted to be a part of like a group or not just a group, but just like have like a community that we could like support and reach out to each other kind of thing.

Just like the original Cass Corridor artist.

And I was wondering why that wasn't there.

- [Narrator 1] That Cass Corridor group goes back five or six decades.

Now, how about an Asian American artist collaborative?

Lee's got some plans while at a studio in Southwest Detroit.

Some are starting to get together.

- I'm always trying to find other dope Asian artists anywhere.

- [Narrator 1] Art curator, Shingo Brown's running what he calls Art Buddies, the creators all AAPIs.

- For Art Buddies, it's been an evolution.

Right now, I invite an X amount of artists.

It's grown to about 25 artists.

They all have the same size frame.

There's no thing.

They come in and start and finish a piece within two hours.

Throughout the past couple years, I've been able to speak with these people who are not sure.

All they really need is some type of confirmation that they are objectively technically skilled as an artist.

They just need someone to be like, "That's really good.

You should make more."

- [Narrator 1] Art by Asian Americans.

So then Asian American art in the spotlight soon, Anthony Lee's Vincent Chin tribute.

Part of the 40th anniversary program in memory of Chin's death.

- In Chinese cultures, especially Cantonese culture, which he was and I am, whether you're Buddhist or not, you're growing up showing respect to your ancestors by doing these ancestor offerings.

And when you do that, you take three incense you put it in this little pot, and then you put little offerings and gestures of love.

- [Narrator 1] This painted offering commissioned by the American Citizens for Justice.

The group's still fighting.

They demanded justice for Vincent Chin all those years ago.

- The system had failed him horribly and we need to know why it failed him, so that we can have the context to protect people in the future.

- One of the most important documentaries that's helped frame the Asian American experience called "Who Killed Vincent Chin?"

Aired nationally on PBS in 1987.

And it will be seen again on PBS, June 20th.

Detroit Public Television help create the film that got a lot of national recognition.

The filmmakers, Christine Choy and Renee Tajima-Pena, talked with One Detroit about the making of the film along with DPTV's executive producer of the project at the time, Juanita Anderson.

- Detroit, it's got the reputation murder capital of the world.

It's like, and I didn't even do it on purpose.

You know, I didn't walk up and shoot somebody.

♪ Di-di-di-di-bom ♪ ♪ Sha-na-na-na-na ♪ ♪ Sha-na-na-na-na-na ♪ ♪ Sha-na-na-na-na-na ♪ ♪ Sha-na-na-na-na-na ♪ ♪ Sha-na-na-na-na-na ♪ - The murder happened in 1982, in June.

It was big news in the city of Detroit.

Particularly, in light of the fact that Detroit was in a major recession at that time.

The Japanese auto industry particularly was blamed for Detroit's woes.

- The American auto industry and its army have targeted Japan as a major source of its problems.

- We are being shot at and shot up by the Japanese who have the most protectionist economy in the world.

But some of those who hold up the specter of a trade war ignore is that we are already in the middle of such a war, but only the Japanese are shooting.

- Chrysler, ultimately took a bailout during that period.

Though the auto industry itself, and Detroit economically because so many people relied on the auto industry was really in a bad time.

(jaunty music) - But many of their verbal bullets aimed at the Japanese government and car makers have strayed off course and are hitting home instead.

- Vincent Chin's death attracted a lot of press attention particularly in light of the fact that he was Asian American and there were auto workers who were implicated in his killing.

- I remember getting this mailing and snail mail.

This young man named Vincent Chin had been, you know, beaten to death with a baseball bat by two auto workers, Ron Ebens and Mike Nitz.

And at this time they had pleaded guilty in State Court to manslaughter and they would serve no time in jail.

And the local Asian American community particularly the Chinese American community was really up in arms.

And so they wanted people all over the country in different Asian American communities to know about it.

- [All] Justice for Vincent Chin.

Justice for Vincent Chin.

- [Narrator 2] The 11:30 rally began with a list of speakers nearly a page long, waiting to add their personal support and that of many organizations to the cause of justice for Vincent Chin.

- We ask that all of you who have been so supportive on the struggle for justice- - [Juanita] Really became clear that this was much bigger than a local story.

- And do you sentence me?

- [Juanita] I just felt that this was a national story that deserved to be developed.

- I think anybody who takes the time to go over the facts of this case, and to read what people who were witnesses there.

Anybody who takes the time to look at that I think can only conclude that there was racial motivation in this killing.

- As the Attorney General's Office began to investigate when we realized that there was the potential of it being the first civil rights case involving Asian Americans, which made it an even bigger national story.

- [Narrator 2] Nitz and Ebens were both charged with killing Vincent Chin.

I spoke with some of his neighbors, asked for reaction.

- They're really good people, and it could happen to anybody.

You know, it could happen.

- As there was this tremendous surge in news coverage particularly in Detroit, but also nationally.

There was very little effort to get the perspectives of the Asian American community outside of press conferences or the protests that were covered.

(Lily speaking in foreign language) - Nobody really attempted to talk to members of the Asian American community or Vincent Chin's family at all.

(Lily speaking in foreign language) - So the Vincent Chin film was an idea until Detroit Public TV got involved.

Bob Larson was the president of Detroit Public TV.

Juanita shopped the idea to Bob.

He wanted to take it on like they were local in Detroit.

They knew all about the case.

And they said, "Yeah, let's do it."

You know, it was like kind of like a dream come true.

(upbeat guitar music) ♪ Southern sun, riding high ♪ ♪ Winter nights, warm and dry ♪ - The Corporation for Public Broadcasting had a growing track record.

I should say of funding Black and brown and indigenous people for cultural affairs programs.

But something that was a contemporary what they considered a public affairs social issue.

They had not really funded people of color, and certainly not women.

So what happened was our proposal was put aside to see if they could find us a mentor in a new minority mentorship program that they were developing.

Now mind you, one of us had a degree in journalism from the University of Michigan, a second person had attended Harvard, a third had attended Columbia.

All of us had done work before that had made it to national television in one way, shape or form.

So, you know, sort of peculiar to us that our credentials were being questioned.

- So CPB assigned a story consultant, white boy from WGBH Boston to supervise me to "the objectivity."

Can you believe this?

- And he was supposed to be kind of like our overseer and Bob and Juanita said, "Don't worry, we'll take care of him."

"You guys just make the film."

(lively piano music) (woman singing in foreign language) They just believe that, you know, if you have a vision for a film, a filmmaker has to be free to pursue that vision.

(woman singing in foreign language) So we are a very small crew.

There was Chris and I, Nancy Tong, our associate producer.

And, you know, camera person, sometimes an assistant camera, but generally just a sound person, as well.

And we just all worked as, you know, one unit and Nancy and I did all of the interviews.

(Lily speaking in foreign language) - Next thing I know while the other girls out dancing we hear boom, boom, boom, boom you know, and we run to the stage to see what's happening.

She's coming off the stage.

You know, we go, what's up when we look out, and I see guys are fighting out there in the club.

- What if we'd have had an accident prior to it?

What if we'd have went to the ball game?

And there was 10,000 what ifs I've asked myself.

And it's just like this was, preordained to be, I guess.

It just happened.

- One of the things about documentary in general and I think successful documentaries is that the producers and directors have to build trust.

Whoever's doing the interviewing has to build in a sense of trust and maintain that trust with their subject whether they're protagonist, antagonist, or what.

- I was talking to Jimmy on my left and Vincent was on my right.

- [Juanita] And Renee was really tremendous at doing that.

- And that's when I turned and saw who Vincent was talking to a man I later found out was Mike, Ronald Ebens.

And I put my hand on Vincent's arm to kind of calm him down.

- I came around the bar and all I saw was that Mr. Ebens was yelling at Vincent Chin.

And the next thing you know, Vincent got up walked around and hit Mr. Ebens.

- And he come around and sucker punch me.

And that was the start of it all, right there.

- She had a sense of integrity.

She would ask the hard questions, but very calmly.

I mean, it's part of this demeanor, you're eliciting these stories, but one of the techniques that she used that became very powerful was really simply listening.

So you ask a question.

- Well, I often wondered who the ACJ was because every time a different program came on, a different month of the year came up there was a different President.

- It gets answered and you wait and see if there's more.

And sure enough, there's more.

- Parading Mrs. Chin around the country or whatever.

- I personally think that a lot of 'em used it for their own vehicles just to get ahead.

Secondly, they used it to, you know, promote the Asian American and their alleged plight in this country, which I am not aware of that they have a plight, 'cause I know very few Asians, very few.

And the ones that I do know have always been really nice people.

In fact, my daughter used to help an Asian kid at school.

- Getting him on camera was so important.

It was like if you're a journalist or a filmmaker, you know, you wanna talk to people who are directly involved, but in this kind of case, I mean, Ron Ebens was like at the center of the story or one of the people at the center of the story, so I wanted to talk to him.

- Well, to be quite honest, I expected to go to jail.

I pleaded guilty to manslaughter on that.

I did just like anybody else.

I went to take my licks.

Like, 'cause I thought, "Sure, I would go to jail."

- And you know, one guy, older guy was checking a young guy's head, you know, 'cause blood was running down his face, and I went over to see if they need any help.

They said they needed some help and they was gonna offer me $20 to catch these Chinese guys that they got into it with.

So we got into their car.

- Pretty quickly I thought it would be sort of like a "Rashomon" kind of story.

It's this idea that...

In "Rashomon," there was a rape in the forest and you have all these witnesses, but they all interpret what they saw in a different way.

And I thought in a hate crime, particularly in this case if you listen to the different witnesses it was very similar.

They might have been in the fancy-pants, or they might have been with Ron and Mike as they look for Vincent.

Or could have been with Vincent as he, you know, left the fancy-pants.

People might have been witnesses at the McDonald's when Vincent was being beaten to death by Ron and Mike.

People had a different interpretation of what was going on inside the heads of Ron and Mike and Vincent.

And specifically, was it an act of racial animus?

Was it a hate crime?

- I never even got a chance to stand up.

Never seen it coming.

And that's the way the whole thing started.

- I identify myself as a police officer.

I showed him a badge and an ID card.

I had my weapon drawn.

I asked him to drop the baseball bat.

He hesitated at which time he eventually dropped the baseball bat.

But at that particular time, the damage had been done.

- When we pulled up, we found that it was oriental gentleman.

His skull was obviously fractured.

There was brains laying on the street.

And Chin was obviously in a fatal condition, he wasn't dead yet, semiconscious.

But from my experience of being on the street for so long, the man was a goner.

- The structure of is definitely nonlinear.

I would say it is rather experimental.

(dramatic percussive music) I would say almost like experimental music, okay.

Like Laurie Anderson, you know, like avant-garde.

Why?

You play a note, di-di-di-di, then you play the same note second time, di-di-di-di-di.

Then you play the same note, di-di-di-di-ding-ding-ding, okay.

It's that kind of structure.

Every time it's adding new information.

After you are repeating the old information.

(playful music) - To change your image of Asian people, our image of passiveness.

Able to sit just do nothing, just accept whatever is coming to us.

We decide it is time to stand up for our rights.

- I don't think there is such a thing called objectivity.

Journalism stress objectivity.

But emotion is not objective, very subjective.

What are the emotion?

Sense, happiness?

You know, despair?

Terrified?

Film is composed of that emotion.

Once you able to reach the emotion of your spectator then logic will come through.

It doesn't go other way.

Not the logic first.

Once you have a logic, there is no emotion, and it would not be very successful.

What I learned about Vincent Chin is, every time I screen the film I never seen anyone stood up or leaving the room.

Because every single minute is emotional.

- [Man] It seems that Mrs. Chin is having some difficulties speaking.

I think what she had said at the beginning was the court failed the first time.

It seemed like the second time the court fails, again, to speak, maybe we'll field questions.

- I would hope people use that footage as a historic document.

And young filmmakers will take it, and create something new because things have changed.

History has changed.

I mean, I think that, we can't look at the Vincent Chin case in through the same lens as the 1980s.

We have to look at it through 2022 or you know, in 10 years and 2030, like how things have changed.

- Please, I want everybody tell the government, "Do not to drop this case."

I want justice for Vincent.

- Wen Ho Lee case was accused as spy, and I make a short film about him.

And I went to interview his lawyer, he thanked me.

He said, "Because your film, I became a criminal lawyer."

Yeah, that's really satisfying to hear that something that good things, you know, actually come out of it.

- [Reporter] Do you think this trial would've occurred had not your group and other Asian Americans gotten involved and brought pressure today here and around the country?

- I don't think any civil rights trial occurs unless there's pressure.

- All of us, people of color, there's still issues with racial profiling.

There's still issues with scapegoating.

There issues are clearly of the justice system.

And I think that we have a responsibility to each other to know each other's history.

- Starting June 16th, a four-day series of Vincent Chin, 40th remembrance and rededication events will be taking place in Detroit and online.

For more information on this and all of our Arts and Culture stories, go to our website at onedetroitpbs.org.

That's gonna do it for tonight, but I'll leave you with the smooth sounds of lyricist Frankie P. Enjoy, and I'll see you next Monday.

(funky music) ♪ Listen, I live, you hear me ♪ ♪ Maybe I'm not loud enough ♪ ♪ Read between the lines ♪ ♪ If you think about it hard enough ♪ ♪ Disconnect 'cause homie you not charging up ♪ ♪ I'm not a threat ♪ ♪ They told me I'm not smart enough ♪ ♪ See this my art, baby ♪ ♪ This is where I start, baby ♪ ♪ Come from the heart, baby ♪ ♪ Go and play your part, baby ♪ ♪ I'm gonna play your part ♪ ♪ And get far from the scene ♪ ♪ Too much is going on ♪ ♪ If you know what I mean ♪ ♪ See, homie, I might fade away ♪ ♪ Fade to the back ♪ - [Announcer 3] You can find more at onedetroitpbs.org or subscribe to our social media channels, and sign up for our One Detroit newsletter.

- [Announcer 1] From Delta faucets to Behr paint.

Masco Corporation is proud to deliver products that enhance the way consumers all over the world, experience and enjoy their living spaces.

Masco, serving Michigan communities since 1929.

Support for this program is provided by the Cynthia & Edsel Ford Fund for journalism and Detroit Public TV.

The Kresge Foundation.

- [Announcer 2] The DTE Foundation is a proud sponsor of Detroit Public TV.

Among the state's largest foundations, committed to Michigan focused giving.

We support organizations that are doing exceptional work in our state.

Visit DTEFoundation.com to learn more.

- [Announcer 1] Nissan Foundation and Viewers Like You.

(light upbeat music) (piano music)