Vincent Who?

The title of this documentary refers to the quizzical response that the filmmaker receives when asking young Asian Americans whether they've heard of Vincent Chin. In 1982, during a period when Japan exerted considerable economic clout around the world, Chin was a victim of a violent hate crime, and the two white unemployed auto workers responsible for his beating death outside a Detroit nightclub got off on a technicality and served no prison time. This interview-driven film features members of the Asian American activist community who participated in the mass protests following the verdict, along with young American-born Asians (including celebs such as Kelly Hu and Lisa Ling) affected by this dark chapter in U.S. race-relations history. Director Tony Lam reconstructs the political atmosphere surrounding Chin's death and the federal court ruling that followed at a time when militant anti-immigrant, xenophobic rhetoric was being stirred up by the Reagan administration. Vincent Who? offers a chilling reminder that almost 20 years after enactment of the Civil Rights Act, the U.S. federal courts actually had to deliberate over whether Chin, as an Asian American, had any legitimate rights to consider at all. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (M. Sandlin)