Saturday marks the 39th anniversary of the death of Vincent Chin – a Chinese American who was bludgeoned to death by two white autoworkers. One of them had been laid-off.

His death has drawn parallels to the recent hatred and violence that have been directed toward Asian Americans. And that’s why a special visitor has come to San Francisco again to help heal wounds.
CGTN's Mark Niu reports.

In 1982, Chinese American Vincent Chin was killed by two Detroit autoworkers who thought he was Japanese. His White attackers blamed Japan for declines in U.S. auto sales.

Immediately following Chin’s death, Reverend Jesse Jackson came to San Francisco Chinatown to show support – with some saying he was the first African American civil rights leader to embrace the Chinese community.

Now 79-years-old and suffering from Parkinson’s disease, Jackson returned to Chinatown for a 3-day event: “From Vincent Chin to George Floyd … Solidarity in the Struggle.”

Jackson drew parallels between Chin’s murder and the brutal killing of African American teenager, Emmet Till.

“The Vincent Chin killing in Detroit and the killing of Emmett Till in Mississippi are very much the same. By the skin color, by some feature, that person should be eliminated. Our leadership has a reasonability to educate people and inspire people to be better," he said.

Joseph Bryant, Executive Director, Rainbow Push Coalition added: "So as much as we would rise up for the killing of George Floyd we also recognize that our Asian brothers and sisters are being attacked unnecessarily from that same place of hate."

Chinatown activist Reverend Norman Fong was inspired by Reverend Jackson as a young man.

He hopes a visit by his hero will inspire others, too, especially amid rising violence against Asian Americans.

"Some people are trying to make it against each other. But no, we have to look beyond that. Yes, there are some youth that are out of control and yes we have to change attitudes and learn each other’s history," Fong said.

Despite numerous viral videos showing Black perpetrators attacking Asians, researchers – compiling law enforcement data – show that between 1992-2014, 75% of the hate crimes against Asian Americans were committed by white offenders.

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