Activism

Chauvin Sentence? Did You Hear What Vincent Chin’s Killer Got?

The man who killed Vincent Chin, Ronald Ebens, a white auto worker, spent no jail time for the crime and was allowed to plea bargain to second-degree murder.

Published

4 years ago

July 1, 2021

Christy Price

Bill Oxford/Unsplash

Another moment to consider Black and Asian solidarity on social justice issues arrived last week when ex-Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison for murdering George Floyd. Should have been the max—30 years—some said. Some TV commentators said there were drug dealers who got more time than Chauvin.

I was just coming off my self-styled news “retreat” on the murder of Vincent Chin, where I went over the stories I’ve done the last 39 years on the most infamous Asian American hate crime ever that took place in Detroit in 1982.

You want to hear about miscarriage of justice?

The man who killed Vincent Chin, Ronald Ebens, a white auto worker, spent no jail time for the crime and was allowed to plea bargain to second-degree murder. His sentence? Three years’ probation, a fine of $3,000, and $780 in court costs. That’s it—for murder in the second degree.

Outrage ensued and there was a federal civil rights case where Ebens was found guilty and sentenced to 25 years in prison. But Ebens won an appeal for a new trial and got a change of venue from Detroit to Cincinnati. On May 2, 1987, Ebens was found not guilty on the federal charges.

Only the civil case remained, and Ebens was ordered to pay the Chin estate $1.5 million. But Ebens has used the bankruptcy laws in his new home state of Nevada to avoid paying the estate a dime.

All those facts were fresh in my head when I heard about Derek Chauvin’s sentence of 22.5 years.

At first, I was surprised, but frankly, there’s nothing light about more than two decades in prison. With the potential of other cases Chauvin is facing adding more time, the fact that a cop is being imprisoned still gives one a sense that justice, though imperfect, was served.

In the Chin case, the aggrieved are still waiting for any sense of justice.

Asian Americans the Model Minority? Not in the Chin case.

One-time Oakland resident, Helen Zia, Asian American writer and the executor of the Chin estate, told me Chin’s fight for justice was all uphill.

“We had civil rights people who said, ‘We’ll support you because Vincent was Chinese and thought to be Japanese, but if he were Japanese, we won’t support because he would’ve deserved it,’ ” Zia said. “I said ‘What? You’re kidding?’ The implication was the Michigan ACLU and the Michigan National Lawyers Guild were also touched by the xenophobia Asians set off in the home of the auto industry. “They strongly opposed a civil rights investigation because they said Asian Americans are not protected by federal civil rights law. That was something we had to argue.”

Fortunately, the national offices of those legal groups had more inclusive ideas.

“Here were some of the most liberal activist attorneys saying Asian Americans shouldn’t be included under the civil rights law. Vincent was an immigrant. We had to establish he was a citizen, with the implication there might not have been a civil rights investigation if he had not been naturalized. All of this stuff…these were hurdles we had to overcome with major impacts today,” Zia told me.

“Can you imagine if the Reagan White House had followed the National Lawyers Guild’s Michigan chapter and the ACLU of Michigan and said, ‘Why should we look expansively at civil rights? We shouldn’t include immigrants and Asian Americans.’ And at that time, that would include Latinos too, because at that time if you were not Black or white, what do you have to do with race? Those were the things people would say to us.”

Hard to imagine Asian Americans weren’t even heavy enough to get on the scales of justice not too long ago in the 1980s. But that was the case.

All the more reason for a greater understanding of Black/Asian solidarity.

We’ve all been othered, dissed, and denied from day one, with a lot more in common than you think.

Christy Price

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Oakland Post: Week of January 1 – 7, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of January 1 – 7, 2025

Published

16 hours ago

January 2, 2025

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

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Activism

Racially Motivated Violence Against Black Teen Prompts $10 Million Claim Against LAUSD 

In December, a second altercation, on a video shared with news media, showed 4 to 6 boys attacking a Black student and using racial slurs. The video also shows a person in a safety vest trying to stop the fight and telling them to “handle it after school.” Then, the video ends. 

Published

4 days ago

December 30, 2024

Oakland Post

(Left to right) Civil Rights Attorney Caree Harper comforts the victim’s mother as she becomes emotional when describing the attacks on her son while her attorney Bradley C. Gage listens. Verdugo Hills High School on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2024, in Tujunga, CA. (Solomon O. Smith /for California Black Media)

By Solomon O. Smith, California Black Media

A distraught mother and her legal team announced a $10 million lawsuit against the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) on Dec. 16, alleging that her son was the target of bullying because of his race.

“CS DOE is a 14-year-old African American student at Verdugo High School. He is a Ninth Grader,” reads a statement the plaintiff’s attorneys shared with California Black Media (CBM).

“Almost from the first day of class (in August 2024), CS DOE was targeted by Latino students who called him racial slurs, physically attacked him and threatened to stab him.”

The family’s identity has not yet been released to the public due to safety concerns, according to their attorneys Bradley C. Gage and Caree Harper. The student’s mother is identified only as A.O. in the complaint.

The first video, filmed in August, showed several non-Black students punching and kicking a Black student in a bathroom on campus while yelling racial slurs. The mother claims that the students who attacked her son were not punished, and the administration asked her to move her son to another school for his safety.

“They wanted him to leave the school without giving any disciplinary action towards those students,” said the student’s mother. “He’s not going anywhere. He’s going to finish. I wanted him to at least stay until the December winter break, and then I was going to transfer schools for him.”

Before she could enroll her son in a different school the attacks escalated.

CS DOE, a 14-year-old freshman, left the school but was followed by a car, according to Gage. Several individuals exited the vehicle, one with a “large butcher knife.” A fight ensued and two people were stabbed. The Black student was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon but was later released into his mother’s custody.

The high school freshmen is scheduled to appear in juvenile court on Feb. 1, but Harper says she will reach out to the District Attorney and make the case against charging the young man.

“His mama had to go find him because he was hiding and fleeing for his very life,” said Harper.

According to the boy’s mother, the young student is still traumatized and has not been able to return to the area because it remains unsafe. Racial slurs have also been spray painted on their home.

“I’m sad. I’m devastated, you know,” said the mother. “I still feel like they’re after him. I still feel like they can kill him, possibly.”

The LAUSD and principal of Verdugo High School did not respond to CBM’s requests for comment.

If you are – or someone you know is – has experienced a hate crime or hate incident, please visit CAvsHate.org for more information and to find out what you can do about it.

Oakland Post

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2024 In Review: 7 Questions for the California Association of Black School Educators 

CABSE members represent governmental agencies, charter schools and charter school organizations, public school districts, traditional public schools, and community colleges. The organization’s primary goal is to expand PK-14 educational opportunities for all students in California, with an emphasis on under-represented and under-served Black students.

Published

4 days ago

December 30, 2024

Oakland Post

CABSE members represent governmental agencies, charter schools and charter school organizations, public school districts, traditional public schools, and community colleges. The organization’s primary goal is to expand PK-14 educational opportunities for all students in California, with an emphasis on under-represented and under-served Black students.

CABSE President Satra Zurita and Conference Chair Micah Ali.

By Edward Henderson, California Black Media

The California Association of Black School Educators (CABSE) is an organization consisting of elected and appointed school officials, administrators and instructors from across California who are committed to advancing equity for Black students.

CABSE members represent governmental agencies, charter schools and charter school organizations, public school districts, traditional public schools, and community colleges.

The organization’s primary goal is to expand PK-14 educational opportunities for all students in California, with an emphasis on under-represented and under-served Black students.

California Black Media (CBM) spoke with CABSE President Satra Zurita and Conference Chair Micah Ali about this year’s successes, disappointments, and plans for the organization coming into the new year.

Looking back at 2024, what stands out to you as your most important achievement and why?

Ali: I would have to say that two highlights have been the ongoing support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Engie, and other sponsors that have enabled us to bring together like-minded education leaders twice a year to collectively advance innovative and meaningful strategies to achieve change on behalf of Black students across our state.

How did your leadership and investments contribute to improving the lives of Black Californians? 

Zurita: CABSE’s leadership and investment in improving the education system for Black students in our great state has resulted in a long-standing focus on transforming public education and its response to Black students. By pulling from the very wisdom of those educators and leaders who care deeply about Black students and who are showing great promise through their efforts.

What frustrated you the most over the last year? 

Zurita: Continuing to see the deep impact of COVID-19 Pandemic school site closures on students academically and emotionally — especially Black students. This makes our work and our advocacy more vital than ever.

CBM: What inspired you the most over the last year?

Zurita: Seeing our CABSE convenings grow in depth and breadth — our strategies, powerful content and reach.

What is one lesson you learned in 2024 that will inform your decision-making next year?

Ali: Our Blueprint for Education Equity is a crowd-sourced framework of strategies that have shown great promise for improving the education experiences and opportunities for Black students. In 2024, we developed an equity self-assessment tool for districts to use in evaluating their own efforts on behalf of Black students. Strategies are helping Black students.

In one word, what is the biggest challenge Black Californians face?

Zurita: Many Black students across our state are dealing with a host of challenges: homelessness, food insecurity, exposure to violence, not to mention bias remains a pervasive problem. To add to the challenge, educators are worn out, tired, and frustrated. We now need to think about how we can simultaneously inspire and empower students and educators alike. The system needs an overhaul.

What is the goal you want to achieve most in 2025?

Zurita: In 2025, we hope to stand CABSE up as a fully functioning non-profit organization engaged in research and policy design.

Ali: We also aim to deepen the content of our convenings, including adding a Math Track and what we are calling Social Determinants of Education Track to our annual conference and institute, which will address those social contexts that prevent Black students from realizing their potential as students.