Dear Freddie, I understand your pain… a response from Vincent Chin. Vincent who? You know, that dead Chinese guy…

Dear Freddie, first I wanted to let you know I am sorry that you are gone. You were only 25 years old, way too young to be dying. I was 27 when I passed away. Like you, I had big dreams. I was going to get married. I heard your dream was to play football. I guess you wanted to play for Carver Vocational-Technical High School as a tight end, but at 5'8 and 145lbs. you were told you were too small for the position.

Oh, I’m sorry. I am rambling on and I didn’t even introduce myself. My name is Vincent Chin. Or was Vincent Chin. Not too many people know my name. I understand, where I lived not too many people liked Chinese folks.

See? That’s me. Yeah, its an old picture from the 80’s, we didn’t have those cool cameras, aren’t they called “smartphones?” That’s cool. Did I tell ya, I was going to get married. I was ready to start my life. I had a pretty good job. I was employed as an industrial draftsman at Efficient Engineering, an automotive supplier, as well as working weekends as a waiter at the former Golden Star restaurant in Ferndale, Michigan. Yeah, I was ready to settle down, maybe have a family.

Oh, how did I die? Well, I was out celebrating with a couple of my friends;we went drinking at this place called the “Fancy Pants Club”. It used to be a nice theater, I think it was built n 1935, something like that. But then they turned it into a strip club.

It looks bad now, but it wasn’t too bad when I went in there for a few drinks with friends to celebrate me getting married. Geez, when was that? Yeah, it was June 19th, 1982. Yeah, the early 80’s was pretty bad around there, cause The Highland (that’s what it was called before “fancy pants”)is really close to Detroit. You know, where they make all the cars. Well, during that time, Detroit wasn’t making too many cars, alot of the manufacturing jobs were going over to Japan. It made a lot of people angry, especially the auto workers, who had lost their jobs.

Anyway, I was drinking with my friends and there were other people drinking too, and one thing led to another and we were all thrown out, me, my friends and these two other guys, Chrysler plant superintendent Ronald Ebens and his stepson, Michael Nitz. You know, I can see why Mr. Ebens was pissed, his stepson got laid off, all the jobs are going over to Japan, we had exchanged words and parted ways.But Mr. Ebens didn’t have to start something by declaring, “It’s because of you little motherfuckers that we’re out of work!” I had nothing to do with it, I am (oops,sorry) I was Chinese. Yeah, we went outside, I did egg him on. But then we all left, and me and my friends went to McDonalds for a bite.

I guess Mr. Ebens was still pissed, he and his stepson, Nitz searched the neighborhood for 20 to 30 minutes and even paid another man 20 dollars to help look for me. They finally found me at Mcdonalds, and Mr. Nitz held me in a bear hug while his stepdad beat me with a baseball bat till my skull cracked open. It was pretty bad, I was unconscious and I died after four days in a coma. Did I mention to you I was going to get married? Yeah, I don’t get why they beat me up, I’m not Japanese. I didn’t take their jobs away. I’m Chinese.

I guess according to sources Ronald Ebens was arrested and taken into custody at the scene of the crime by two off-duty police officers who had witnessed the beating. Ebens and Nitz were convicted in a county court for manslaughter by Wayne County Circuit Judge Charles Kaufman, after a plea bargain brought the charges down from second-degree murder. They served no jail time, were given three years probation, fined $3,000 and ordered to pay $780 in court costs. In a response letter to protests from American Citizens for Justice, Kaufman said, “These weren’t the kind of men you send to jail… You don’t make the punishment fit the crime; you make the punishment fit the criminal.” No jail time…no jail time…

Many people were angered at sentence that was handed down Judge Charles Kaufman. There people who wanted to bring it to the federal level, saying my civil rights were violated. There were protests and meetings, all kinds of Oriental (oh wait, i guess we’re not called Orientals anymore, but we are Asians..I like that.) people were getting together because of me.

That’s just crazy, all these people I didn’t even know, thought it was wrong that justice hadn’t been served. I guess because I died, my death and the case became a rallying point for the Asian American community, and Ebens and Nitz were put on trial for violating my ( Chin’s) civil rights. Because the subsequent Federal prosecution was a result of public pressure from a coalition of many Asian ethnic organizations, my ( Vincent Chin’s) murder is often considered the beginning of a pan-ethnic Asian American movement. I guess my death became a documentary for all the world to see the injustice of the court system, and the bias that Americans feel towards Asians.

I’m really sorry Freddie for what those people did to you. It wasn’t right.But you know, people are fighting for you. Protests were organized after your death became public knowledge, amid the police department’s continuing inability to adequately or consistently explain the events following the arrest and the injuries.

Spontaneous protests started after the funeral service, although several included violent elements.

Civil unrest continued with at least twenty police officers injured, at least 250 people arrested, 285 to 350 businesses damaged, 150 vehicle fires, 60 structure fires, 27 drugstores looted, thousands of police and Maryland National Guard troops deployed, and with a state of emergency declared in the city limits of Baltimore. People were angry, very angry. They were angry about police brutality, just like in the Watts Riots and the Rodney King Riots. So much pain, so much frustration.Years and years of racial strife pitted themselves against each other. There was some good news through all this chaos, the Baltimore Police Department suspended six officers with pay pending an investigation of your death. The six officers involved in the arrest were identified as Lieutenant Brian Rice, Sergeant Alicia White, Officer William Porter, Officer Garrett Miller, Officer Edward Nero, and Officer Caesar Goodson. On April 24, 2015, Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said, “We know our police employees failed to get him medical attention in a timely manner multiple times.” Batts also acknowledged police did not follow procedure when they failed to buckle Gray in the van while you were being transported to the police station. That’s pretty good news, right Freddie? Finally, maybe some justice for you. Finally someone will be held accountable.

Murals of you are popping up all over the city. Everybody knows you were done wrong by the system. On May 1, 2015, after receiving a medical examiner’s report ruling Gray’s death a homicide, state prosecutors said that they had probable cause to file criminal charges against the six officers involved. Mosby said that the Baltimore police had acted illegally and that “No crime had been committed by you”. Mosby said that you “suffered a critical neck injury as a result of being handcuffed, shackled by your feet and unrestrained inside the BPD wagon.” Mosby said officers had “failed to establish probable cause for Mr. Gray’s arrest, as no crime had been committed”, and charged officers with false imprisonment, because Gray was carrying a pocket knife of legal size, and not the switchblade police claimed he had possessed at the time of his arrest. All six officers were taken into custody and processed at Baltimore Central Booking and Intake Center.

Its July now, a whole year later, and prosecutors have dropped all remaining charges against the three Baltimore police officers awaiting trial in the case of Freddie Gray, an African American man whose death in police custody last year triggered riots across the US.

Wednesday’s decision means that no one will be held criminally responsible for YOUR DEATH…the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray, whose neck was broken while he was unrestrained in the back of a police van in April 2015.

Just like me, nobody went to jail for what they did to us…NOBODY…

That’s my auntie Lee putting flowers on my grave. I did tell you I was going to get married, right? Instead of going to my wedding, my relatives went to my funeral. My wedding date was set for June 27th…I died on June 23rd. I’m really sorry Freddie. I’m really sorry. I hope those six men are sorry, too. Maybe they will understand your pain. I do…

all info on vincent chin and freddie gray was obtained through wikipedia (thank you)

people have forgotten about Vincent Chin…let’s not forget about Freddie Gray…