“It’s not fair..”
Vincent Chin was a 27 year old automotive supplier that worked as a waiter on the weekends to help make ends meet in Oak Park Michigan. On the night of June 23rd 1982 he was having his bachelor party where he was met by 2 men who were disgruntled over the failing economy. Having lost their jobs at a Chrysler plant, they shouted at Vincent “It’s because of you little Motherfuckers that we’re out of work.” They were referring to the success of the Japanese Automotive industry… They went looking for him later that night and caught up with Vincent when he was eating at a McDonalds. They waited for him and when he was heading back to his car they jumped him. While one man held him, the other took a bat to his head. He was beaten so severely that he would eventually die 4 days later in the hospital. He was supposed to be married 5 days later.
Right before he slipped into his endless sleep while in the ambulance he whispered to his friend “It’s not fair…”
The two men were only given three years probation and forced to pay $3,780 in fines. The judge stated “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.” The only jail time the two spent after all this time was a weekend in a holding prison.
26 years and 19 days later…
Luis Ramirez was a 25 year old Mexican immigrant worker that was living in Shenandoah Pennsylvania, a town of with a humble population of about 5,000. On the night of July 12th 2008 Luis was on his way back home he was confronted with a group of teenagers who had been drinking that night. He was beaten severely and while the kids were fleeing the scene they yelled to Luis’ companion “You fuckin’ bitch, you and your fuckin Mexican friends get the fuck out of Shenandoah or you’re going to be laying fuckin’ next to him.” He was rushed to a hospital where he died 4 days later. He left behind a heartbroken wife and three children who still ask for their father.
The teenagers were simply convicted of assault while the charges of reckless endangerment, aggravated assault, ethnic intimidation, and murder were all thrown out.
What next? People getting away with lynching a black kid for supposedly whistling at a white woman? Getting murdered for loving a person of your own sex? Oh wait….
The world is crazy. After all this time how are people still getting away with things like this? Why is this being allowed? What is a person to do with the world we’re living in? I know that these incidents are isolated, but the fact that people are getting away with this is fucked up. What is a kid in this type of setting supposed to do? I cannot help but picture myself in the shoes of Luis and Vincent. I know that if I were ever called racists names or anything like it I would have a reaction. But what am I supposed to do when facing uneven footing like Vincent and Luis faced?
Should I start carrying some sort of weapon for protection? A knife perhaps? Something easily concealable and lethal just in case? But wait, what if there is more than 2 of them? A knife can only do so much against staggering odds? Maybe something tougher? What about a gun? If there were even ten of them, the gun should be able to hold off any amount of punks because nobody is going to mess with a person holding a gun…
The fact of the matter is I don’t think guns are good at all. Not for citizens at least. For cops, sure, soldiers, sure, but for normal people like me? I don’t think so, but when I hear that people are getting beaten to death without consequence then I don’t know how else to react. I mean, if it’s a choice between dying or prison, then I’ll be picking prison thank you.
It also makes me wonder what the results would be if the roles were reversed. What if it was two Asian men who beat to death a white man who was celebrating his bachelor party? Or a group of Mexican teenagers who beat to death a 25 year old man with three kids and a wife? I can only assume that they would call the Mexican teenagers gang bangers and throw them right into jail. The Asian men would cause such controversy that white supremacists groups all over would be trashing Asian grocery stores and telling them to “GO BACK TO WHERE YOU COME FROM” Of course expect the occasional “ching chong ching” remarks as they do it.
I don’t know anymore. I feel so helpless. Somebody…
Below: Luis Ramirez murdered at the age of 25 leaving behind a wife and three kids.
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