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Keywords

book review, Asian American Movement, historical nonfiction, classroom reading

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Part historical investigation, part modern-day reflection on identity, and part court drama, Paula Yoo's From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry takes the reader through a rather unknown, yet incredibly important moment in American history. Recognizing that several individuals in this story live in 2022, she sensitively examines the 1982 case of Vincent Chin: a Chinese-American man who was violently killed mere days before his wedding. Vincent was celebrating his bachelor party at a gentlemen's club when the night turned violent and volatile, and two white men employed at an automobile plant pursued Vincent across town to beat him to death with a baseball bat. It was well-known that the auto-industry held unsavory opinions of Asians due to the competition between American-made vehicles and Japanese vehicles. The two individuals pled guilty to manslaughter, and were sentenced to a mere three years' probation and a $3,000 fine. The Asian-American community, not satisfied with the judge's opinion that, "You don't make the punishment fit the crime; you make the punishment fit the criminal," came together to pursue justice for Vincent.

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