Seeking Justice for Trayvon, Seeking Justice for Every Child

By Frances Kai-Hwa Wang July 15, 2022

Frances Kai-Hwa Wang advocating for justice and standing with communities of color — Frances Kai-Hwa Wang advocates for justice for all our children | Photo courtesy of Margot

I find myself seated in a lovely open-air venue during the Big Island Music Festival, a cherished summer tradition. A talented young ukulele player performs on stage, his mother accompanying him on keyboards. Yet I cannot focus on the beautiful music surrounding me. The verdict appears on my screen in abrupt, staccato bursts across my social feeds. "No," "verdict disaster," "standing in solidarity."

While the verdict doesn't surprise me, my heart fractures nonetheless.

I compose these words hurriedly on my mobile device because the moment demands immediate response.

How do we nurture our precious children of color through this world? What conversations must we have with them? What truths must we confront ourselves?

Just the previous evening, my multiracial nine-year-old son—who might resemble any number of ethnic stereotypes to an untrained eye—refused sleep, waiting anxiously for my return. When I finally arrived home after traveling to fourteen thousand feet elevation and back, he embraced me tightly, kissing my cheeks: "You're the most amazing mother. Truly, you are."

Sixteen months ago, when the Trayvon Martin case first emerged, I authored an essay for World In Chicago titled "Lessons I Refuse to Teach My Children—reflecting on Dharun Ravi, Trayvon Martin, and Shaima Alawadi." Reading it today feels painfully innocent. I once believed a set of guidelines could protect our children from harm. My entire being feels frozen.

Echoes of Vincent Chin

I always maintained some emotional distance from the Vincent Chin tragedy due to temporal, geographic, and generational separation, and perhaps due to youthful naiveté. Today, that distance has vanished completely.

Thirty-one years ago, following racist anti-Asian slurs, a young man was beaten to death with a baseball bat on the eve of his wedding day. After a plea agreement, his killers received a three-thousand-dollar fine for manslaughter. Two civil rights trials followed. The first found Ronald Ebens guilty of violating Vincent Chin's civil rights, though Michael Nitz was not convicted, and the verdict was overturned on procedural grounds. The second trial relocated to a nearly all-white community with an all-white jury, resulting in acquittal for both defendants. To this day, they have never served a single day in prison. Vincent Chin's mother, Mrs. Lily Chin, devoted herself tirelessly to ensuring no other mother would endure such loss.

My thoughts remain with the Martin family during this unbearable time.

I encourage everyone to visit the NAACP website to urge the Department of Justice to pursue civil rights charges in this case.

Share your reflections with me for RememberingVincentChin.com.

Frances Kai-Hwa Wang is a second-generation Chinese American originally from California, now dividing her time between Michigan and Hawaii's Big Island. She works as a writer, editor, educator, and activist. Her leadership roles have included Executive Director of American Citizens for Justice, the Asian American civil rights organization formed after Vincent Chin's death, and Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American Chamber of Commerce. She team-teaches Asian Pacific American History and Law at the University of Michigan and the University of Michigan Dearborn. Frances contributes regularly to multiple platforms focused on ethnic communities and cultural understanding. Visit her website at franceskaihwawang.com.