Isnt Blind News Today

As he lay dying. and it was really something different to see asian-americans standing up for civil rights. nobody had ever seen that before. >> the american citizens for justice asked the judge to reconsider the sentencing but were turned down. >> a decision was short and to the point, the three years probation and $3,000 fine will remain. >> but helen zia and lily chin would not give up. >> i will continue to seek justice for my son. >> their last hope for nitz and ebens to serve proper jail t...

>> absolutely. >> people came together fighting for justice in the all american justice system. something worked and some things didnt. how that all comes together is a lesson that all americans can learn from. >> one night early in december, 1941, japanese people were forced the leave their homes in schools and jobs. one thing is for certain, now more than ever, we need to talk about hard things. they were forced to live in and surrounded by guarded fences. >> can you believe that? because they...

That night, and yet no prosecutors were present at the sentencing and vincents own mother was not even notified about the hearing. >> lily chin lost her son in the most violent and horrible way. >> her only child. >> her only child. and it was as though he was killed again. these two white killers get fined less than what you would pay for a used car. i just was so furious and upset by that. >> i thought that race was a factor. justice isnt blind. >> so you think that if vincent chin were white ...

I have to do something about it. >> helen zia joined forces with lily chin and other activists. they formed an organization called the american citizens for justice. they began a grassroots movement. >> in the absence of social media, no internet, no fax machines, we put out flyers, we put out news letters, communications. the police never even investigated. they never interviewed any of the witnesses at the bar. you know, they never did anything. we said we have to find out the facts of this ca...

It, ron ebens is a free man as of tonight. >> and so -- >> he never served a day of -- >> he never served a day in jail after all that. it was heart breaking. it was very clear that for asian-americans there were so many hurdles to have to cross. justice had not been done. >> vincent lost his life because of the way he looked. japan was an easy target and he paid the price. sounds familiar, right? today asian-americans are being scapegoated for everything from the coronavirus to chinas economic ...

Somewhere. >> the american citizens for justice had garnered support far beyond the asian-american community. >> every religion and walk of life came together -- black, white, latinx, lgbt, jewish, muslim saying we are with you, we stand with you. >> with the high exposure and growing pressure the department of justice finally caved. >> a federal court in deis getting ready to decide whether two local men will ever have to serve a jail term for a killing they have already admitted to. >> it was ...

Horrible, violent way. >> her only child. >> her only child. and it was as though he was killed again. shes two white killers get fined less than what you would pay for a used car. i just was so furious and upset by that. >> i thought that race was a factor. justice isnt blind. >> so you think that if vincent chin were white, the killers might have gotten a harsher sentence? >> oh, absolutely. vincents life wasnt as much as a white man. >> i just thought this was wrong, this was so wrong, i have...

Constitutional law professors, members of the aclu and the national lawyers guild, who said, you know this has nothing to do with race, because vincent chin is not black. civil rights laws only protect black people. and we said no. sin vent chins civil rights should be protected as well. >> and to their surprise, they werent the only ones who thought that. >> by a mother who sits here with us whos son brutally killed just because he was. what can we do in the aftermath? those who live, we must r...

Before. >> the american citizens for justice asked the judge to reconsider can the sentencing but were turned down. >> the decision was short and to the point. the three years probation and $3,000 fine will remain. >> but helen and lilly chin would not give up. >> i will continue to justice for my son. >> their last hope for them to serve proper jail time was to challenge the very definition of civil rights. they set out to prove to the federal government that vip sent was targeted and ultimatel...

After all of that. it was heartbreaking. it was very clear for asian americans, there were so many hurdles to have to cross. justice had not been done. >> vincent lost his life because of the way he looked. japan was an easy target and he paid the price. sounds familiar, right? today asian americans are being scapegoated for everything from the coronavirus to chinas economic rise. >> so we know that attacks on asians have gone up astro no, maamcally and we are about to meet an asian senior who g...