Why Rev. Jackson's Appearance at the Vincent Chin Rally Matters

On May 1984, Rev. Jesse Jackson appeared in San Francisco Chinatown with Vincent Chin's mother, Lily Chin. As he took the stage, he said, "Our hearts are made heavy by a mother who sits here with us, whose son was brutally killed, just because he was. What can we do in the aftermath?" In his speech, he drew parallels between Emmett Till's lynching and Vincent Chin's murder, showing just how similar the struggles of both communities were and the need to "redefine America." According to activist Mabel Teng, now executive director for the Chinese Culture Center in San Francisco, that day was "transformational for the Asian community and San Francisco in particular."