They want to advance racial, social & economic justice for Asian Americans Affordable housing for the poor and elderly Accountability for police brutality Ending US military in southeast asia and elsewhere
Vincent Chen, a Japanese automotive engineer was brutally murdered by a baseball bat days before his wedding. He was out drinking in detroit michigan where recently due to the rise of the Japanese automotive industry had caused losses in jobs for people The two men who murdered him were put on probation for 3 years and only payed a 3000 dollar fine The fight to get them incarcerated continued with Chen’s mother saying she will not rest until her son was avenged Eventually the men got 25 years but this also sparked the start of an Asian American rights movement because Asian American hate crimes were brought to light. In 1985, there was a fire in a Chinatown tenemant that killed two elderly residents and left 125 people homeless. AAFE (Asian Americans for Equality) developed Equality House which included 59 apartments. Over the next three decades AAFE created hundreds of units across Chinatown and the lower East side.