<



A Day for Vincent Chin and Me

The main characters are sixth graders, with Tommy being the main narrator. A friend of her sister's is deaf. The road they live on is one on which cars tend to speed, and many people are worried about the deaf girl being killed.

Tommy's mother is also going to be involved in a march for Vincent Chin, something which Tommy feels could draw attention to his being Japanese-American.

Vincent Chin was an actual person, Chinese-American, who was murdered in a racist act when two auto workers killed him, angry over Japan's effect on car sales in the U.S.

Tommy is upset when he finds out just how important a role his mother is playing in the march, and the fact that she is in danger because of that.

Tommy and his friends decide to build a speed bump to slow down traffic on their road. He gets home and finds KKK painted on his house. Tommy's grandmother had been interned.

Tommy has some black friends and one of them tries to help him understand what being in a minority can mean in relation to how you're perceived by others.

Tommy and his friends construct the speed bump (which the city plans to tear down and then immediately replace with an “official” speed bump). Tommy also realizes how important it is to do what you can to improve the lives of other people.



Main Index
Japan main page
Japanese-American Internment Camps index page
Japan and World War II index page