The documentary film Who Killed Vincent Chin explores the

different perspectives people held on the murder of Vincent Chin. By

doing so, the film sheds light on the complex relationship between
deindustrialization and race in Detroit during the 1980s, when the
American Auto industry starting facing competition from European and
Japanese carmakers. The film makes an argument that
deindustrialization in Detroit, which led to layovers, created frustration
among lower-middle class blue-collar auto workers. This frustration
eventually expressed itself through racism against Asians since
Japanese carmakers threatened American workers. The film also makes
the point that the legal system in Detroit turned a blind eye to this
racism.
The film starts off by explaining the crime itself with images of a
shady strip club and an interview with a black police officer. This sets
the environment of the Vincent Chin and his attackers they came
from lower-middle income neighborhoods and they lived in a racially
diverse neighborhood. The setting is important because it stresses that
deindustrialization in Detroit led to racial tensions among lower-middle
class workers.
The film also tries to make the point that the attackers, Ronald
Ebens and Michael Nitz, were not racists. There is an interview with
Ronald Ebens where he claims that he has nothing against any race.
The interview shows that Detroit blue-collar workers are not ignorant
they know that racism is harmful and unacceptable. Thus, the film
does not argue that deindustrialization has exacerbated already
existing racism between Whites and Asians. Instead, it argues that the
racial tensions between Whites and Asians were new and created by
the deindustrialization in Detroit due to competitive Japanese
carmakers.
The film explains how anti-Japanese sentiment due to the
invasion of Japanese cars was not only a Detroit phenomenon, but
also a national one expressed by members of Congress (who held
events to bash Japanese manufactured cars).