A man manisisroughed roughedup upinin Manhattan’s Chinatown during a large to protest the police beating Manhattan’s Chinatown during a large rally rally to protest the police beating of Peter Yew. Photo by Corky Lee. Peter Yew. Photo by Corky Lee.
troversy erupted in Chinatown, enraging the community and once again bringing the issue of civil rights for Asians to the forefront. After a minor traffic accident involving two motorists, one white and one Chinese, a large crowd gathered in front of the Fifth Precinct. As police dispersed the crowd, they confronted a young architectural engineer, Peter Yew, and dragged him inside the precinct, where he was stripped and badly beaten. The incident touched a nerve, bringing long-simmering tensions between the Chinese community and police officers to the surface. Asian Americans for Equal Employment, along with many other local organizations, played a key
role in mobilizing the neighborhood. A rally against police brutality at City Hall brought out 20,000 protesters and forced the closure of most Chinatown businesses. After weeks of public pressure, all charges were dropped against Peter Yew on July 2 and an important message had been delivered to city leaders: the Asian community would no longer be silent. Bill Chong, a former AAFE board president, notes that the protests in the ’70s “created a whole new image of Asians.” “When people saw Asian protesters sitting in front of bulldozers at Confucius Plaza, or bringing 20,000 people to City Hall to protest
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