This Lunar New Year was a bitter sweet one for Chinese living in New York. On the one hand, the city listed the Lunar New Year as a school holiday for the first time. All kids in public schools got a day off to celebrate the arrival of the Year of the Monkey. The recognition, after a campaign by the community for more than 10 years, has undoubtedly boosted self-esteem in Chinatown. Even the dancing lions seemed to be jumping higher with so many Chinese and non-Chinese school kids gathered to see the traditional ceremonies on New Year's Day.

But soon after this proud moment, came a historical wave of anger.

Peter Liang, the Chinese-American police officer who accidentally shot dead an unarmed African American bystander, Akai Gurley, by accident while patrolling in a government housing project in Brooklyn at the end of 2014, was convicted of all five charges he faced, including the most serious one of manslaughter. The 28-year-old, who had only been in the police force 18 months when the incident happened, is now facing up to 15 years in prison.   

Many Chinese believe Liang's indictment at the beginning of last year and his conviction now were both unfair decisions made because prosecutors were under pressure after a number of white cops who had killed young unarmed black men had walked away scot free.

Liang, so the narrative within the Chinese community goes, became a scapegoat for the conflicts between white cops and black people. Amplifying that was a lingering concern that Asians aren't vociferous enough about their rights and are therefore vulnerable to being blamed.  

His conviction triggered one of the biggest outcries in the modern history of Chinese in the US. A few dozen groups dedicated to "rescuing P.O. Liang" were established immediately on WeChat. Two accounts on the White House petition website We the People were opened to ask the federal government to intervene and withdraw the convictions. And tens of thousands of people are mobilizing around the country for simultaneous protests in more than 30 cities on February 20.

It is hard to say how much race weighed in Liang's case. But here are some facts: Unlike in other high profile cases in which white police officers killed unarmed black citizens often during struggles, Liang's gun went off when he just heard a noise in the pitch black stairwell of the building he was patrolling. He killed an innocent person without plausible excuse.

But in 2004 a police officer Richard S. Neri shot dead an innocent black man, Timothy Stansbury, in a government housing project under startlingly similar circumstances. Neri was not indicted. Neri is white. But he also chose to testify for himself in front of the grand jury and persuade them it was an accident. And Liang didn't.

But racial factors aside, those Chinese who expect their protests to change the course of Liang's case are destined to be disappointed. The judicial system in the US won't bend to the White House or any other governmental influence, nor will public pressure likely have much impact on sentencing.

The black community has been protesting whenever there has been a shooting of an unarmed black person by the police. Still, the police officers in almost of these cases were not indicted or convicted. And the majority of the victims of the wrongful convictions in this country are black. They don't get exonerated because of protests by supporters. Instead, some of them have their lives and names restored via proceedings within the judicial system after new evidences emerge years or decades later.

Still, protests can play a more important role. They can help shape the conversation and change public opinion. And when that happens, the judicial system will often eventually correct its own wrongs.

The journey to gay marriage is a prime example. As public opinion changed and became more tolerant of gay relationships, so did the politicians and the courts.

Back to Liang's case, I think he may not be able to completely escape punishment, and maybe correctly so. And it may be more practical to focus on helping him to get a lenient term when he is sentenced on April 14, than having the case overturned.

And the waves of protests and the awakening awareness of racial equality from the Chinese community triggered by Liang's tragedy, if laid out properly, may lead to a greater understanding of the community's concerns in the future.

The author is a New York-based journalist. rong_xiaoqing@hotmail.com