Day 85: Dong and Thompson Familiy, Coronado, California

📌APIA Every Day (85) - In 1939, the Dong family, facing racial housing discrimination, received help from Emma and Gus Thompson, an African American couple in Coronado, California. Lloyd Dong Sr., the patriarch, worked tirelessly as a gardener for wealthy Coronado residents, desiring to live in the area despite facing anti-Asian racism stemming from the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, which influenced housing policies. These policies included clauses, known as racial restrictive covenants, that prohibited certain races and religious groups from buying homes or residing in specific neighborhoods.

Due to these restrictions, finding housing was difficult. However, they were offered housing by one individual: Gus Thompson. Thompson, born into slavery in Cadiz, Kentucky sometime between 1859 and 1862, later moved to Coronado and worked for E.S. Babcock, an industrialist who founded the Hotel del Coronado. He built a stable next to their house with an upstairs boarding house for Black people who needed a place to stay in Coronado. Eventually, the Thompsons rented their house to the Dongs after moving to San Diego.

In 1955, the Dongs purchased the house from the Thompsons, becoming the first Chinese American family to own property in Coronado. Throughout the years, they maintained the properties but decided it was time to sell. The Dong family planned to donate $5 million of the property’s proceeds to support Black college students, as a gesture of gratitude for the Thompsons' assistance. The generosity displayed by the Thompson family, reciprocated by the Dong family’s contribution to San Diego State University’s Black Resource Center, sheds light on the relationships between the African American and Asian American communities during times of heightened racism.

LEARN MORE:

NBC NEWS: Black couple rented to a Chinese American family when nobody would. Now, they're donating $5M to Black community

NY Times: They Helped a Family Facing Discrimination 80 Years Ago. Now They’re Being Celebrated

SDSU: SDSU announces $5 million Black Resource Center naming gift

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