Chinese American family meets descendants of Black family who rented to them when others refused

The Dong family is selling the historic home and donating $5 million to Black college students — but they wanted the Thompson family to tour the storied home first.

CORONADO, Calif. — Standing on their lawn, members of the Dong family waited to meet the great-grandkids of a Black couple who rented a home to them a generation ago, when laws favored white residents. It was their first meeting on storied land. 

In 1939, Gus and Emma Thompson, a Black entrepreneurial couple, agreed to rent and eventually sell the house they owned to the Dongs, a Chinese American family. 

The Thompsons’ decision touched off an upward trajectory in their lives, said Ron Dong, 87, who grew up in the house with his parents and three siblings. On Monday, the Dongs welcomed the Thompsons’ great-grandchildren back to the home where their lives intersected. The meetup was ahead of a dedication ceremony to name San Diego State University’s Black Resource Center after Emma and Gus, who was born into slavery in Kentucky.

“Oh, my gosh, we are so glad to be meeting!” Janice Dong, Ron’s wife, told Ballinger Gardner Kemp, 77, and Lauren Kemp Few, 66, the Thompsons’ great-grandchildren. The two families embraced in a tangle of open arms. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/black-couple-rented-chinese-american-family-rcna166636

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