Publisher and Publication Date: Viking-Penguin Random House. 2022.
Genre: Nonfiction. Texas Gulf Coast History. True Crime.
Pages: 384.
Format: Kindle E-Book.
Source: Library.
Rating: Excellent.

At Penguin Random House you can read or listen to an excerpt: The Fishermen and the Dragon.

Link for the book at Amazon/ Barnes and Noble.

An article about the book in Texas Observer.

Kirk W. Johnson’s website.

Summary:

The Fishermen and the Dragon is the story of Vietnamese fishermen who are recent immigrants to the USA and new to the Texas Gulf Coast. They are not welcome by those who are established in the fishing industry. They are not welcome because they are outsiders, not white, and they are looked at as invaders in an area already inhabited and controlled. The situation is made worse when the Ku Klux Klan became involved.

The secondary story is chemical plants and their poisons that impacts the coastal waters, marine life, and people-the eco-system.

The time period for this story is 1969 through 2019.

The areas of the Gulf Coast are Seabrook, Kemah, Galveston County, and Seadrift.

My Thoughts:

I was born and raised in the Houston area. The far Northwest side of Houston. I had family that lived in Pasadena. I remember seeing the Ku Klux Klan on the side of the road as we drove down Red Bluff Road in Pasadena. They were looking to recruit new members. I also remember the large drive-in screen that showed XXX movies. You could easily see a movie while driving down the road. Pasadena was like driving to another country. I have not been there since the early 1990s.

I was a teenager during the late 70s and early 80s. I do not remember the news about the Vietnamese fishermen and how they were treated. At that time in life, I did not read the newspaper. My interests were with other things. When I saw this book in the Libby app, I had to read it. I wanted to know about a historical event that happened during my childhood.

I love stories that tell me something that I did not know, especially if it is a people group that I know little about. And the genre is small about Vietnamese history in the United States of America.

Several reasons why I enjoyed reading this book and why it is an important book.

1. The Fishermen and the Dragon is a book that has considerable research. People who were apart of the story are interviewed. The period of the book covers a lengthy amount of years.
2. I love the epilogue-the follow-up of the characters who are written about. I’m able to know what happened to them.
3. I love how the individual stories of the people are given. Those who came from Vietnam. How they came to the USA and what their life was like before in Vietnam. I came to know both the Vietnamese and the Whites in how they viewed the work ethic, how the communities of their people help or did not help one another, and assumptions and bias about the people groups that one group had for the other.
4. The Fishermen and the Dragon shows a build-up of the issues over a period of years. The stress and tension in their individual lives. Prejudice and bitterness. I also realized the Vietnamese were a target, a scapegoat-a foreign people group that the Whites could lay blame for their problems.
5. In the early years, the chemical plants did not have transparency and accountability for their products. As time went on, people began to speak up and take action against them. I am amazed at the determination of those who persisted in making the chemical plants be held accountable.
6. The Fishermen and the Dragon shows the culture of society in the Gulf Coast area during this time period. This helps me to understand how people felt and responded to the Vietnamese and KKK. There is an ignorance and apathy for these groups of people. What I mean is the majority (I’m generalizing) of people did not think about them or did not realize their plight (the Vietnamese), nor realize the horrors of the KKK. I am referring to White Americans.
7. The Fishermen and the Dragon is an important book, a memorable book, because of the travesty against the Vietnamese. It is better to bring this story out into the spotlight, to be examined and talked about, and for it to be acknowledged for the crimes made against them. It is also important that chemical companies and refineries have transparent guidelines, policies, and outside entities examine their products.