The Fishermen and the Dragon: Fear, Greed, and a Fight for Justice on the Gulf Coast

Genre

Non-Fiction

Gulf Coast Reads

Age Group

Adult

Summary

In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, Vietnamese refugees began fishing along the Texas coast.  Tensions broke out with the White fishermen, who felt that the Vietnamese were responsible for the smaller harvests.  It wasn’t long before the Ku Klux Klan got involved to help the White fishermen. The Southern Poverty Law Center joined the fight to help the Vietnamese fishermen and combat the KKK.  Everyone except Diane Wilson, a shrimper turned activist, seemed to miss the real problem was pollution by the petrochemical plants along the Texas Gulf Coast. 

Justification

I was in elementary school in Houston, Texas, when the Ku Klux Klan began targeting Vietnamese fishermen and remember some of the events in The Fishermen and the Dragon. It was the first time I became aware of the KKK. 

Gulf Coast Reads: On the Same Page is an annual regional reading initiative focused on promoting the simultaneous reading or listening to a selected title by those living along the upper Texas Gulf Coast. Their 2023 selection was The Fishermen and the Dragon.

Pacing

The story is divided into three parts: tensions between Vietnamese and White fishermen in Seadrift, Texas; tensions between Vietnamese and White fisherman in Seabrook, Texas; and Diane Wilson’s battle against the industrial polluters. 

The intimidation tactics Louis Beam, the Grand Dragon of the Texas Ku Klux Klan, used to drive out Vietnamese fisherman and their supporters kept me wondering, "What did they do next?" Morris Dees, the attorney from the Southern Poverty Law Center, responded to the KKK with a lawsuit. I didn’t want to put down the book during the court battle which is filled with threats and other hateful actions from the KKK. Dees’ clever responses showed that he was always one move ahead of the KKK.

While all of this was going on in Houston, Diane Wilson struggled to make a living as a shrimper. She concluded that the petrochemical plants lining the Texas coast were responsible for mutations in fish and shrimp and for the dwindling harvests. Her legal battles are more difficult to digest after the constant drama of the KKK trial. 

Theme

Hatred and greed are the underlying motivations of so many of the players in this tale.  Louis Beam and the KKK are filled with hate for the Vietnamese fishermen. They would rather wallow in their hate than work harder, and cooperatively, like the Vietnamese fishermen do, to be successful. 

Corporate greed drives the decisions of the industrial polluters along the Gulf Coast.  Individual greed motivates the various attorneys and politicians who get involved.  Even Diane Wilson’s pro-bono attorney succumbs to greed when offered a lucrative settlement. 

Historical Accuracy

The events in The Fishermen and the Dragon were widely covered in the media at the time. News photos of the KKK boat patrol and burning the USS Viet Cong show just how intimidating the Klan could be. 

Diane Wilson is an award-winning activist whose battles against the industrial polluters in Texas are also well-documented. 

References

Johnson, K. W. (2022) The fishermen and the dragon: Fear, greed and a fight for justice on the Gulf Coast. Viking.