Water Tossing Boulders
How a Family of Chinese Immigrants Led the First Fight to Desegregate Schools inthe Jim Crow South
Adrienne Berard
- A
- generation
- before
- Brown
- v.
- Board
- of
- Education
- struck
- down
- America’s
- “separate
- but
- equal”
- doctrine,
- one
- Chinese
- family
- and
- an
- eccentric
- Mississippi
- lawyer
- fought
- for
- desegregation
- in
- one
- of
- the
- greatest
- legal
- battles
- never
- toldOn
- September
- 15,
- 1924,
- Martha
- Lum
- and
- her
- older
- sister
- Berda
- were
- barred
- from
- attending
- middle
- school
- in
- Rosedale,
- Mississippi.
- The
- girls
- were
- Chinese
- American
- and
- considered
- by
- the
- school
- to
- be
- “colored”;
- the
- school
- was
- for
- whites.
- This
- event
- would
- lead
- to
- the
- first
- US
- Supreme
- Court
- case
- to
- challenge
- the
- constitutionality
- of
- racial
- segregation
- in
- Southern
- public
- schools,
- an
- astonishing
- thirty
- years
- before
- the
- landmark
- Brown
- v.
- Board
- of
- Education
- decision.Unearthing
- one
- of
- the
- greatest
- stories
- never
- told,
- journalist
- Adrienne
- Berard
- recounts
- how
- three
- unlikely
- heroes
- sought
- to
- shape
- a
- new
- South.
- A
- poor
- immigrant
- from
- southern
- China,
- Jeu
- Gong
- Lum
- came
- to
- America
- with
- the
- hope
- of
- a
- better
- future
- for
- his
- family.
- Unassuming
- yet
- boldly
- determined,
- his
- daughter
- Martha
- would
- inhabit
- that
- future
- and
- become
- the
- face
- of
- the
- fight
- to
- integrate
- schools.
- Earl
- Brewer,
- their
- lawyer
- and
- staunch
- ally,
- was
- once
- a
- millionaire
- and
- governor
- of
- Mississippi.
- When
- he
- took
- the
- family’s
- case,
- Brewer
- was
- both
- bankrupt
- and
- a
- political
- pariah—a
- man
- with
- nothing
- left
- to
- lose.By
- confronting
- the
- “separate
- but
- equal”
- doctrine,
- the
- Lum
- family
- fought
- for
- the
- right
- to
- educate
- Chinese
- Americans
- in
- the
- white
- schools
- of
- the
- Jim
- Crow
- South.
- Using
- their
- groundbreaking
- lawsuit
- as
- a
- compass,
- Berard
- depicts
- the
- complicated
- condition
- of
- racial
- otherness
- in
- rural
- Southern
- society.In
- a
- sweeping
- narrative
- that
- is
- both
- epic
- and
- intimate,
- Water
- Tossing
- Boulders
- evokes
- a
- time
- and
- place
- previously
- defined
- by
- black
- and
- white,
- a
- time
- and
- place
- that,
- until
- now,
- has
- never
- been
- viewed
- through
- the
- eyes
- of
- a
- forgotten
- third
- race.
- In
- vivid
- prose,
- the
- Mississippi
- Delta,
- an
- empire
- of
- cotton
- and
- a
- bastion
- of
- slavery,
- is
- reimagined
- to
- reveal
- the
- experiences
- of
- a
- lost
- immigrant
- community.
- Through
- extensive
- research
- in
- historical
- documents
- and
- family
- correspondence,
- Berard
- illuminates
- a
- vital,
- forgotten
- chapter
- of
- America’s
- past
- and
- uncovers
- the
- powerful
- journey
- of
- an
- oppressed
- people
- in
- their
- struggle
- for equality.
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