In 1939, the Dongs moved to Coronado, California for a fresh start in hopes of changing the trajectory of their family, NBC News reported. During that time, the area’s real estate was known for its racially discriminatory housing laws, which made it hard for the Dongs to rent or buy a home. Luckily, their battle ended when they met Emma and Gus Thompson, a Black couple who were real estate investors, who allowed them to make their dreams a reality when they let them rent their home the pair before selling it to the couple 16 years later in 1955.

“I think that when we talk about racism generally in California, and especially in places like San Diego and L.A., people think because there was no slavery in California, that racism didn’t exist,” Jo Von M. McCalester, a political science professor at Howard University, said in an interview with NBC News. “But it doesn’t mean that groups and individuals didn’t understand their places within the society.”

A few years later in 1957, the Dongs tore down the barn and built an apartment complex to have a new margin of income. Now, 81-year-old Lloyd Dong Jr. and his family are ready to sell the house and complex, estimated to be worth $8 million. He and his big brother, Ron Dong, plan to give $5 million of the proceeds to Black college students to pay it forward to the marginalized community that changed their lives.

“Without them, we would not have the education and everything else,” Lloyd said.

The Thompsons related to the Dongs as they were Kentucky natives who moved to the West Coast for a new life themselves. They arrived in California in the late 1800s so Gus could work a new job at Hotel Del Coronado. In 1895, he decided to expand and build a house and barn on the property before the new rules and regulations that were enforced to keep the neighborhood white. To provide a safe and welcoming place for newcomers of color and families from diverse backgrounds to stay, he transformed the barn into a boarding house.

Ron and his wife, Janice Dong, are both former educators who believe knowledge is power because it’s intellectual property that sets the foundation for a person to accomplish any goal.

“It’s just exactly what’s appropriate,” Ron said about their decision to give back.

“It’s time,” Janice added. “We want to give back.”

Janice, along with the Dong family, are happy to make this generous contribution and lend a helping hand.

“It may enable some kids to go and flourish in college that might not have been able to otherwise,” Janice said.

With the constant talk about reparations for the Black community, McCalester says that the Dongs are leading by example and showing how easy it can be to do the right thing without any expectations.

“They are saying, ‘Look at all you guys fighting about reparations. We’re giving this all back to the Black community,'” he said.