Ninety-seven years ago, the Ku Klux Klan and California city of Manhattan Beach seemed to team up to strip a Black family of the beachfront property they owned. It was a travesty so upsetting that, even after the state Legislature returned the property to the family, a descendent of the family told NBC News he still wouldn't move back to the area about 20 miles southeast of Los Angeles. "When you're robbed of your dignity, when you're robbed of your integrity, when you're robbed of your decent basic rights as a human being and mistreated like that, I mean it sticks with you for a long time," Anthony Bruce, a descendant of the original owners, told NBC News.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill passed unanimously by the state legislature to return the property, now worth some $75 million, to the Bruce family on Thursday, CNN reported. “If you can inherit generational wealth in this country, then you can inherit generational debt, too," the bill's author Sen. Steven Bradford said in a news release. "The City of Manhattan Beach, County of Los Angeles, and the State of California owe a debt to the Bruce family."
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Charles and Willa Bruce spent $1,225 to acquire the land in 1912 and used the property to allow Black beachgoers a place to swim. They also had a cafe and changing rooms added to the property, CNN reported. The lovely property became a breeding ground for white resentment, with Klan members posting "no trespassing“ signs, slashing the tires of Black beachgoers, and even burning down a neighboring home in an attempt to set the Bruces’ family property ablaze.
The family would not be driven away from their land, though, Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn told CNN and other reporters. So the city declared eminent domain in 1924, stripping the Bruce family of their home for about $14,125—a fraction of what the family asked. City officials did so under the guise of needing the space for a park, but the area was left vacant for more than 30 years, NBC News reported. It now includes a park and lifeguard station, which the Bruce family intends to rent to the city instead of moving back to the area.
“I believe if Anthony Bruce or anybody else in the Bruce family comes back here, we’re going to see the same exact thing,” Anthony Bruce told NBC News journalist Harry Smith. “I don’t think it’s changed, Harry. I think it’s still here, and that’s why we’re not rushing to set up shop again.”
Both Hahn and Newsom recognized that returning the land to the Bruce family will not remedy the structural racism that allowed the land to be seized in the first place. “We know our work is just beginning to make amends for our past, and California will not shy from confronting the structural racism and bias that people of color face to this day,” Newsom said in his release.
Hahn added: “The work is far from done. Now that LA County officially has the authority to transfer this property, my goal these next several months will be to transfer this property in a way that not only works for the Bruce family, but is a model that other local governments can follow. Returning Bruce’s Beach can and should set a precedent for this nation, and I know that all eyes will be on Los Angeles County as this work gets underway.”
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Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill passed unanimously by the state legislature to return the property, now worth some $75 million, to the Bruce family on Thursday, CNN reported. “If you can inherit generational wealth in this country, then you can inherit generational debt, too," the bill's author Sen. Steven Bradford said in a news release. "The City of Manhattan Beach, County of Los Angeles, and the State of California owe a debt to the Bruce family."
Embedded Content
Charles and Willa Bruce spent $1,225 to acquire the land in 1912 and used the property to allow Black beachgoers a place to swim. They also had a cafe and changing rooms added to the property, CNN reported. The lovely property became a breeding ground for white resentment, with Klan members posting "no trespassing“ signs, slashing the tires of Black beachgoers, and even burning down a neighboring home in an attempt to set the Bruces’ family property ablaze.
The family would not be driven away from their land, though, Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn told CNN and other reporters. So the city declared eminent domain in 1924, stripping the Bruce family of their home for about $14,125—a fraction of what the family asked. City officials did so under the guise of needing the space for a park, but the area was left vacant for more than 30 years, NBC News reported. It now includes a park and lifeguard station, which the Bruce family intends to rent to the city instead of moving back to the area.
“I believe if Anthony Bruce or anybody else in the Bruce family comes back here, we’re going to see the same exact thing,” Anthony Bruce told NBC News journalist Harry Smith. “I don’t think it’s changed, Harry. I think it’s still here, and that’s why we’re not rushing to set up shop again.”
Both Hahn and Newsom recognized that returning the land to the Bruce family will not remedy the structural racism that allowed the land to be seized in the first place. “We know our work is just beginning to make amends for our past, and California will not shy from confronting the structural racism and bias that people of color face to this day,” Newsom said in his release.
Hahn added: “The work is far from done. Now that LA County officially has the authority to transfer this property, my goal these next several months will be to transfer this property in a way that not only works for the Bruce family, but is a model that other local governments can follow. Returning Bruce’s Beach can and should set a precedent for this nation, and I know that all eyes will be on Los Angeles County as this work gets underway.”
RELATED: Turns out, fighting the temptation to strip property from Black families isn’t asking too much
RELATED: Black homeowner went to 'strike conversation' with neighbor. He responded he doesn't have any money