White officials in a Southern California community stripped a Black family of their magnificent beachfront land and legacy over a century ago. On Thursday, Willa and Charles Bruce’s descendants, including the couple’s great-great-grandson, gathered at the crime scene in Manhattan Beach to witness Gov. Gavin Newsom sign the bill restoring the land to the Bruce family.
‘The Bruce family was stripped of their property in 1924 because of hatred and racism. It’s past time to right that wrong. Today, by returning the property CA took another step toward addressing systemic racism and set a path forward for other states & our nation to do the same,’ California Governor Gavin Newsom tweeted.
The Bruce family was stripped of their property in 1924 because of hatred and racism.
It’s past time to right that wrong.
Today, by returning the property CA took another step toward addressing systemic racism and set a path forward for other states & our nation to do the same. pic.twitter.com/Dz9GXze5bL
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) September 30, 2021
The ruling was heralded as a turning point in the fight for reparations and the return of stolen lands to African Americans. ‘There are other families waiting for this very day, to have their land returned to them,’ Patricia Bruce, a cousin of Willa and Charles Bruce, said.
In 1912, the Bruces opened the first West Coast resort for African-Americans, despite widespread forced segregation. It had a lodge, cafe, dance hall and dressing tents, and it was situated along with one of Southern California’s most famous beaches, which was surrounded by rows of multimillion-dollar homes. Racism and hatred were commonplace among the Bruces’ clients. A conspiracy to set fire to the resort was even hatched.
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The Manhattan Beach City Council used eminent domain to take the land from the Bruces in the 1920s, reportedly to make room for a park. ‘Bruce’s Beach,’ which was bought for $1,225 in 1912, is now worth more than $75 million.
The difficult legal procedure of changing ownership of what was once known as Bruce’s Beach needed the unanimous consent of state legislators. ‘The journey here was far from easy,’ said Kavon Ward, a Black local who learned of the property’s history and formed Justice for Bruce’s Beach.
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