Bruce's Beach, widely known as Southern California property wrongly seized from a Black couple over a century ago, will be sold back to Los Angeles County for nearly $20 million after officials returned the beach to its heirs last year.
According to NBC News, the heirs' decision to sell Bruce's Beach to LA County was announced by Janice Hahn, chair of the county Board of Supervisors, and state Sen. Steven Bradford, who helped lead last year's efforts to return to seized property.
“This fight has always been about what is best for the Bruce family, and they feel what is best for them is selling this property back to the County for nearly $20 million and finally rebuilding the generational wealth they were denied for nearly a century,” Hahn said in a statement. "This is what reparations look like and it is a model that I hope governments across the country will follow."
Bradford added that he supported the sale due to current zoning regulations that would prevent the heirs from developing the property into an economically beneficial project.
Bruce's beach, located in the city of Manhattan Beach, was initially purchased in 1912 by Willa and Charles Bruce, a Black couple who used the land to build a small resort for African Americans. However, after the couple suffered racist abuse and harassment from white neighbors, the Manhattan Beach City Council seized the property through eminent domain. The property was eventually transferred to the state of California and then to Los Angeles County.
“For us as a family, this had a wonderful beginning. And then it turned into a tragic story for my family,” Anthony Bruce, the great-great-grandson of the Bruces, told NBC News when the county moved to return the seized property to its heirs. “Back in the day, prejudice was rampant. And unfortunately, my family was the victim of a hate crime and the prejudice that was around during those times.
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