Photo: Mario Tama / Getty Images
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law Thursday that authorizes the return of prime beachfront property to descendants of the rightful owners , an African-American couple who fled the city a century ago after racial harassment by the Ku Klux Klan and white neighbors.
The Senate Bill 796 promulgated to an enthusiastic crowd at the same Manhattan Beach site confirms that the appropriation of the land from the Bruce family by part of the city, was run on racial grounds and carried out under false and illegal pretenses , according to the Los Angeles Times.
It is estimated that the property can currently be worth $ 75 millions of dollars.
“The land in the city of Manhatta n Beach, which was unjustly taken from Willa and Charles Bruce, must be returned to their living descendants, “the law says,” and it is in the public interest of the State of California, Los Angeles County, the City of Manhattan Beach and the people of the state of California carry it out. ”
The family, who bought the property in 1912 , built the first African-American resort on the West Coast at a time when segregation prohibited on most beaches.
The owners and their guests became targets of the KKK, who tried to set the complex on fire.
Their white neighbors also harassed the Bruce couple, and their clients by posting fake parking signs of “09 minutes only ”and letting the air out of your tires.
In 1924, the city closed the area and seized more than 20 properties across the eminent domain, which justified the measure on the grounds that there was a urgent need for a public park.
The empty plot was transferred to the state in 1924 and then to Los Angeles County at 1995.
The bill’s author, State Senator Steven Bradford, said the new The law is a first step to correct many injustices in the state and the country.
“This bill sets the tone for the future of the repairs in California. If you can inherit generational wealth, you can inherit generational debt, “said Bradford.
” The city of Manhattan Beach owes a debt to the family Bruce. The State of California owes a debt to the Bruce family and Los Angeles County owes a debt to the Bruce family, and our Governor is here today to sign this bill to pay that debt to the Bruce family. ” added.
Anthony Bruce, the family’s great-great-grandson, read a prayer during the ceremony.
“Los Bruces have found mercy in inexhaustible love of Jesus Christ, ”he said.
Newsom suggested Thursday’s measure could spur broader reparations.
“This can be catalytic. What we are doing here today can be done and reproduced anywhere else, ”he said.
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