Almost 100 years after the government acquired the land, the land was returned.
This week, the Los Angeles Oversight Committee unanimously approves the transfer of beachfront real estate, known as Bruce Beach, to the descendants of former owners Willa and Charles Bruce. did.
Bruce bought a small corner of Los Angeles in 1912 and built the first black resort on the west coast at a time when isolated beaches were common,Guardian said. I reported. .. In 1924, after relentless harassment of racist neighbors and the Ku Klux Klan's failure to push out the Bruce-built community, the Manhattan Beach City Council blamed their part of the neighborhood and through land expropriation. We have seized more than 20 properties.
The council claimed that the area was urgently needed for the park, theLA Times reported. It remained empty for decades, then moved to the state, then to Los Angeles County, and eventually became the parking lot and guard training headquarters. The seizure ruined Bruce. Bruce worked as a canteen cook for the rest of his life.
On Tuesday, two long-dead Bruce parcels (today's best waterfront real estate) were given to the couple's great-grandson M. Arcus and Derrick Blues.
"My great-grandparents, Willa and Charles Bruce, were sacrificed to open a business that provided a place for blacks to gather and socialize. Manhattan Beach was a family spokesperson. , Anthony Bruce said in a statement, the Guardian reported. "It destroyed them financially. It destroyed their chances in the American Dream."
As part of the contract, the property will be rented to the county for two years and will need to maintain an annual rent of $ 413,000 and operating and maintenance costs. The county also maintains the right to buy back land for less than $ 20 million.
"We can't change the past and we can't make up for the injustices that were committed to Willa and Charles Bruce a century ago, but this is the beginning," Janice said. Hahn of the Los Angeles County Supervisory Board. "This may be the first land return of that kind, but it cannot be the last."
