In this case, we have an opportunity to do the right thing. And it's very difficult to fix those wrongs because a lot of things have happened in the course of history that don't really always allow us the ability to be able to do that. DAHLE: This country has done a lot of things that are not right. I'm not sure what the right thing to do is as far as compensation, to give them the entire land back, I don't know. The family does deserve some compensation. GARIN FLOWERS: While there are some detractors in Manhattan Beach, this initiative has been widely supported. Today supervisors voted to return the property to the family and to support a state bill that would make the transfer possible. And we were told you can have this property but you can't sell it, you can't transfer it, you can't profit off of it, you always have to use it for public benefit. JANICE HAHN: I found out that I just couldn't get the property back even though I wanted to because when the state of California transferred this property to the County of Los Angeles. We did not know if anything was going to happen in the way of the land, if anybody would even pay us any attention. I knew that I had to give the property back.ĬHIEF DUANE: We stepped out on faith. JANICE HAHN: When I realized that this very property that was taken hundreds years ago now belonged to the County of Los Angeles I knew that I had to do something. I should be a millionaire standing here talking to you today. In Manhattan Beach California a house on the sand can cost up to $20 million dollars, and Anthony Bruce's family used to own two oceanfront lots. And they would fully expect it for our children to be very well-to-do people at this time so they made a pretty good living and what they were doing in here in Bruce's Beach. And this is prime beachfront property worth millions of dollars and the whole family would have done very well if they had been allowed to hang onto it.ĬHIEF DUANE: That's all Charles and Willa Bruce wanted to do, was have a legacy to hand down to their children and grandchildren. JANICE HAHN: It wasn't just an injustice inflicted on Willa and Charles Bruce, it was inflicted on a generation of Bruce's. GARIN FLOWERS: Since 2020 LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn and Chief Duane Yellow Feathers Shepherd, a distant relative of the Bruce family, have been on a firm push to return ownership of the land to the direct descendants of Charles and Willa Bruce. They defrauded our people and they denied them their civil rights and their constitutional right to the pursuit of happiness. It really was stolen from them.ĬHIEF DUANE: This is a story of a crime. And when that didn't drive them away the city government decided to take the property under the guise of eminent domain. But that angered the predominantly white neighborhood and eventually the KKK. At a time when Jim Crow Segregation Laws prevented African-Americans from enjoying other parts of the sand, the Bruce family welcomed all and flourished as business owners. Charles and Willa Bruce bought the land and built a resort for Black people in 1912. More than 100 years ago, a local seaside resort called Bruce's Beach provided a safe getaway for Black families. JANICE HAHN: I feel a little embarrassed about how long it took me to learn the story of Bruce's Beach. This is one of those stories, Rosanna, that just makes you wish for a time machine to go back and make it right. To some it may seem like just a nice little Beach for property, beautiful, and bright but it has a little bit of a dark history. Today, the land could soon be returned to the original family who provided this safe oasis for Black beachgoers. That was stripped away by agitated white residents who didn’t want to see Black people in their area. Over 100 years ago, a small strip of Manhattan Beach, Calif., was one of the few places on the West Coast that welcomed people of color who wanted to go to the beach.
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