Newsom signs Bruce’s Beach bill to return seized California property to descendants of black couple

Almost 100 years ago, a California beachfront property was seized from a black couple. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law on Thursday allowing the county to begin transferring property to descendants of Willa and Charles Bruces, the governor’s office said.

“As we strive to right this nearly century-old injustice, California takes another step forward in our commitment to make the California Dream a reality for communities that have been shamefully excluded by a history of racist exclusion,” Newsom said. . “We know our work is only just beginning to mend our past, and California will not hesitate to confront the structural racism and prejudice that people of color face to this day.”

The Bruces bought the Manhattan Beach property, now known as Bruce’s Beach, in 1912, and turned it into a popular resort for black residents. They were among the city’s first black landowners.

Duane Shepard, a family historian for the Bruces, said a Los Angeles County lifeguard seat is now located where Willa built “Bruce’s Lodge.” It has become a popular destination for black community when segregation took them away from most beaches.

“They had to walk half a mile in either direction before they could get into the water,” Shepard Recount Carter Evans of CBS News.

In response, people built barricades and punctured tires. A real estate agent said he was trying to end the “black invasion”.

“There was a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. They started harassing my family around 1920. They burned a cross. They threw burning mattresses under the porch of one of the buildings,” Shepard said.

“There were black lives here, and they didn’t matter 100 years ago. But I think they matter now,” said LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn.

Twelve years after buying the property, the Bruces lost it when Manhattan Beach officials seized it through a prominent estate.

Earlier this year, the Los Angeles County Supervisory Board voted unanimously to move forward with the return. The legislation, called SB 796, was first introduced by Democratic Senator Steven Bradford.

“SB 796 shows us that it is never too late to right the injustices of the past,” Bradford said. “If you can inherit the generational wealth in this country, you can also inherit the generational debt. The city of Manhattan Beach, Los Angeles County and the State of California owe the Bruce family a debt.”

“As a member of the California Reparations Task Force, this is an example of what real repairs can look like,” Bradford added. “I commend Governor Newsom for helping us pay off a century-old debt by allowing Los Angeles County to move forward and return Bruce’s Beach to its rightful owners, the Bruce family.”

Carter Evans contributed reporting.