As previously reported by REVOLT, last summer saw the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors handing back beachfront property to the descendants of the Bruce family following a unanimous vote. The beautiful piece of real estate of Bruce’s Beach is located in the city of Manhattan Beach and was unfairly ripped from the hands of its original Black owners through eminent domain during the Jim Crow era. Once a haven for Black families in the early 1900s, Bruce’s Beach is now both a park and the site for LA County’s Lifeguard Administration Building with lavish residences nearby worth several millions.
Yesterday (Jan. 3), it was revealed that the Bruce family will now be selling that property back to the county, although it is unclear when the sale would be completed. The announcement was made by the LA County Board of Supervisors Chair Janice Hahn, who broke down the situation’s overall impact and explained the importance of restitution on social media:
“The Bruce Family has informed the County of Los Angeles that they have decided to sell the Bruce’s Beach property back to the County for nearly $20 million — which is the estimated value of the property. The seizure of Bruce’s Beach by Manhattan Beach nearly a century ago was an injustice inflicted upon not just Willa and Charles Bruce, but generations of their descendants who almost certainly would have been millionaires.”
She continued: “I fought to return Bruce’s Beach because I wanted to right this wrong. This fight has always been about what is best for the family, and they feel what is best for them is selling this property and finally rebuilding the generational wealth… This is what reparations look like and it is a model that I hope governments across the country will follow.”
Check out Hahn’s full statement below.