One of the many tales of awful redlining and racial discrimination in Los Angeles is turning a new page. Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell has announced the county's plan to return Bruce's Beach to descendants of the Bruce family, from whom it was stolen.
In an act of out-and-out racism, in 1924 Manhattan Beach shuttered a thriving black beach resort under the auspices of building a city park. Ending a community and stripping a family of fantastically valuable beachfront real estate, Manhattan Beach moved on for almost 100 years.
"I hope that the media will use the right word when you report this story today. The county isn't gifting anyone anything. The county is returning property that was inappropriately taken. We are returning to the Bruce family… property that they rightfully owned."
These were the words of L.A. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell at this morning's press event to announce the county's plans to return Bruce's Beach property to the descendants of its rightful owners: Willa and Charles Bruce, the Black entrepreneurs that first purchased the property and built a resort to serve Black families. As Mitchell stated, the city of Manhattan Beach "used the law to steal" Bruce's Beach in the 1920s.
The City of Manhattan Beach just wanted to put up some new plaques.
