Photo courtesy of CA.Gov.
According to the Los Angles Times, California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed legislation that will allow the county to return an expensive beachfront property to the descendants of Willa and Charles Bruce. The government seized the beach resort known as Bruce Beach to force the Bruce community out of Manhattan Beach in 1924. Newsom signed the bill on Sept. 30.
Charles and Willa Bruce bought the property in Manhattan Beach in 1912 for $1225 and built a haven for Black people to relax on the weekend. Charles Bruce worked in a dining car on a train as a chef while his wife ran the resort, including a dance hall and café. Other families moved nearby and also built cottages, and the area became known as Bruce Beach. The property is now worth approximately $75 million.
The residents of Bruce Beach suffered for years being terrorized by the Ku Klux Klan and white community, but they had worked hard and persevered. After failing to run the families out of town, the government stole their land, claiming eminent domain.
However, nothing was done with the land after it was seized, and the Bruce’s land had been vacant for decades when the land was transferred to the state in 1948. The other lots were made into a public park.
In 1995, the state transferred the land to the county. The Los Angeles County Supervisor, Janice Hahn, called for the governor to sign legislation returning the land after gaining unanimous support from the California State Legislature.
“The law was used to steal this property 100 years ago, and the law today will give it back,” she said at the bill signing ceremony.
“As governor of California, let me do what apparently Manhattan Beach is unwilling to do: I want to apologize to the Bruce family,” said Newsom.
The Bruce’s great-great-grandson, Anthony Bruce, said that having the land stolen ruined the family’s lives for generations. The Bruces both worked for other people as chefs for the rest of their lives. Their son, Bernard, never got over the anger of what had been done to his parents, and Bernard’s son left California altogether, also tormented by the tragedy. His son, Anthony Bruce, is the heir to the property and lives in Florida. He is currently working as a security supervisor.
The governor said that he hopes signing the legislation sets the tone for reparations. He also recently signed legislation that would allow the property to be given back to Indigenous tribes in the state.
Bruce hasn’t yet decided what he will do with the property, but he is happy that someone finally did the right thing.
“We do thank God, because this is something that we’ve been praying for, for decades,” said Bruce. “Hopefully this is the start of a new beginning for us.”