56-518 and the possible correlation between reparations to Holocaust survivors and those receiving reparations for slavery and segregation). MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. On June 19, 2020, nearly two dozen activists got together at Bruce's Beach park in Manhattan Beach, discussing the complicated past of the land they stood on, and determining a path forward. A county supervisor, Janice Hahn, set out to return the property. Kavon Ward, a Manhattan Beach resident and founder of Justice for Bruce's Beach, coordinated the Juneteenth event. Instead, the city granted them $14,500. So it was extremely difficult on the council to get it passed. The sister-city relationship had lapsed in 1989, but some opponents to the proposal arguedthat Culiacn, Mexico, might find the name change disrespectful.. Almost 100 years after the government took their land, it has been returned. State representatives voted on Thursday to return the property, known as Bruce's Beach, to the descendants of Willa and Charles Bruce, whose resort was taken by eminent domain in 1924 and later . They had a bathhouse next door, then they had a novelty shop. I talked to him about Bruces Beach several years ago, as an adult, and used some of the material in a piece of historical fiction. In 1912, Willa and Charles Bruce purchased a California beachfront property and converted the land into the first west coast resort for Black people.[7] Despite forceful attempts by local Klan members to run the Bruces off Bruces Beach,[8] the resort remained popular and successful with other Black residents and visitors. The land was graded and planted in 1956. But in 1924, Manhattan Beach officials invoked eminent domain and condemned the Bruces . With increased national awareness and the Black Lives Matter movement, a renewed demand for justice propelled the issue into the state and national discussion. They Want Their Land Back. By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. Bruce's Beach resort was shuttered and demolished, and the property sat vacant for decades. Which of those white men with guns and torches decided it now belonged to them, and what would happen if I was able to track down the records and prove that the land had been stolen? The family also went through many violations in the white land because they were not considered worthy of . [30] Relation back is when an act done at a later time is, under certain circumstances, treated as though it occurred at an earlier time. Relation Back, Blacks Law Dictionary (11th ed. A vision which has been fully realized today. To me, it was not about the words on the plaque. Any last-minute words or thoughts before we go? "The Bruce family was stripped of their property in 1924 because of hatred and racism," Gavin Newsom tweeted. Suzanne Hadley, the current mayor, has argued that the past, horrible as it might have been, is past, and that cash reparations would amount to an illegal gift of public funds. (With the current city council, Mitch Ward told me, the effort to change the parks name would be destined to fail.) However, the city did offer three hundred and fifty thousand dollars for an art exhibit about the Bruces, and also called for a new, reworded plaque at the park. Anthony Bruce, a descendant of Charles and Willa Bruce, told the Times that the issue "continues to tear his family apart." Guide to move to Baara Land. "It's soothing to come to," said Harris. And I think for me, it means creating policy change, national policy change, that these people can get remedied. Photos of Bruce's Beach protest by Starr L. Swift, Swift Productions. I think Bob would be tickled pink, Ward said. So, at that point, I made contact with the family, I told them about my training, my experience, and perhaps most importantly, my passion and dedication to getting their familys land back; and doing it in a way that could potentially serve as a model for other efforts throughout the country. LA County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn welcomes Dr. Martin Luther King to Los Angeles in 1961. Only one other beach in L.A. County welcomed African-Americans at the timeSanta Monica had a segregated patch of sand called the Inkwelland Black families drove for hours from around Southern California to sunbathe and swim at the Bruces property. This prompted the decision to build City Park on the land. hide caption. As Sacramento Observer publisher Larry Lee wrote earlier this year, reparations for Black people is the most important issue of our time. The block marked in red (Block 5) is currently county-owned. 796, which cleared the path for the Bruces heirs to have the property returned to them. The following year, he asked the citys board of trustees to take measures to discourage colored people from establishing homes in the area. "I don't think that we can handle all of this within my lifetime," Ward says. Please visit ACTEC, actec.org/diversity for resources on this and other related topics. Terrence M. Franklin: These are ongoing issues and we try to cover a bunch of them in this series, Planning for a Diverse and Equitable Future. Manhattan Beach land seized from Black family may be returned to descendants nearly a century later. 07 Nov 2022 19:19:25 Manhattan Beach used eminent domain to seize the land in 1924, ostensibly for use as a park. So, Where Is My Land is a national organization that I co-founded. The Bruces built an overnight lodge and eventually developed a thriving resort. June 23, 2022 4 California Bruce's Beach can return to descendants of Black family in landmark move signed by Newsom Gov. It starts with my grandmothers brother being lynched and ends with the family fleeing for their lives leaving the land they owned behind. at 431; see also I.R.C. And if it can happen in Manhattan Beach, what does it mean for the rest of us? Bruce's Beach Task Force: History Subcommittee Report, City of Manhattan Beach, April 12, 201 So, if youre listening and you want to get involved in a movement that is going to change the trajectory of like land theft and Black land being returned, look at, look for us. [23] Smith & Waterhouse, supra note 1, at 175. hide caption, "I informed the [Bruce] family that I would do anything in my power to help them," Ward, 39, tells NPR. [1] See generally Andre Smith & Carlton Waterhouse, No Reparation Without Taxation: Applying the Internal Revenue Code to the Concept of Reparations for Slavery and Segregation, 7 Pitt. It acknowledged and condemned what had happened but refused to draft a formal apology, which carried an extra legal risk, according to sources within the mayors office. Getty. And at the end of last year, the state and county formally amended the deed to the property, to remove the transfer restrictions. He found an ally in Ward, whod grown up in Arkansas before eventually moving to California. Standing at the top of a sloping grass park, on a recent weekday morning, he pointed out locations to me. Their hearings scheduled for the case in February, and were confident that the county will be successful in defending the lawsuit. The county will be the first in the nation to do this, so we feel like we can be a model, Hahn said. Brigham noticed the first hint of the Bruces story when he moved to Manhattan Beach, as a boy, in 1939. [7:02] The story of Bruce's Beach [19:36] Breaking news on reparations at Bruce's Beach [22:20] Tony and Adam's plan to draw Black people back [33:24] How listeners can get involved Robert Brigham's grad school thesis, "Land Ownership and Occupancy by Negroes in Manhattan Beach" (1956) is HERE So, those are both important milestones. ConclusionWith the rise of reparations advocacy groups[37] and the passing of the Bill, the story of Bruces Beach serves as a model for how states may hold themselves accountable for cheating Black families out of generations of wealth through discriminatory land use practices. pic.twitter.com/B0ssG5Jw8f. This man recounted a night in the early 1920s when he followed a siren to Bruces Lodge where someone (supposedly a Klansman) had set fire to a mattress under the main building, Brigham wrote. During the signing ceremony in Manhattan Beach, Newsom recognized activist Kavon Ward as the driving force behind the Bruce's Beach movement. The Bruce family had requested $120,000 in compensation $70,000 for the two lots and $50,000 in. Bob Brigham, a student at Fresno State College in the nineteen-fifties, wrote his graduate thesis on this persecution, and interviewed a member of the board of trustees from the era who remembered an arson attempt. The Bruces descendants plan to lease it back to the county at market value, at least for now. ][19] The Supreme Court has given a liberal construction to this broad phraseology in recognition of the intention of Congress to tax all gains except those specifically exempted.[20] All gains include undeniable accessions to wealth, clearly realized, and over which the taxpayers have complete dominion.[21] Because there is no specific exemption for land reparations listed in the IRC,[22] receiving reparations proceeds would likely be considered accession to wealth, just from a very peculiar but taxable source.[23] Therefore, all land reparations, including Bruces Beach, would likely be considered gross income unless Congress specifically excludes it from gross income, the judiciary finds that the amount is not income at all, or the IRS uses its prosecutorial discretion not to tax it.[24], Statutorily, Congress could amend the IRC to exclude land reparations from gross income or to state that land reparations are not income. Copyright 2022, The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. What is a Revocable Trust and do I need one? Bethany Mollenkof for NPR [16] Although the Bill includes a section on mitigating state tax liabilities for the Bruces descendants, it is silent on how to address the possible federal tax implications of the transfer of such valuable property. Like many other Americans of African descent, the Bruce family had moved West as part of the Great Migration, seeking opportunities to participate in the promise of the California and American Dream. At least, until now. Two African American couples stand on a walkway at Bruce's Beach, Manhattan Beach, circa 1920. Video of Bruce's Beach protest by Jessa Williams Heres the thing, Bradford said. Known as Bruce's Beach, the oceanfront park traces back to what was the City of Manhattan Beach in the early 1900s.In 1912, Charles and Willa Bruce purchased the property and built a successful . The historic Bruce's Beach case is inspiring social justice leaders and reparations activists to fight for other Black families whose ancestors were also victims of land theft in the United States. When I moved to Los Angeles in 1998 to teach in Compton, I was told in no uncertain terms by older Black teachers at my school that the city was one of those places I should steer clear of if I didnt want to get pulled over or harassed by police. "They had 24/7 phone campaigns and made threats against Willa and her family.". Prior to law school, Rebecca taught middle school English and authored several young adult novels. Shepard, their descendent, says reclaiming Bruce's Beach was just the first step. The parcels marked in gold are parcels that were owned by Black families in the 1920s. And by 1920, the Bruce's Beach property included a cafe, a pavilion, they had live music, that was way back before the days of playlists and Spotify, changing rooms and a lot of other amenities for people to enjoy the beach, During a push to rename the park, Ward met a surprising amount of resistance. Bruce's Beach had a different outcome because the government actually stepped in to make amends for a historical wrong. [28] See supra text and accompanying notes 1920. Feel it, an emotional Ward said at the ceremony to return the land to the Bruce family. He's worked to reform discriminatory policies that have stripped African Americans of their land. Our two guests were instrumental in the fight for justice, equity and reparations. As a result, Charles and Willa Bruce moved to South Los Angeles and became laborers . [3] In an unprecedented move, California's legislators returned a large piece of land, known as "Bruce's Beach," [4] located in the prestigious Manhattan Beach, California, to the descendants . Shepard's ancestors, an African American couple named Charles and Willa Bruce, owned this land a century ago. Statutes of limitation restrictions prevent families from successfully filing lawsuits. I recruited a colleague and we researched legal claims that the Bruce heirs and their descendants might be able to bring to recover the property. Word In Black is a first-of-its-kind national newsroom powered by a collaboration of the nations leading Black publishers. And he would say, Mom, how come theres so many weeds down there? hide caption. Bruce's Beach is one example of land theft that's taken place across the United States through violence, intimidation and legal maneuvers. A concrete monument with "Bruce's Beach Park" engraved on it was installed on the grass in 2007, along with a plaque, written by a civic group, that distorted the area's history and soft-pedalled the city's racism. Two things came to mind. Hahn's daughter, Supervisor Janice Hahn, is spearheading what she hopes is another ground-breaking moment in civil rights . Her group, Justice for Bruces Beach, demanded a return of the land to the Bruce family, and also reparations from the city for decades of lost income from the lodge. We are, we have about 200 families now that are requesting our help and so right now, were trying to build infrastructure, scale up so that we can help as many of them as possible, at no charge. A community organizer named Kavon Ward, who is not related to Mitch Ward, held a picnic and sit-in at the park. [14] The grassroots movement Justice for Bruces Beach was created to help restore Bruces Beach to its rightful owners. 159, 15961 (2010). The Bruces owned two lots adjacent to the park, on The Strand, where the Los Angeles County Lifeguard building now sits. Now because were in the middle of both the litigation and the transfer negotiations, Im reluctant to get into too much detail, but my hope is that youll consider having us back once the land has finally been returned to the family. Also, we need more funds, so please donate. Shortly after purchasing the land, Charles and Willa Bruce turned the location into a seaside resort . Theres no room for error and the familys going to need strong legal representation. Black America hasn't had a prominent example of a Black family pursuing reparative justice and actually getting back land that's rightfully theirs. The Bruces and other Black landowners tried to block the condemnation through legal means, but the effort failed, and the Bruces eventually demanded seventy thousand dollars for their land and business, plus fifty thousand dollars in damages. "This land was taken from the Bruce family because they were Black and, before it was stolen, was one of the precious few beaches Black families could enjoy," Hahn said. Brigham, though, wanted the name to reflect the parks history. The last thing I wanted to do was try to awaken hope for these folks who were already burdened by the injustice done to their great-grandparents and their great-great-grandparents. Second, were in active negotiations with the county to finalize and memorialize the terms and conditions of the transfer. After discovering the Bruces' story, Kavon Ward founded Justice for Bruce's Beach, a grassroots movement to restore the family's land and fight for the reparations . MANHATTAN BEACH - Nearly a century after Bruce's Beach was wrongfully taken from Black entrepreneurs Willa and Charles Bruce, Governor Gavin Newsom today signed legislation that will enable Los Angeles County to return the beachfront property to their . Charles and Willa Bruce eventually got fourteen thousand and five hundred dollars for their once thriving resort. First, it was called City Park, but in the nineteen-sixties it became Bayview Terrace Park, and then, in 1974, Parque Culiacn, to mark a sister-city relationship with Culiacn, Mexico. Fight for Justice, Reparations and Bruce's Beach, Commitment to Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination, Statement Condemning Violence Against AAPI, What You Should Know About Wills & Trusts, Understanding Cryptocurrency in Estate Planning, Managing Digital Assets of Deceased / Disabled, How to Talk with Your Family About Estate Planning, How to Talk With Parents About Estate Planning, Understanding Life Insurance Policy Ownership, Life Insurance Policies and Estate Planning. [21] Id. Willa and Charles Bruce were among the first Black people to settle in Manhattan Beach, Calif., but the city . Today, the two parcels of land are worth an estimated $75. First, as we always expected, a lawsuit has been filed to prevent the county from returning the land to the family.
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