, Columnist
Manhattan Beach May Show the Way on Reparations
Almost a century after authorities seized a Black-owned resort in Southern California, descendants may get the property back.
Prime beachfront property.
Photographer: Mario Tama/Getty Images North AmericaThis article is for subscribers only.
It’s difficult to say how all this will end. But on a beach in Southern California, you can see how a process of reparations might begin for descendants of slaves and other Black Americans harmed by centuries of state-sanctioned racism.
Officials in California are debating compensation for descendants of a Black couple who operated a small resort for Black vacationers in Manhattan Beach until the town seized their property in the 1920s. Willa Bruce had purchased a seaside lot in Manhattan Beach in 1912 and was soon advertising a beach club for Black guests.