Los Angeles County officials announced Tuesday that the Bruce family, descendants of Willa and Charles Bruce, will be selling the beachfront property known as Bruce’s Beach back to the county for nearly $20 million. The property was taken from the Bruce family through eminent domain in the Jim Crow era.
Janice Hahn, chair of the county Board of Supervisors, and state Sen. Steven Bradford, who led local and state governmental efforts to undo the long-ago injustice, both released statements regarding the sale.
“This fight has always been about what is best for the Bruce family, and they feel what is best for them is selling this property back to the County for nearly $20 million and finally rebuilding the generational wealth they were denied for nearly a century,” Hahn said.
Bradford added, “The seizure of Bruce’s 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.”
The Bruce family received the official deed to the property last year, and the sale to the county will be finalized in the coming weeks. The county plans to use the property as a public park and beach.
The Bruce family’s decision to sell the property is seen as a step towards justice and reparations for the long-ago injustice. It is also a way for the family to finally rebuild the generational wealth that was denied to them for nearly a century.
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