Investing in real estate is a good move. Although it might require more capital, properties such as land increase their value over time. This would mean more profit the longer you have it.
Back in the old days, owning real estate was quite different than it is today.
There were no legalities as technical and comprehensive as what we have these days. And 100 years ago, land-grabbing was everywhere.
One of the families who have experienced this was the ancestor of Anthony Bruce, the great-great-grandson of the original Manhattan Beach land owners. Nearly a century ago, his ancestor’s land was seized from the Black owners. It is only this year that the land’s deed was finally returned to Anthony’s family, the rightful owners of the property.
Anthony officially received the deed to the beach land owned by his ancestors thru an event held to formally return the land.
The document was presented to the Bruce family, which would mean that Bruce’s Beach from Los Angeles County is now rightfully theirs. State Senator Steven Bradford, the man who authored the bill that allowed the land to be transferred back to Anthony’s family, shared that:
“This transfer will allow the Bruce family to realize generational wealth, which they have been denied for generations simply because they were black in America.”
California officials voted to return beachfront land taken from a Black family in 1924.
Back in the 1900s, Willa and Charles Bruce bought beach land so they could own a resort for Black people to utilize.
It was meant for the Black folks to have access to the shore during a time when they were not allowed to do so. The beachfront property measured 7,000 square feet and was bought for $1,225.
The property was actually priced higher than its neighboring lots at that time. On it were various facilities built by the Bruce couple which included changing rooms and cafes.
An interview from 1912 showed a statement made by Willa regarding the property.
“Wherever we have tried to buy land for a beach resort we have been refused, but I own this land and I am going to keep it.”
However, due to racial discrimination, harassment, and conflicts with white neighbors and Ku Klux Klan at the time, the family lost the land in the process.
In 1925, the Manhattan Beach City Council condemned the property. They took it through eminent domain which meant they paid the couple only a part of what they asked for.
The property was eventually transferred to California in 1948. One woman led the efforts to return the Manhattan Beach land to the Bruce family and that person is County Supervisor Janice Hahn.
At long last, victory has been won for the Bruce family:
The Board of Supervisors has voted unanimously to return Bruce’s Beach to the great-grandsons of Willa and Charles Bruce. After more than a year of hard work, today we have made history and taken a step towards justice. pic.twitter.com/X4Ma4DFIDl
— Janice Hahn (@SupJaniceHahn) June 28, 2022
She believed that seizing the property from the rightful owners “was a racially motivated attempt to drive out the successful Black business and its patrons.”
In order to return the land to the Bruces, a complex process had to be done and this was led by the county supervisor.
I am thinking of Willa’s great-grandsons, Derrick and Marcus Bruce, who now own some of the most beautiful beachfront property in the world. And I am thinking of the generations of Bruces to come, whose lives will be forever changed because of the wrong we have set right today. pic.twitter.com/VTKYNJbB46
— Janice Hahn (@SupJaniceHahn) July 20, 2022
It took two years for her and her team to succeed, and now the deed of the land is back to where it belongs.
“Nothing like this has ever been done before,” County Supervisor Hahn said on the day of the official transfer. “We can’t change the past and we will never be able to make up for the injustice that was done to your great, great grandparents and great grandparents, Willa and Charles nearly a century ago. But this is a start.”
This development was a start and Anthony hopes that their story will inspire further return of land to their rightful owners.
Today I am thinking of Willa Bruce, who never gave up on getting this land back for her family. I am thinking of her children and grandchildren, who were denied the generational wealth and opportunity that should have been theirs. pic.twitter.com/iYm2Z1JWf7
— Janice Hahn (@SupJaniceHahn) July 20, 2022
He is also grateful for the efforts of the team who has helped make the transfer possible.
“We hope that our country no longer accepts prejudice as an acceptable behavior, and we need to stand united against it, because it has no place in our society today,” he said. “Thank you so much. Without God, we would not be here today. And finally, most importantly, thank you all.”
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