MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. — The city of Manhattan Beach is moving forward with the creation of at least one task force to discuss issues of diversity and inclusion, starting with Bruce’s Beach Park and looking outward.
During its Aug. 18 meeting, the Manhattan Beach City Council ordered staff to return with options for task forces to consider how the city should acknowledge the racist history that Bruce’s Beach Park is steeped in, and how Manhattan should move forward.
“I think we’re in agreement that bad things happened – that a bad thing happened to the Bruces and other African-American families at that time, and for a bad reason,” Manhattan Beach Councilmember Steve Napolitano said. “When that happens, we can say we’re sorry, and that’s OK. And we can do better by recognizing the history.”
Bruce’s Beach Park, on the north end of Manhattan Beach, is a respite from the end-to-end cluster of densely-packed beach-front houses in the city’s residential zone. But it’s also the result of the city seizing the land of five Black land-owning families, as well as dozens of white land-owners, so as to force out Black residents and visitors.
“This is really an opportunity, not to just look at our past, but it’s an opportunity for us to now make a difference in the lives of others currently,” Councilmember Hildy Stern said.
“It's not an attempt to stir up trouble. It's an opportunity to move forward to a solution. To be better. To extend ourselves. And to celebrate how we have the best of our future together. This is really a question of a broad question of diversity and inclusion,” Stern added.
Bruce's Beach, Then and Now
Amid this spring’s racial justice marches and protests against police brutality, Manhattan Beach residents rediscovered the history at Bruce’s Beach. Organizations such as MB/HB/MBUSD Community Panel for Equity, have lobbied both the city and the local school to better acknowledge the city’s history of racist misdeeds. The organization is also lobbying for restorative justice for the Bruces and other land-owning families that were displaced.
In the 1910s and ‘20s, Willa Bruce purchased two lots of land that she and her husband Charles turned into a resort known as Bruce’s Lodge. Their resort that created a space for Black beach goers, offering bathing suit rentals, snacks, overnight rooms, and a dance hall.
In 1924, after lobbying and petitions from resident George Lindsey, the Manhattan Beach Board of Trustees agreed to order the condemnation of the two blocks of land where Black landowners – including the Bruce family – had concentrated. Though many white landowners also lost their property in the condemnation order, the only structures on those blocks were built by the Black land-owners.
The city’s order claimed that Manhattan Beach was to build a park. No park was built on that land until the late 1950s, about 30 years after condemnation proceedings began.
In a presentation outlining the area’s history to the council, Manhattan Beach staffer Alexandria Latragna cited an article, printed by the Redondo Reflex in 1945. In that article, a 1920s Manhattan Beach trustee admitted that their action was racially motivated, and that “our attorney advised the members of the council never to admit the real purpose” of the condemnation proceedings.
The land that Bruce’s Lodge once sat on has changed hands a few times over the years, going from Manhattan Beach to the State of California, and is now owned by Los Angeles County. A lifeguard station now stands where the Bruce family owned their land.
The park itself became known as Bruce’s Beach in 2007, following the lobbying of then-Mayor Mitch Ward, who was the city’s first (and to this day, the only) Black council member and mayor.
A Golden Opportunity
At Tuesday’s meeting, Napolitano said that he believes the city must apologize for the systemic racism that forced out the Black landowners who were forced off of their land. The councilmember also suggested the city rework the 2006 plaque marking the history of Bruce’s Beach, describing it as “wholly inadequate.”
“I think we should do a substantial piece of public art that would incorporate…visuals and words as to the full history of Bruce’s Beach,” Napolitano said.
Mayor Pro Temp Suzanne Hadley argued that those people who sought the Bruce’s Beach name change in 2006 “got everything they wanted,” citing transcripts from public meetings.
“He said ‘I don’t want the city to issue an apology, it’s meaningless – give us the name Bruce’s Beach, or give us nothing,’” Hadley told the council. “My head is spinning how things can change in 13 years. Let’s go forward slowly and recognize that, as Mayor (Richard) Montgomery said, we’re a very different city than 100 years ago.”
Montgomery said that the council is not trying to solve everything with one decision in one day, and that the next step is to form committees.
“We were remiss 14 years ago. I apologize I didn’t fight for it more 14 years ago,” said Montgomery, who served a previous term on the City Council in 2006. “Let’s show the South Bay and L.A. and everyone else that we realize that this is a golden opportunity.”
When reached for comment, Mitch Ward clarified his disinterest in an apology back in 2006, saying that the renaming of Bruce’s Beach was meant as a “step forward…we keep going until we feel like we’ve accomplished something that’s beneficial for us all.” He also stated that multiple council members, including Mayor Pro Tem Hadley, have asked him to serve on the future task force.
Manhattan Beach native Ronald Clinton, who founded the MB/HB/MBUSD Community Panel for Equity, was encouraged to hear of the council’s support for a task force, especially if it includes a variety of perspectives on history and justice.
But he believes that the city should not stop with only a plaque, or a new monument, recounting the history of Bruce’s Beach. Manhattan Beach must deliver some means of financial re-compensation for the land lost by the Bruce family and the other landowners, he said.
“Restitution is the answer. It’s just a matter of how we do it,” Clinton said.