California moves to return beach seized from Black couple

By DON THOMPSON
Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers are unanimously moving to allow the return of prime beachfront property to descendants of a Black couple who were stripped of their resort for African Americans amid racist harassment a century ago. Willa and Charles Bruce built the first West Coast resort for Black people during an era when racial segregation barred them from many beaches. But the Ku Klux Klan tried to burn it down, and white neighbors harassed the couple and their customers. A Los Angeles County city used eminent domain to seize the land in 1924, ostensibly for use as a park. The bill lawmakers approved on Thursday would allow the land’s return.