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Some family members and activists said they are disappointed by Tuesday’s announcement that the descendants of a black couple whose Los Angeles beach club was seized by the city in the 1920s, then returned to their heirs in 2022 They now intend to sell the land to the county.
Patricia Bruce, a relative of the club’s original owners Charles and Willa Bruce, who said she was not involved in the decision to sell the land, expressed her disappointment.
“I really don’t think Charles would have sold it,” he told the Washington Post.
Direct descendants of Charles and Willa made the decision to sell the 3-acre property to Los Angeles for a price of $20 million after the land was returned to them in 2022.
Aerial view of Bruce’s Beach at golden hour. Some have questioned whether the $20 million asking price is a low offer from Los Angeles County.
Activist Kavon Ward said she was disappointed the Bruce family chose to sell the land to Los Angeles and said she would have preferred they try to somehow resurrect the original beach club.
Earlier this week, Janice Hahn, chairwoman of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, announced that the Bruce family had made the decision to sell the land to Los Angeles.
“This fight has always been about what’s best for the Bruce family, and they feel it’s in their best interest to sell this property to the county for nearly $20 million and finally rebuild the generational wealth they’ve been denied for nearly a century.” she said.
In a corresponding statement issued by the family’s attorney, the Bruce family acknowledged that some may be disappointed with their decision.
‘We know that some imagined that we could have this piece of land and try to restore [our] old family business.
‘But we have chosen to look to the future,’ they said.
The political battle to return Bruce’s Beach to its rightful owners dragged on for approximately two years and required the participation of legislators from across the state of California.
Kavon Ward, a community organizer and former Manhattan Beach resident, founded the group Justice for Bruce’s Beach.
she told the To post that when proper approval came through to facilitate the transfer of the land to the Bruces, ‘it was almost as if the stars aligned’.
He added that he had no say in the family’s decision to sell the land and that it would not have been their first choice.
“I’m disappointed,” she said. “I would have liked to see Charles and Willa Bruce’s vision implemented, in some way.”
Family member Patricia Bruce-Carter (right) said she, too, would have liked the family to keep the property for a bit longer, saying that is what the original owners would have done.
Anthony Bruce (right) with Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors President Janice Hahn (left), who announced the family’s plans to sell the property to the county on Tuesday.
Willa and Charles Bruce brought the property to the property in 1912 at the turn of the 20th century after moving from New Mexico with their son Harvey.
The site, which is currently used as a lifeguard training facility, is zoned exclusively for public or semi-public use.
If the Bruce family had wanted to develop the land commercially, they would have had to wade their way through the complex rezoning web, which would have involved years of permitting and shipping red tape.
“We have little interest in being a developer, owner or taxpayer in the City of Manhattan Beach,” the family said through their attorney.
Bruce Beach is comprised of two parcels of land with valuable waterfront views in Manhattan Beach, an upscale Los Angeles community that to this day remains less than 1 percent black.
It was first purchased by the Bruces between 1912 and 1920 and was the site of their later construction of a beach resort for members of the black community, who were prohibited from using most white beach clubs at the time.
The complex was a success, but it was one of several owned by black landowners that were seized by Manhattan Beach authorities in the 1920s after white residents complained about their presence.
Following the race riots that followed the death of George Floyd in 2020 and the subsequent resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, the Manhattan Beach City Council assembled a task force that ultimately recommended that the county return the land to the Bruce family.
In 2022, the land was leased back to the descendants of the Bruce family, with an option to re-sell the land to the county for its market value.
Prior to its resale, the land was owned by brothers Marcus and Derrick Bruce, as well as Derrick’s sons Anthony and Michael.
In July 2022, the Bruce family came together to celebrate the return of the deed to the land to the descendants of its rightful owners.
A Bruce’s Beach plaque stands on property that used to be owned by Charles and Willa Bruce before it was seized by the government.
Derrick (left) and Anthony (right) Bruce talk about their ancestors’ belief in the importance of reclaiming Bruce’s beach
At the time the deal closed, Anthony, who currently resides in Florida with his wife Sandra Bruce, said the initial seizure of the land “destroyed” his great-great-grandparents financially.
It destroyed his chance to achieve the American Dream. I wish they could see what has happened today,” he said.
The July ceremony marked the first time a government entity returned improperly seized land to an African-American family.
During a speech he gave that day, Anthony said: ‘It’s surreal, and it’s almost like being transported to the other side of the known universe.’
I want to keep my senses about the whole thing. I want to make sure I don’t lose focus on what Charles and Willa’s dream was. The dream was simply to have an America where they could prosper and make their American business prosper.”
Without God, we would not be here today. And finally, thank you all. God bless you,’ he concluded.
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