When a California Town Stole a Black-Owned Resort

In 1912, a Black couple named Charles and Willa Bruce bought a parcel of land in Manhattan Beach, CA and turned it into a successful seaside resort for Black Californians. They were driven out of town -- by white city officials who didn’t want Black neighbors. A hundred years later, a state law allowed for the return of the property to the Bruces' descendants. But the city of Manhattan Beach has yet to apologize for its actions. In 2021, VICE producer Julia Nutter headed to Manhattan Beach to explore the tensions that played out in what many were calling a test case of land reparations for African Americans. Listen through to the end for the latest updates on the sale of Bruce’s Beach. 

This episode was produced by Julia Nutter and edited by Adizah Eghan and Kate Osborn. 

VICE News Reports is produced by Sam Eagan, Sophie Kazis, Adreanna Rodriguez, Adriana Tapia and Sheena Ozaki. Our senior producers are Jesse Alejandro Cottrell, Janice Llamoca and Julia Nutter. Our supervising producer is Ashley Cleek. Our associate producer is Steph Brown. Sound design and music composition by Steve Bone, Pran Bandi, and Kyle Murdock. Our Executive Producers are Adizah Eghan and Stephanie Kariuki. For VICE Audio, Annie Avilés is our Executive Editor and Janet Lee is our Senior Production Manager. Fact Checking by Nicole Pasulka. Our theme music is by Steve Bone. Our host is Arielle Duhaime-Ross. Charles Raggio is the head of VICE Audio.

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