A plaque commemorating the Black ownership of a patch of California beach seized in 1924 by segregationist government officials has been stolen, authorities in Manhattan Beach said this week.
The theft of the copper plaque at Bruce’s Beach Park, dedicated last year after its namesake family heirs sold Bruce’s Beach back to the government for $20 million, was reported Monday, the city’s police department said in a statement.
“The Manhattan Beach Police Department immediately opened an investigation to identify, locate, and apprehend those responsible for this unfortunate incident,” it said.
So far there are no leads in the case, said city spokesperson Alexandra Latragna.
“There hasn’t been any evidence uncovered that this was related to a hate crime,” she said in response to a question about whether thieves were mindful of the plaque’s racial significance.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who championed returning Bruce’s Beach to its namesake family, noted in a statement Tuesday that the plaque was stolen from Bruce’s Beach Park, which is adjacent to the historic Bruce family parcels but occupies land never owned by them.
Hahn said she laments that the theft may open up “old wounds,” but she expressed hope it was no more than part of a wave of copper thefts in Los Angeles County and beyond.
“I hope that the plaque’s theft is unrelated to the painful history of Bruce’s Beach and my decision to return the property to the Bruce family, and more related to the string of recent bronze thefts we have seen,” she said in her statement.
The Bruce’s Beach Park plaque is made of bronze, which is roughly 88% copper and 12% tin. The park is operated by the city of Manhattan Beach.
Last week, Los Angeles city officials discussed a proposal to create a task force on copper theft. In December, 7 miles of copper wiring used in lighting was stolen from L.A.’s Sixth Street Viaduct.
The plaque was installed in February of 2023 and dedicated the next month. “The stolen plaque held significant historical and cultural value,” the Manhattan Beach Police Department said.
The plaque notes that the Bruces settled on the Strand in Manhattan Beach after being turned away from other coastal communities. It states that the process of seizing their property also ensnared the property of neighboring Black families, as well as that of several white families who had plans to develop their parcels.
“The city’s actions at the time were racially motivated and wrong,” the plaque says.
It expresses hope for a future that includes “respect and inclusion.”
The county has its own plaque atop the former Bruce’s Beach parcels, and it remained there this week, Hahn said.
County government took over the Bruces’ contiguous, beachside parcels in 1995 in a series of transactions involving the city and state. Purchased by Charles and Willa Bruce in 1912 and 1920, the couple developed the property into Bruce’s Lodge, which attracted not only Black tourists, but also Black homeowners who wanted to live or vacation near the attraction.
Some white neighbors responded with hostility, racism and legislation. The City Council moved to take the property in 1924 under the guise of building a park. By 1927, the Bruces, who had arrived as a vanguard in the Western wing of the Great Migration away from the Jim Crow South, had moved away.
The park that the City Council said would be built when it moved to take the property in 1924 remained unbuilt until 1956, when one was finally erected.
In 2022, the county returned the property to Bruce family heirs. The next year, the family sold it back to the county for $20 million, sparking discussion about reparations and the value of a gilded stretch of coast shouldered with heavy history.
At the time, Hahn was happy to see Bruces’ heirs take the money.
“The seizure of Bruce’s Beach nearly a century ago was an injustice inflicted upon not just Willa and Charles Bruce but generations of their descendants who almost certainly would have been millionaires,” she said in 2023.
Latragna, the city spokesperson, said the investigation into the theft was ongoing.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
