LOS ANGELES — After nearly three years of controversy and intense debate, Manhattan Beach on Saturday held a ceremony of its own to acknowledge its racist history at Bruce’s Beach — and to mark what city leaders are calling a new chapter of healing.
More than 100 residents, city staff and government officials gathered to reflect on the fact that the city once ran an entire community of Black beachgoers out of town. Standing before a new monument that spelled out this historical injustice, Mayor Steve Napolitano asked the crowd to join him in a moment of silence.
“It has been a long road — too long — to get here,” said Napolitano, who personally apologized to all the Black families whose properties had been seized by the city a century ago — and who called on the rest of the City Council to do the same. “We’re here today to unveil a new plaque, to reconcile our history, confront some uncomfortable truths, and recognize how far we’ve come — while acknowledging how far we still need to go.”
