L.A. Returns Beachfront Land to Black Family to ‘Make Amends,’ Says Co. Supervisor Hahn

L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn says the rest of the country needs to get on board with righting obvious wrongs … just as L.A. is by returning a Black family’s beachfront property, which was stolen from them almost 100 years ago.

Hahn joined “TMZ Live” Friday and explained why she led the effort to return the land — known as Bruce’s Beach in the city of Manhattan Beach — to the descendants of Willa and Charles Bruce. The couple owned and operated a beach resort there in the 1920s.

A little history lesson first … Willa and Charles bought the land in 1912 and created a beach resort catering to Black residents. Fast-forward to 1924, when the city used eminent domain to seize the property and force the resort out of business by 1929.

The land sat dormant for decades … until a park was finally built in 1960 and eventually renamed Bruce’s Beach. The Bruce family sued claiming they were victims of a racially motivated removal campaign.

Fast-forward to now and Hahn says the right thing to do was return the land to its rightful owners. It’s interesting … Hahn says she learned to swim in the ocean a couple of blocks from where Bruce’s Beach is located and never knew about this injustice.

She believes it’s the first time in our nation a government has given land back to an African-American family to make amends for past discriminatory policies.