Manhattan Beach Update: Bruce's Beach Task Force Applications

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — As of Friday afternoon, the City of Manhattan Beach had received 25 applications for the Bruce's Beach Task Force. The task force was formed by the Manhattan Beach City Council to address and change the wording that presently is on a plaque at Bruce's Beach. That plaque, heralded in 2006 when it was unveiled, holds inaccurate information activists have been striving to have changed to accurately reflect what transpired in the 1920s when the city's board of trustees used eminent domain to strip Willa Bruce and others of their land for use as a park.

The controversial park, controversial because the city never officially recognized the true history of racism that caused Willa Bruce to lose her beachfront land and because the city covered up the racism, has become a lightning rod for discussions of racial justice since June when a newly formed organization called Anti-Racist Movement South Bay Los Angeles began to call attention to the nearly 100-years-old injustices.

The Manhattan Beach City Council is scouting out a task force of at least 9 Manhattan Beach citizens who will work to establish new accurate wording for a plaque at Bruce's Beach, as well as deciding what art or other avenues of work could be useful to convey the site's true heritage.

Only Manhattan Beach residents qualify for the task force, which includes council members Hildy Stern and Steve Napolitano. Last Tuesday night, when city council set up the parameters for the task force, they did say they were open to including more than 9 on the task force. Go online to the city's website for an application.