Current:Home > NewsBlack and Latino families displaced from Palm Springs neighborhood reach $27M tentative settlement -NextGenWealth
Black and Latino families displaced from Palm Springs neighborhood reach $27M tentative settlement
View
Date:2025-04-17 20:23:16
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Black and Latino families who were pushed out of a Palm Springs neighborhood in the 1960s reached a $27 million tentative settlement agreement with the city that will largely go toward increasing housing access.
The deal was announced Wednesday, and the city council will vote on it Thursday. The history of displacement that took place there had been largely forgotten until recent years, said Areva Martin, a lawyer representing more than 300 former residents and hundreds of descendants.
“The fact that we got this over the finish line is remarkable given the headwinds that we faced,” Martin said.
The deal is much smaller than the $2.3 billion the families previously sought as restitution for their displacement.
It includes $5.9 million in compensation for former residents and descendants, $10 million for a first-time homebuyer assistance program, $10 million for a community land trust and the creation of a monument to commemorate the history of the neighborhood known as Section 14.
It has not been determined how much each family or individual would receive in direct compensation, Martin said. Money for housing assistance would go toward low-income Palm Springs residents, with priority given to former Section 14 residents and descendants.
“The City Council is deeply gratified that that the former residents of Section 14 have agreed to accept what we believe is a fair and just settlement offer,” Mayor Jeffrey Bernstein said in a statement.
The city council voted in 2021 to issue a formal apology to former residents for the city’s role in displacing them in the 1960s from the neighborhood that many Black and Mexican American families called home.
The tentative deal comes as reparations efforts at the state level have yielded mixed results. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law in September to formally apologize for the state’s legacy of racism and discrimination against Black residents. But state lawmakers blocked a bill that would have created an agency to administer reparations programs, and Newsom vetoed a proposal that would have helped Black families reclaim property that was seized unjustly by the government through eminent domain.
Section 14 was a square-mile neighborhood on a Native American reservation that many Black and Mexican American families once called home. Families recalled houses being burned and torn down in the area before residents were told to vacate their homes.
They filed a tort claim with the city in 2022 that argued the tragedy was akin to the violence that decimated a vibrant community known as Black Wall Street more than a century ago in Tulsa, Oklahoma, leaving as many as 300 people dead. There were no reported deaths in connection with the displacement of families from Section 14.
Pearl Devers, a Palmdale resident who lived in Section 14 with her family until age 12, said the agreement was a long-overdue acknowledgement of how families’ lives were forever changed by the displacement.
“While no amount of money can fully restore what we lost, this agreement helps pave the way for us all to finally move forward,” she said in a statement.
___
Austin is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on Twitter: @ sophieadanna
veryGood! (78522)
Related
- Hidden Home Gems From Kohl's That Will Give Your Space a Stylish Refresh for Less
- The Best Sunscreen Face Sprays That Are Easy to Apply and Won’t Ruin Your Makeup
- US applications for jobless claims fall to lowest level in 9 weeks
- 2 women killed by Elias Huizar were his ex-wife and 17-year-old he had baby with: Police
- Romantasy reigns on spicy BookTok: Recommendations from the internet’s favorite genre
- US applications for jobless claims fall to lowest level in 9 weeks
- Firefighters fully contain southern New Jersey forest fire that burned hundreds of acres
- Eminem’s Daughter Hailie Jade Shares Beautiful Glimpse Inside Her Home
- Opinion: Gianni Infantino, FIFA sell souls and 2034 World Cup for Saudi Arabia's billions
- Jury urged to convict former Colorado deputy of murder in Christian Glass shooting
Ranking
- Beware of giant spiders: Thousands of tarantulas to emerge in 3 states for mating season
- Doctors perform first-ever combined heart pump and pig kidney transplant
- The Masked Singer Marks Actress' Triumphant Return After Near-Death Experience
- New Orleans man pleads guilty in 2016 shooting death of Jefferson Parish deputy
- Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
- Looking for cheaper Eras Tour tickets? See Taylor Swift at these 10 international cities.
- Pairing of Oreo and Sour Patch Kids candies produces new sweet, tart cookies
- 2 women killed by Elias Huizar were his ex-wife and 17-year-old he had baby with: Police
Recommendation
Bet365 ordered to refund $519K to customers who it paid less than they were entitled on sports bets
Pro-Palestinian protesters urge universities to divest from Israel. What does that mean?
Los Angeles marches mark Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day
Relatives of those who died waiting for livers at now halted Houston transplant program seek answers
The GOP and Kansas’ Democratic governor ousted targeted lawmakers in the state’s primary
Biden signs foreign aid bill into law, clearing the way for new weapons package for Ukraine
Arizona grand jury indicts 11 Republicans who falsely declared Trump won the state in 2020
Last-place San Jose Sharks fire head coach David Quinn