Current:Home > MyBlack and Latino families displaced from Palm Springs neighborhood reach $27M tentative settlement -Streamline Finance
Black and Latino families displaced from Palm Springs neighborhood reach $27M tentative settlement
View
Date:2025-04-21 12:47:06
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! (25)
Related
- Golf's No. 1 Nelly Korda looking to regain her form – and her spot on the Olympic podium
- Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's impeachment trial: Senate begins deliberations
- Gael García Bernal crushes it (and others) as 'Cassandro,' lucha libre's queer pioneer
- Guatemala’s president-elect says he’s ready to call people onto the streets
- Mega Millions winning numbers for August 6 drawing: Jackpot climbs to $398 million
- Flights canceled and cruise itineraries changed as Hurricane Lee heads to New England and Canada
- Wisconsin impeachment review panel includes former GOP speaker, conservative justice
- Not just LA and New York: Bon Appetit names these 24 best new restaurants in 2023
- From bitter rivals to Olympic teammates, how Lebron and Steph Curry became friends
- Maren Morris gives pointed response to 'toxic' criticisms in new EP 'The Bridge'
Ranking
- Daughter of Utah death row inmate navigates complicated dance of grief and healing before execution
- US Soccer getting new digs with announcement of national team training center in Atlanta
- Selena Quintanilla, Walter Mercado and More Latin Icons With Legendary Style
- New Mexico governor amends order suspending right to carry firearms to focus on parks, playgrounds
- Jury finds man guilty of sending 17-year-old son to rob and kill rapper PnB Rock
- Sia Details “Severe” Depression for 3 Years After Divorce From Erik Anders Lang
- Is capitalism in its flop era?
- Kosovo receives $34.7 million US grant to fight corruption and strengthen democracy
Recommendation
Hidden Home Gems From Kohl's That Will Give Your Space a Stylish Refresh for Less
Satellite images show large-scale devastation of Libya's floods
Afghan NGO says it’s working with the UN for the quick release of 18 staff detained by the Taliban
Railyard explosion in Nebraska isn’t expected to create any lingering problems, authorities say
Olympic men's basketball bracket: Results of the 5x5 tournament
Court sentences main suspects in Belgium’s deadliest peacetime attack to 20-year to life terms
As UAW strike begins, autoworkers want to 'play hardball'
A Georgia state senator indicted with Trump won’t be suspended from office while the case is ongoing