I urge CC to adopt the Resolution of Apology and continue the work of the Bruce's Beach Task Force. The misinformation being circulated has put fear into our residents and begs for education about systemic racism, reparation and what we can do to heal the injustice done to the Bruces. The BBTF has many great "homegrown" proposals and I urge CC to find something to support that aligns with what makes MB great -- education and beach sports. MB should partner with LA County in reparations.
The 2 page ad in the Beach Reporter speaks volumes about the critics of the Task Force. They have shown their true colors.
Is this Manhattan Beach??? As a lifelong resident, this is NOT my Manhattan Beach. Most of the Conservative Terrorists come from elsewhere. They should not dictate our future.
As a resident of Manhattan Beach, I strongly urge the council to approve the task force's recommendations. It is high time for the Bruce Family to get justice and for the council to demonstrate that they support anti-racist work for the betterment of our community.
I believe that financial restitution for the Bruce family makes sense. Perhaps a Cultural Center to educate citizens from around the country be built on the property. Since land, human respect and property were taken from them there is no better way to apologize than to add a financial stipend. I am proud of Manhattan Beach and our City Council as we admit to the world that we have a problem and that we have a 21st Century solution.
I think Manhattan Beach, quietly and firmly, can use the still unsettling Bruce's Beach situation as an opportunity to address both the past and our present: remove and replace the daily reminders of a hundred-year past racist Mayor's name. Put Peck to rest elsewhere. In a history book. Use him as a lesson helpful to us all.
Replace Peck's 'daily presence' of Peck Avenue and Park with Bruce Avenue and Bruce Park. Do the right thing.
Bev Morse
Manhattan Beach is 0.8% black. Its neighbors, Torrence and El Segundo, are 2.5% and 3.7% black.
Racism does not have to be obvious or aggressive to exist. It exists as wealth disparity, as facially neutral government policy, and, yes, as a refusal to acknowledge a racist past. I fully support an apology for MB's past actions, be they yesterday or 100 years ago. Combing through the BB history report for minor inconsistencies is irrelevant here.
Writing in wholehearted support of the work and recommendations of the BBTF. It's time for our City to apologize and make amends. Accountability must come before healing. We have an opportunity to prove that this town can be welcoming and inclusive. Specifically support the creation of a DEI Commission to provide an informed perspective and guide the City in policy and planning. 100% in favor. Let's do this.
The BBTF has been right on target and the ideas put forward are an excellent step in the right direction. Yes, our community has grown a great deal & what this town was in the 1920’s is not what it now is in the 2020’s. This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t reflect back, make amends as possible (where we didn’t before) and look at what those events can teach us. This is why it’s so important to keep going - education and reflection is growing and, it times, it can be humbling but in a good way.
I completely support the task force and urge the council to stand strong and not be intimidated by the vocal opposition from people who are not interested in moving towards anti-racism. The recommendations are a terrific start in that direction and if we all work together towards anti-racism, our city and ALL of us will be better off.
I think it's time to say "Thank you!" to all BBFT members, chose the artwork/ copy for the plaque, and move on.
I'm pretty sure the overwhelming majority of current residence has nothing to do with what had happened here 100 years ago and have nothing to apologize for. It's impossible to right all the wrongs of the past.
Acknowledge - Yes, Apologize - NO
Also, the BBFT has to end tonight - NO permanent status for it and a very strong NO to forming DEIC
Thanks.
I am a white mother of a black son and a member of the task force. We need to acknowledge our history is meant to be remembered and learned from. Residents object to our town being classified as racist. There is a difference between racial ignorance/racially insensitivity that play out as racism and racist acts with mal intention. The white community doesn't get to decide if MB is racist. It is about the BIPOC community and how they feel living/working/visiting MB. We have a lot of work to do.
Esteemed council members, I write to support the declaration of apology advanced by the Bruce’s Beach Task Force. Supporting the apology neither equates to condemning Manhattan Beach residents as individual purveyors of racism nor means labeling your constituents as racist.
Instead, supporting the Task Force’s apology is an important step toward taking accountability for our community’s past history of racism and toward healing our community by making it a more inclusive city for everyone.
I fully support the recommendations made by the BBTF, and I thank them for their enduring hard work. I am embarrassed by the opposition to such perfunctory forms of reparation. It seems clear to me that more education around racial justice is deeply needed in our city, given the rampant misguided anxiety around a formal apology and the belief that this would somehow label our city (and by proxy its residents) as racist. I'm hopeful this will be a small step towards a more just future for MB.
I was hopeful that BBTF could write an history, update the plaque and produce an art piece. The progress reported presented to the CC is structured on the presumption that the BBTF is not automatically ended. The TF believes it does not need an affirmative vote to from CC to continue its work. The CC must specifically Disband the BBTF on 3/16/2021, Reject everything in the report (All appendices and recommendations) except an art piece, re wording on the plaque and accurate history.
Is the City of Manhattan Beach prepared to apologize and pay every person that suffered an adverse situation due to any decisions it made within the last one hundred years? The Bruce's Beach issue was decided by the courts. It is sufficient to support a plaque, artwork, and detailed history, but not to apologize for something none of its present residents were responsible for. Save the apologies and reparations for the disabled vets returning from foreign wars.
Dear City Council Members:
Enough is enough. The Task Force must be ended tonight. If a plaque or artwork has not been completed then an art committee should be formed to finish. We should never apologize for the sins of a few a century ago. Our town is NOT racist. Just because a few accuse us of such a thing doesn't make it true. No DEIC! No Apology!
I’m glad Manhattan Beach is working to resolve its role in contributing to the racial wealth gap in Los Angeles. However, I am deeply disappointed there is no resolution to return the land back to the Bruce family or pay restitution. The Bruce family is still living with the lasting financial repercussions of Manhattan Beach’s racist policies, and justice will not be served until the Bruce family receives compensation. I am also disappointed in Napolitano’s minimum-effort alternative apology.
I strongly support all of the recommendations provided by the BBTF, and I am appreciative of the work they have been doing for and with the community. All of the items proposed by BBTF are the minimum that the city could be doing to bring awareness to its history and to repair the harm done to the Bruce family who requested an apology in 2006. The city is in a prime position to provide restorative justice to the Bruce family and be an example for forward change in other cities.
I support the BBTF report. Help educate our community on systemic racism and white privilege. Not the insult many think but ideas providing a liberating personal path forward for those who choose to understand. I encourage you to draft an apology as a start for positive change - We are sorry and express regret. Acknowledge the impact of what was done. What we are going to do to make it right and to become better. Lead our community to reflect, learn, demonstrate empathy, and build a path forward
It is embarrassing to me that it has taken this long for our city to even address this. That we are not giving the land back, and instead just installing art is also embarrassing. It reveals a lot about what is important in the community. Flowery words that make us feel better but don't actually fix or mend the damage.
I urge CC to adopt the Resolution of Apology and continue the work of the Bruce's Beach Task Force. The misinformation being circulated has put fear into our residents and begs for education about systemic racism, reparation and what we can do to heal the injustice done to the Bruces. The BBTF has many great "homegrown" proposals and I urge CC to find something to support that aligns with what makes MB great -- education and beach sports. MB should partner with LA County in reparations.
The 2 page ad in the Beach Reporter speaks volumes about the critics of the Task Force. They have shown their true colors.
Is this Manhattan Beach??? As a lifelong resident, this is NOT my Manhattan Beach. Most of the Conservative Terrorists come from elsewhere. They should not dictate our future.
As a resident of Manhattan Beach, I strongly urge the council to approve the task force's recommendations. It is high time for the Bruce Family to get justice and for the council to demonstrate that they support anti-racist work for the betterment of our community.
I believe that financial restitution for the Bruce family makes sense. Perhaps a Cultural Center to educate citizens from around the country be built on the property. Since land, human respect and property were taken from them there is no better way to apologize than to add a financial stipend. I am proud of Manhattan Beach and our City Council as we admit to the world that we have a problem and that we have a 21st Century solution.
Take Peck down a bushel.
I think Manhattan Beach, quietly and firmly, can use the still unsettling Bruce's Beach situation as an opportunity to address both the past and our present: remove and replace the daily reminders of a hundred-year past racist Mayor's name. Put Peck to rest elsewhere. In a history book. Use him as a lesson helpful to us all.
Replace Peck's 'daily presence' of Peck Avenue and Park with Bruce Avenue and Bruce Park. Do the right thing.
Bev Morse
30 year resident of Manhattan Beach; born here.
Manhattan Beach is 0.8% black. Its neighbors, Torrence and El Segundo, are 2.5% and 3.7% black.
Racism does not have to be obvious or aggressive to exist. It exists as wealth disparity, as facially neutral government policy, and, yes, as a refusal to acknowledge a racist past. I fully support an apology for MB's past actions, be they yesterday or 100 years ago. Combing through the BB history report for minor inconsistencies is irrelevant here.
Writing in wholehearted support of the work and recommendations of the BBTF. It's time for our City to apologize and make amends. Accountability must come before healing. We have an opportunity to prove that this town can be welcoming and inclusive. Specifically support the creation of a DEI Commission to provide an informed perspective and guide the City in policy and planning. 100% in favor. Let's do this.
The BBTF has been right on target and the ideas put forward are an excellent step in the right direction. Yes, our community has grown a great deal & what this town was in the 1920’s is not what it now is in the 2020’s. This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t reflect back, make amends as possible (where we didn’t before) and look at what those events can teach us. This is why it’s so important to keep going - education and reflection is growing and, it times, it can be humbling but in a good way.
I completely support the task force and urge the council to stand strong and not be intimidated by the vocal opposition from people who are not interested in moving towards anti-racism. The recommendations are a terrific start in that direction and if we all work together towards anti-racism, our city and ALL of us will be better off.
I think it's time to say "Thank you!" to all BBFT members, chose the artwork/ copy for the plaque, and move on.
I'm pretty sure the overwhelming majority of current residence has nothing to do with what had happened here 100 years ago and have nothing to apologize for. It's impossible to right all the wrongs of the past.
Acknowledge - Yes, Apologize - NO
Also, the BBFT has to end tonight - NO permanent status for it and a very strong NO to forming DEIC
Thanks.
I am a white mother of a black son and a member of the task force. We need to acknowledge our history is meant to be remembered and learned from. Residents object to our town being classified as racist. There is a difference between racial ignorance/racially insensitivity that play out as racism and racist acts with mal intention. The white community doesn't get to decide if MB is racist. It is about the BIPOC community and how they feel living/working/visiting MB. We have a lot of work to do.
Esteemed council members, I write to support the declaration of apology advanced by the Bruce’s Beach Task Force. Supporting the apology neither equates to condemning Manhattan Beach residents as individual purveyors of racism nor means labeling your constituents as racist.
Instead, supporting the Task Force’s apology is an important step toward taking accountability for our community’s past history of racism and toward healing our community by making it a more inclusive city for everyone.
I fully support the recommendations made by the BBTF, and I thank them for their enduring hard work. I am embarrassed by the opposition to such perfunctory forms of reparation. It seems clear to me that more education around racial justice is deeply needed in our city, given the rampant misguided anxiety around a formal apology and the belief that this would somehow label our city (and by proxy its residents) as racist. I'm hopeful this will be a small step towards a more just future for MB.
I was hopeful that BBTF could write an history, update the plaque and produce an art piece. The progress reported presented to the CC is structured on the presumption that the BBTF is not automatically ended. The TF believes it does not need an affirmative vote to from CC to continue its work. The CC must specifically Disband the BBTF on 3/16/2021, Reject everything in the report (All appendices and recommendations) except an art piece, re wording on the plaque and accurate history.
Is the City of Manhattan Beach prepared to apologize and pay every person that suffered an adverse situation due to any decisions it made within the last one hundred years? The Bruce's Beach issue was decided by the courts. It is sufficient to support a plaque, artwork, and detailed history, but not to apologize for something none of its present residents were responsible for. Save the apologies and reparations for the disabled vets returning from foreign wars.
Dear City Council Members:
Enough is enough. The Task Force must be ended tonight. If a plaque or artwork has not been completed then an art committee should be formed to finish. We should never apologize for the sins of a few a century ago. Our town is NOT racist. Just because a few accuse us of such a thing doesn't make it true. No DEIC! No Apology!
I’m glad Manhattan Beach is working to resolve its role in contributing to the racial wealth gap in Los Angeles. However, I am deeply disappointed there is no resolution to return the land back to the Bruce family or pay restitution. The Bruce family is still living with the lasting financial repercussions of Manhattan Beach’s racist policies, and justice will not be served until the Bruce family receives compensation. I am also disappointed in Napolitano’s minimum-effort alternative apology.
I strongly support all of the recommendations provided by the BBTF, and I am appreciative of the work they have been doing for and with the community. All of the items proposed by BBTF are the minimum that the city could be doing to bring awareness to its history and to repair the harm done to the Bruce family who requested an apology in 2006. The city is in a prime position to provide restorative justice to the Bruce family and be an example for forward change in other cities.
I support the BBTF report. Help educate our community on systemic racism and white privilege. Not the insult many think but ideas providing a liberating personal path forward for those who choose to understand. I encourage you to draft an apology as a start for positive change - We are sorry and express regret. Acknowledge the impact of what was done. What we are going to do to make it right and to become better. Lead our community to reflect, learn, demonstrate empathy, and build a path forward
It is embarrassing to me that it has taken this long for our city to even address this. That we are not giving the land back, and instead just installing art is also embarrassing. It reveals a lot about what is important in the community. Flowery words that make us feel better but don't actually fix or mend the damage.