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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 2024)
Page 8 The Skanner Portland & Seattle November 13, 2024 By SOPHIE AUSTIN Associated Press/Report for America B lack and Lati- no families who were pushed out of a Palm Springs neighborhood in the 1960s reached a $27 mil- lion tentative settlement agreement with the city that will largely go to- ward increasing housing access. The deal was an- nounced 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 descen- dants. “The fact that we got this over the finish line is remarkable given the headwinds that we faced,” Martin said. The deal is much small- er than the $2.3 billion the families previously sought as restitution for their displacement. It includes $5.9 million in compensation for for- mer residents and de- scendants, $10 million for a first-time homebuy- er assistance program, $10 million for a commu- nity land trust and the creation of a monument to commemorate the his- tory of the neighborhood known as Section 14. “ The fact that we got this over the finish line is re- markable given the headwinds that we faced It has not been deter- mined how much each family or individual would receive in direct compensation, Martin said. Money for housing assistance would go to- ward 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 state- ment. The city council voted in 2021 to issue a formal apology to former resi- dents for the city’s role in displacing them in the 1960s from the neighbor- hood that many Black and Mexican American families called home. The tentative deal comes as reparations efforts at the state level have yielded mixed re- sults. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law in September to formally apologize for the state’s legacy of rac- ism and discrimination against Black residents. But state lawmakers blocked a bill that would have created an agency to administer reparations programs, and New- som vetoed a proposal that would have helped AP PHOTO/DAMIAN DOVARGANES, FILE News Black and Latino amilies Displaced From Palm Springs Neighborhood Reach $27M Tentative Settlement Descendants of Palm Springs Section 14 residents, front row from left, Durran Jamison, Jarvis Crawford, Janell Hunt, and Taunya Harvey gather at the United Methodist Church in Palm Springs, Calif., Sunday, April 16, 2023. Black families reclaim property that was seized unjustly by the govern- ment through eminent domain. Section 14 was a square- mile neighborhood on a Native American reser- vation that many Black and Mexican American families once called home. Families recalled houses being burned and torn down in the area be- fore 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 com- munity known as Black Wall Street more than a century ago in Tulsa, Oklahoma, leaving as many as 300 people dead. There were no report- ed deaths in connection with the displacement of families from Section 14. Pearl Devers, a Palm- dale resident who lived in Section 14 with her family until age 12, said the agreement was a long-overdue acknowl- edgement of how fami- lies’ lives were forever changed by the displace- ment. “While no amount of money can fully restore what we lost, this agree- ment helps pave the way for us all to finally move forward,” she said in a statement. Austin is a corps mem- ber for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initia- tive. Report for America is a nonprofit national ser- vice program.
