The city of Palm Springs recently announced that it will pay nearly $6 million in reparations to Black and Latino citizens living in Section 14.
Announced earlier this week, the reparations will be given to the Floridians to mark the city’s reckoning with the past, making up for the neighborhood’s previous history of displacement.
Along with the $5.9 million in reparations, a monument is planned to honor the history of Section 14 while the Palm Springs Park will also be renamed in tribute to the survivors.
In addition to a new healing center, the survivors will be prioritized in a new community land trust set to be built as part of a new $20 million housing program initiative. Approximately one million will also be set aside for entrepreneurship support for Section 14 families.
“The City Council is deeply gratified that the former residents of Section 14 have agreed to accept what we believe is a fair and just settlement offer,” said the Palm Springs Mayor, Jeffrey Bernstein, per a statement. “The City Council has always respected the historical significance of Section 14 and with this resolution of the claim which includes $20 million in housing programs and $1 million in business support, we are taking bold and important action that will create lasting benefits for our entire community while providing programs that prioritize support for the former residents of Section 14.”
Starting from the 1930s, Section 14, which spanned across a one-square-mile tract belonging to the Native American tribe Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, became a place for Black Americans to build and rent homes free of discriminatory housing restrictions. Once the land was deemed desirable for land developers, in the span of two years from 1965 to 1967, 235 homes were destroyed by the city Fire Department.
Survivors claim that they were evicted without receiving a warning.
A state investigation was conducted in 1968 which found that, while the city displayed a “civil disregard” for the BIPOC homeowners, no crimes were committed.
The case was not acknowledged until 2021, when the city of Palm Springs agreed to issue an apology following a push from survivors and their descendants.
“The City of Palm Springs is deeply sorry about the action taken toward those affected by the Section 14 displacement in the 1950s and 60s. Over the past two years, the City Council and Staff have set out on a course aimed at making right what happened during that period,” said city officials. “While this process may seem to be taking longer than some might like, the City has an obligation, not only to those who were displaced, but also to its residents, businesses and taxpayers, to thoroughly investigate the history as it develops remedial programs that are fair to everyone.”
