In the 1960s, the City of Palm Springs razed buildings on a Native American reservation where hundreds of Black and Latino families lived. The square-mile area known as Section 14 was cleared out and homes were burned or destroyed, often with little to no notice at all.
On Thursday, the city council voted to give $5.9 million in reparations to those who were displaced from those homes and lost their personal property. The city will also establish a $10-million assistance program for first-time homebuyers that gives priority to Section 14 survivors, along with a $10-million community land trust. A new monument will be created to honor the history of Section 14’s residents.
The settlement comes three years after Palm Springs formally apologized for displacing the residents of Section 14. Families filed a tort claim against the city one year later seeking $2.3 billion in damages. That litigation will not move forward.
Around 1,200 people are eligible for the reparations, according to the city. After legal fees, that comes out to around $4,000 per person.