Amerikan Melanin
Veteran
California's earliest Black settlers bought land only for it to be stolen. Their descendants want it back.
Former slaves who came to California mined for gold and bought property, only for their land to be stolen or seized. Their families, generations later, say it's time for a reckoning.
www.nbcnews.com
That their land was taken away from them — or that the landowners were forced to flee because of violent acts — crystallizes the dilemma and the arduous pursuit some Black families face in the reverberations of California’s reparations efforts for the harms slavery inflicted on Black residents of the state.
The stolen land could be worth millions, and the families’ efforts to reacquire it as the rightful heirs are steadfast. They view getting the land not only as a chance to earn financial compensation, but also as a matter of principle. The reversion of stolen land is likely to be one of many recommendations the California reparations task force will make by July 1. But some families are taking the lead on their own fate.
“No one’s going to do it for us,” Owens said.
