Santa Monica to pay Black family for 1950s displacement

The Santa Monica City Council has agreed to pay a settlement to the family of a Black entrepreneur whose land the city acknowledged was unfairly taken through eminent domain during the 1950s.

- JASMINE MENDEZ

PEOPLE WALK by images of African Americans during the early 1900s on display in Santa Monica in 2021.

More than 60 years later, the payment is part of a larger reparations effort by the city of Santa Monica.

Last month in closed session, the City Council unanimously approved a $350,000 settlement for the family of Silas White, a Black businessman who leased a building on Ocean Avenue with the intention of buying it to open an exclusively Black hotel and beach club. Instead, the city took the property under the guise of building an auditorium nearby.

The mediation that led to settling a claim filed by White's family was finalized in October. Mayor Pro Tem Caroline Torosis, who worked closely on the case, said the city is working to set up other meaningful reparations for Black residents harmed by its racist past.

"I hate to say this, but the city of Santa Monica took a series of actions to deprive Black Americans of the opportunity of being in Santa Monica. Our history books show that systemic racism, oppression and discrimination happened," Torosis said. "We as a council made a decision, that despite the fact we're facing a very challenging financial time, we want to dedicate funding because [a formal apology to the Black community] is great, but unless it comes with money and meaningful repair, it’s just an empty word."

The decision to settle with the White family comes more than a year after his family first brought to light how the city crushed the man’s dream of opening Ebony Beach Club at 1811 Ocean Ave. during the segregated 1950s.

Originally named the Elks Clubhouse, the property was empty 13 years prior to White’s plan for a grand opening, according to his daughter, Constance “Connie” White. Registered as a nonprofit corporation, the Ebony Beach Club was scheduled to open Oct. 15, 1958, as advertised on signs posted outside the building.