Palm Springs, Calif., officials have approved a $27 million reparations package for Black and Latino families displaced in the 1960s. 

The agreement addressed the leveling of a predominately Black and Latino neighborhoods, known as Section 14, in order to make way for more commercial development in the city. According to the Oakland Post, numerous families of color lost their homes, neighborhoods, and livelihoods in the process.

Many of the survivors and their descendants called for reparations since the city issued a formal apology in 2021.

San Quentin resident Edward Carter Jr., 53, grew up in Palm Springs in the 1970s and 80s. 

“Palm Springs is a tourist destination, known for its swanky golf clubs and courses,” said Carter Jr. “If you was Black or Brown, or if you had a job at all, it was in the service industry, and if it was at one of them golf clubs, you better stay invisible, or else…” Growing up in the desert town was a tough life, he said.

He added that he was aware of the apology the city issued and that he felt grateful for it. He said that more cities and the government as a whole should issue an apology for what was done to African Americans and Latinos in the United States.  

Civil rights attorney Areva Martin acted as lead counsel for the effected families in the lawsuit that resulted in the agreement.

“We are making history in Palm Springs,” said Martin. “This agreement demonstrates that it’s never too late to acknowledge past wrongs and take meaningful steps toward justice.”

Initially, plaintiffs were asking for $2 billion for the 300 survivors and their descendants before settling for the current figure. Now, the agreement contains $5.9 million in direct payment along with $10 million for a first time-purchaser assistance program and $10 million for a community land trust directed at inexpensive housing. Other provisions include $1 million for diversity and inclusion initiatives, a renamed park, and a monument to honor the displaced families, according to the Oakland Post.

Palm Springs Mayor Jeffery Bernstein dubbed the settlement a reasonable and fair resolution, expressing optimism that the settlement would set a nationwide model for reparations. 

While this agreement follows a comparable reparations program established in Evanston, Ill., California’s statewide efforts at reparations encountered opposition following Governor Gavin Newsom’s rebuff of a state-level reparations program early last year.

Nevertheless, the Palm Springs step may provide momentum to similar programs elsewhere in the U.S.