Palm Springs continues discussion on reparations for Section 14 survivors

The City of Palm Springs continued talks Thursday night about providing reparations for evicting minority residents from land known as Section 14 in the downtown area more than 55 years ago.

About 200 structures were demolished and burned between 1954 and 1966 on that section. Hundreds of low-income residents and people of color were evicted to make room for hotels and increased tourism.

It happened after long-term land leases were legalized on Indian land and property values soared. 

"We are asking for, first of all, compensation that will equal as close as possible to the harm that was done. When you start talking about making amends, you want to first address the people that were harmed," said Pearl Devers, a survivor of Section 14.

Devers remembers a tight-knit community before she was forced from her home.

"I remember family, I remember institutions that served the community," she said. "I remember amazing neighbors. And there are, even to this very day, the Section 14 survivors group comprised of the the close-knit neighborhood that we had."

Kavon Ward, founder of advocacy group Where Is My Land, said survivors would most like to see direct payments from the city of Palm Springs to people who were relocated.

"Compensatory damages for the harm done with a violation of their civil rights, violation of human rights," Ward said. "And for them being removed from their homes, some of them having their homes bulldozed and burned down, coming home to nothing."

Victims also called for community measures, including housing and education, for descendants of survivors.

"Think about the loss of just a home, shelter, wealth," Ward siad. "An opportunity to pass down their home generation to generation. "There's just so much suffering that happened, and it's time for that suffering to stop."

The meeting is at 5:30 p.m. at Palm Springs City Hall. You can stream it live here.