In a rare show of solidarity, the Culver City council unanimously approved Action Item 3, authorizing the preparation and the issuance of a request for “proposals to conduct an historical context study of the city of Culver City,” appropriating $150,000 from the general fund balance.
A prepared document, “Acknowledging Racial History of Culver City,” makes clear that “such Sundown Towns throughout the state of California, along with towns and cities on many other states excluded – often by social and cultural means, including police profiling – members of non-white racial an ethnic groups, particularly African Americans, from living in said jurisdictions or even being inside the city limits after sundown.”
It goes on to state that Ku Klux Klan held meetings in Culver City, and that “racially restrictive covenants were adopted and enforced on private property that prohibited African Americans, other people of color and those of non-Christian religious faiths from housing and land ownership within Culver City.”
Given the darker elements of Culver City’s past, the council agreed that this study is long overdue. One of the aims is to create a fund for what would essentially be reparations, using revenue gained from taxed cannabis businesses.
One of the final points on the item is that it pledges to acknowledge, apologize for and condemn, “all racially motivated, discriminatory, or exclusionary aspects of the city’s history, and deeply regrets the pain, hurt and suffering such policies have caused.”
