Black families that were forced out of Russell City in the 1960’s will receive cash payments as reparations for the displacement, after Alameda County Supervisors unanimously voted recently to pay $1.3 million in reparations to the surviving households.
Significance. Families that used to live in Russell City, a predominantly Black and Brown town, can receive up to $25,000 per household in reparations after their houses were seized by eminent domain in 1963.
Established in 1853, Russell City was an unincorporated area of what is now Hayward, Calif., in the eastern part of the San Francisco Bay Area. It eventually became a haven for Black and Latino families. In 1963, Alameda County and the city of Hayward began to remove those families from Russell City.
Who This Impacts. When Alameda County and Hayward seized Russell City, they displaced about 1,400 residents and took approximately 700 parcels of land. The only remnant of the once vibrant Black and Latino neighborhood is the Calpine Russell City Energy Center, a power plant.
The Power Structure. Nearby cities, San Leandro, San Lorenzo, and Hayward, had racist restrictive covenants that prevented Black and Latino people from buying or renting properties in the communities, so those families made Russell City home.
Hayward confronted this history in 2021 and unanimously approved a resolution to formally apologize to the Black, Latino, and Native American communities.
“The intent of the resolution is not to absolve but rather to formally acknowledge the existence of institutionalized racial bias and racism and the historical role municipal government has played in its creation and legacy of inequities and racially disparate impacts,” the city wrote on its website.
Then, in June 2022, the city of Hayward founded the Russell City Reparative Justice Project with support from Alameda County. This initiative created the Russell City Redress Fund to pay reparations to the displaced families.
The initial focus of the reparations is to pay the aging Russell City residents whose properties were taken by eminent domain, as stated in a statement by Alameda County Supervisors.
The Redress Fund Working Group continues to finalize the application and rollout process for the reparations. Those with questions can call (510) 272-6684 or email russellcityredress@acgov.org.
Experts Say. “The approval of this agreement and authorization to issue redress payments is an historic moment and reason for solemn celebration,” Alameda County District 2 Supervisor Elisa Márquez and Hayward City Councilmembers Angela Andrews and Julie Roche said in a joint statement. “It took time, but we’ve reached key milestones toward being able to begin making payments and making amends for harm done to Russell City community members.”
