Their homes were destroyed with little notice. Decades later, a settlement attempts to make amends.
By Curtis Bunn An image from Gloria Hollandâs childhood remains clear in her mind: a man dressed only in his underwear, standing outside his front door pleading that his house in the Section 14 area of Palm Springs, California, not be demolished. The man ranted for several minutes until a bulldozer leveled the structure and he scampered to safety. âI was 8 or 9 years old,â Holland, now 70, said from her home outside Atlanta. âIt was the first time I saw a grown man cry. It was traumatizing.â The man and Holland were among 195 Black and Latino families whose