There’s A Social Justice Reckoning In The Works For Long Beach Parks

Members of the Wilson High School water polo team dive into Belmont Pool in Long Beach.(Sharon McNary/LAist) By Sharon McNary

Decades of structural racism left the North, Central and West parts of Long Beach with less park space and investment in recreation.

That’s the blunt assessment of the city’s recently-adopted parks strategic plan, one that lays out a path to reduce the inequities in parks and programs.

It spells out the city’s fraught racial disparities, going back a century to when the Ku Klux Klan held rallies in Long Beach parks, and government policies reinforced redlining policies keeping Black, Latino and Asian people from buying or renting in some areas.

Read the full story here…