The Hayward City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to formalize an agreement with the county to help manage the nearly one-and-a-half million dollar Russell City Redress Fund.
The fund was established to compensate victims of the government-orchestrated destruction of Russell City. THAT WAS a predominantly Black town targeted by racist policies in the 1960s.
According to a 2024 report by Hayward’s Russell City Arts Committee, Russell City was razed by county officials using eminent domain to acquire homes and businesses.
To justify such a move, the county declared the community blighted and eventually forcibly evicted all 1,700 residents of the multi-racial community and bulldozed the roughly 700 properties within the 200-acre town.
In addition to homes, the demolition targeted 13 businesses and seven churches that formed the backbone of the community, which was built in 1853 along the waterfront west of Hayward.
The county then allowed a developer to build an industrial park, after which Hayward annexed the area and finally began providing city services after years of official neglect.
The Russell City Redress Fund is an outgrowth of the Russell City Reparative Justice Project. It was started by Hayward in 2022 to find ways to bring a measure of justice to the town's former residents and their descendants.
Earlier this month, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve the plan.
The fund will be jointly administered by Alameda County and Hayward.
