A claims officer said today that the State of Florida had a moral obligation to compensate survivors of the racial violence that destroyed the black settlement of Rosewood more than 70 years ago.
But the officer, Richard Hixson, a special master, did not recommend that the state pay the 11 survivors and their 45 direct descendants the $7 million that they have sought. Instead, he said, the state should establish a fund to repay claimants who can prove they lost property.
Mr. Hixson also recommended that the Legislature agree to pay survivors $150,000 each for the emotional trauma of being uprooted from their community. Mr. Hixson believed that seven people would qualify for such payments, putting the total at $1.05 million, said Kathy...