A provocative campaign aiming to "cancel" the affluent city of Piedmont has been launched by an Oakland resident, highlighting the significant racial and economic disparities between the two communities. The "Cancel Piedmont" movement, spearheaded by transit planner Jesse Rosemoore, targets Piedmont, a small city of approximately 11,000 people that is geographically surrounded by Oakland but maintains its own municipal services.
Rosemoore, 44, began distributing "CANCEL PIEDMONT" stickers and selling merchandise bearing the slogan over a year ago. He stated that the campaign is intended to bring greater attention to the societal implications of Piedmont's existence, given its median home price of nearly $2.6 million, which is more than three and a half times that of Oakland. Census data indicates Piedmont is about 70% white and 1% Black, while Oakland is about 20% Black.
The campaign argues that despite Piedmont's efforts to address its history of racial exclusion, such as hiring consultants for implicit bias training and holding discussions on racial equity, these measures have not sufficiently tackled the economic barriers that make the city inaccessible to many.
Some Piedmont officials and residents have pushed back against the criticism, feeling their community is unfairly targeted. Jean Chen Takazawa, the Piedmont Unified School District's director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging, stated, "The reality is, we’re doing good work here. Stop judging us and let us just do the work."
Piedmont has previously faced controversies related to race. In 2017, then-mayor Jeffrey Wieler resigned after posting derogatory remarks about Black Lives Matter and transgender individuals on Facebook. In 2021, the Piedmont Unified School District received national attention for an email inviting students to a "White Student Support Group" to discuss the verdict in the murder case of George Floyd. More recently, in 2022, the district attempted to enroll 200 transfer students from Oakland to bolster declining enrollment and enhance diversity.
Supporters of Piedmont argue that the level of scrutiny is excessive, pointing out that other wealthy Bay Area communities, such as Atherton, have also contended with issues of exclusionary zoning and stark racial disparities. Piedmont Mayor Betsy Smegal Andersen noted, "We seem to be the only Bay Area town with a campaign to have us canceled."
Rosemoore maintains that the campaign is not a personal attack on Piedmont residents. He acknowledges that the annexation of Piedmont by Oakland is not feasible, as it would require approval from Piedmont residents. Instead, he views Piedmont, which is uniquely situated as the only incorporated city in Northern California completely surrounded by another city, as a potent symbol of the broader Bay Area's divisions over race, housing, and wealth. Rosemoore believes that housing accessibility is a prerequisite for genuine diversity and inclusion.
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