PIEDMONT, Calif. (KGO) — Sidney Dearing was a hugely successful Oakland businessman and became the first Black homeowner in Piedmont when he bought a house in January 1924. But within a year, Dearing, his wife and two young children were forced out.
“Much of the time that they were in that home, a 500-person mob showed up at their doorstep. Multiple bombs were left in the vicinity of their home. There were threatening letters, threatening to lynch them, which, I think, is a fact most people wouldn’t associate with California,” said Leah Aden, senior counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
Their story goes like this: due to laws prohibiting Black people from owning property, his white mother-in-law bought the property for $10,000 with Dearing’s money, and then transferred it to the family.
Following complaints and protests against the Dearings, the City of Piedmont tried to buy them out. It offered less than what was paid and then took action to condemn the property, saying it needed to build a road. That road was never built, resulting in a complaint filed two weeks ago by Dearing’s descendants.
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“Our complaint has not been able to identify any other Black family that was subsequently able to own a home until the 1950s and the 1960s,” said Aden, who represents the family.
The complaint challenges the city’s unlawful use of eminent domain to forcibly removethe Dearings — just because they were Black.
“This is a wealthy enclave. And the people who were not forced out of Piedmont have been able to enjoy the value of their home. The municipal services that come with living in that community. That high-quality education that comes along with living in that community,” Aden said.
“I think most people don’t understand the racism that was embedded, not just in Piedmont, but the way most American cities developed,” said Tim Rood, a former Piedmont city councilmember.
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Rood said he learned about Piedmont’s racist past following the George Floyd protests and wanted the city to acknowledge that history. He proposed installing a memorial across the street from the house.
Piedmont officials declined to be interviewed, but in a statement to ABC7 Eyewitness News, wrote: “The memorial is an important part of the community’s commitment to honest reckoning with the past as we work together to build a more welcoming, inclusive future.”
But the family says that is not enough. The lawsuit wants a remedy for the Dearings being deprived of their home, lost generational wealth and other benefits of home ownership. Aden said Sidney Dearing died of starvation and in poverty. The house is now valued at more than $2 million.
“What the city is willing to do to date is simply insufficient and there is more that they have the resources and authority to do,” Aden said.
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