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Defense of Ethnic Enclaves (2 of 5)
Since the 1960s, many of the remaining inner-city ethnic enclaves, located in close proximity to downtown financial and commercial districts, have come under increasing threat of encroachment by corporate interests and local governments. Using the guise of urban renewal to clean up "blighted" areas, ethnic enclaves have been declared redevelopment zones, with local governments using the power of eminent domain to force residents out and bring in capital investment, usually international capital in the form of tourist hotels and attractions.
The San Francisco International Hotel
There have been several notable campaigns to preserve ethnic enclaves
from physical destruction led by community grass roots movements. In
the 1960s and 1970s, many Asian American ethnic enclaves, along with
other poor neighborhoods came under attack by the local and the federal
Government, under the guise of eliminating blighted conditions. In San
Francisco, the Filipino community's Manilatown neighborhood, located
adjacent to Chinatown, was leveled by redevelopment. In 1968, efforts
to evict elderly Filipino tenants sparked one of the longest running
urban struggles in the post World War II era. After tenants successfully
stalled the initial efforts to evict them, the building was transformed
into a thriving movement community center as grass roots community organizations,
arts and cultural groups, and a bookstore moved into the street level
storefront of the hotel (Rodan 1970). From 1968-1977, the International
Hotel tenants and their community supporters rallied thousands of people
to stop the evictions and demand the preservation of low-cost housing.
The campaign to preserve low-cost housing for Filipino and other tenants
at the International Hotel was waged by a broad coalition of forces including
community supporters, affordable housing advocates, gay and lesbian activists,
trade unions, women, and other progressive groups (Solomon 1998). Although,
the tenants were forcibly evicted in 1977, and the International Hotel
was eventually torn down, the efforts to preserve Asian American ethnic
neighborhoods spread throughout the country.
The storming of the International Hotel
(Unity Photo)
