Victory for the International Hotel!

By Michael Liu
6/23/01

Twenty four years ago, the Bay Area Asian American Movement drew a line in the sand against the destruction of Chinatown/Manilatown. Two thousand people rushed through the city of San Francisco in the dead of night to form a human barricade against the police and fire departments. They tried to protect the International Hotel, the last remaining housing in the former Manilatown. While facing down charging mounted police, SWAT teams, and fire ladder trucks, the I-Hotel defenders eventually fell to the state apparatus operating on behalf of international capital.

The International Hotel became a symbol of the battle against the urban renewal of ethnic enclaves to Asian American community activists throughout the country in New York, Seattle, LA, Boston, Philadelphia and other cities. However, by 1977 the I-Hotel was a hole in the ground that has remained to this day.

Now Housing, Museum, and School
Now thirty three years after developers began their attempts to evict the elderly tenants and community groups, the city is seeing the fruit of persistent struggle. This summer the St, Mary's Catholic Center and Kearney Street Housing Foundation will break ground for 104 units of affordable senior housing. In addition a Manilatown museum and parochial elementary school will share the site.

I-Hotel 2 (Impossible to Build)