F I R S TP R E V892NEXTLAST

The Battle for the International Hotel
Sitting on the corner of Jackson and Kearny, the new International looks like just another business hotel. But during the 1970s this site came to symbolize the Filipino-American struggle for identity and civil rights. In the late 1960s the old International that sat here was a run-down residence hotel filled primarily with aging Filipinos. The area was then known as Manilatown and its 20,000 residents, mostly men, were Filipinos who had emigrated to work in the Hawaiian sugar plants then had moved on to work the asparagus fields of the San Joaquin-Sacramento Valley.

In the late 1960s the city vowed to eliminate urban blight and renew the area by tearing down the International Hotel and other buildings. When word got it out that the hotel was coming down it caused a firestorm and many activists, Filipino and others, began to fight the planned evictions. It was the height of the anti-war movement and many groups rallied around the International Hotel. These groups ranged from other Asian communities to Rev. Jim Jones' People's Temple to the Weatherman who planted a fortunately-dud bomb at the Herbst Theater due the hotel being "oppressed."

The legal battles raged on for eight years until on the night of August 4, 1977, 300 riot police and sheriff's deputies encircled the building. Outside thousands of activists locked arms trying to prevent the police entrance. But by using fire department ladders the police scaled the hotel's fire escape and entered through the back. The police began to evict residents and to ensure no tenants could return, they used sledge hammers to smash the toilets. The $3 million eviction made national news, resulted in a number of public investigations, and gave the city a lot of bad press.

20 years after the forced evictions this 15-story building was built. The new International Hotel includes affordable living for seniors, new immigrants, and low income residents. It also features a Filipino community center, exhibit hall, and elementary school.
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