Afghan American

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Afghan American

Zalmay Khalilzad • Lina Rozbih Khaled Hosseini • Ali Ahmad Jalali
Total population
200,000[1]
Regions with significant populations
West Coast, Northeast, South
Languages
American English, Persian (Dari), Pashto, Uzbek, and other languages in Afghanistan
Religion
Predominately Muslim

An Afghan American refers to an American with heritage or origins in Afghanistan.

Contents 1 History and population 2 Culture 3 Religious background 4 Economic status 5 Notable and famous individuals 6 Post 9/11 6.1 Victims of hate crimes 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

[edit] History and population

Afghan Americans have a long history of immigrating to the United States, as they may have arrived as early as the 1920s.^[2] Due to the political borders at that time period, some of these immigrants may have been Pashtuns from British India (present-day Pakistan) or Afghanistan.^[2] During the 1930s and 1940s, well-educated Afghans entered America.^[2] Between 1953 and early 1970, 230 migrated into the US.^[2] Some of those who entered the United States were students who won scholarships to study in American universities. After the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, many people from Afghanistan decided to leave their country to immigrate or seek refuge in other countries. These Afghan refugees settled in Pakistan, Iran, the European Union, North America, Australia, and else where in the world.

Those who made it to the United States began to settle in California (mainly the Los Angeles-Orange County area and San Francisco Bay Area), the New York; and Washington, D.C.-Alexandria, Virginia areas, where large Muslim community centers keep them closely bonded. Smaller Afghan American communities can also be found in the States of Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Illinois, Washington state and elsewhere. According to the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, the over all Afghan population in the United States is around 300,000.^[3] While 30,000 Afghans reside in Northern Virginia, approximately 65,000 Afghans comprise the Diaspora community based in the San Francisco Bay Area.^[3] Some figures estimate that there are may only be about 80,000 Afghan Americans but the actual number may be 200,000^[4] to as high as 300,000.^[3] Nevertheless, such higher figures may be an exaggeration, as a recent census from early 2000's found approximately 9,000 of Afghan ancestry living in New York metro area, considerably lower than the 20,000 regularly cited.^[5] Although, the 300,000 figure is a commonly accepted number.

[edit] Culture

Some migrants from Afghanistan have attempted to not assimilate into American culture as they have valued their traditional culture even after several generations. Afghan Americans value their oral tradition of story telling. The stories they tell are about Nasreddin, history, myths and religion.^[2]

[edit] Religious background

The overwhelming majority of Afghan Americans are Muslim, which includes both Sunni and Shia sects of Islam. There is a small community of Afghan Jews in New York City, numbering about 200 families.^[6]

[edit] Economic status

While the early immigrants were well-educated, the subsequent waves of migrants have not been as educated.^[2] The first immigrants came to the US by choice and were well-educated.^[2] In contrast, current immigrants have fled Afghanistan after it destabilized during the Soviet occupation as this group has had trouble coping with learning a new language.^[2] Those who have pursued their education in America in the middle 20th century and traveled back to Afghanistan, faced trouble attaining employment when returning back to the US since their education, often in medicine and engineering, is frequently viewed as outdated.^[2] After the Soviet invasion, Afghanistan's education system worsened, causing many migrants in the late 20th century to place less emphasize on educational attainment.^[2]

In almost every Afghan American household someone is attending or has graduated college. A sizable number of Afghan Americans who do not seek higher education often enter into food industry, mainly in running Afghan cuisine restaurants and fast food establishments such as Kennedy Fried Chicken.^[7] The newcomers to America can be sometimes found vending coffee and bagel in Manhattan where they have replaced Greek Americans in the field.^[8]

[edit] Notable and famous individuals

• Zalmay Khalilzad - former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
• Ali Ahmad Jalali - Distinguished Professor at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.
• Abdul W. Haqiqi - Economist
• Nazif Shahrani - Professor of anthropology at Indiana University
• Lina Rozbih - News anchor at Voice of America's TV Ashna
• Khaled Hosseini - Famous author of two books, including the Kite Runner
• Tamim Ansary - Author
• Fariba Nawa - Journalist
• Mithaq Kazimi - Filmmaker
• Azita Ghanizada - Actress and TV host
• Nabil Miskinyar - Television anchor
• Zuhra Osmani - News anchor and physician
• Hamed Qaderi - Television broadcaster
• Vida Samadzai - Beauty for a Cause of Miss Earth 2003
• Zohra Daoud - Miss Afghanistan 1974
• Ehsan Aman - Artist and music composer
• Farhad Darya - Singer
• Naim Popal - Singer
• Ahmad Wali - Singer
• Haidar Salim - Singer
• Salma Jahani - Singer
• Rahim Jahani - Singer
• Mariam Wafa - Singer

[edit] Post 9/11

After 9/11, a mosque run by Afghan-Americans in Flushing, New York donated blood, held a vigil for World Trade Center deceased and funded a memorial for the fire fighters.^[9]

Since late 2001, after the U.S. war in Afghanistan, a number of Afghan-Americans were hired to work for the U.S. government as translators.

[edit] Victims of hate crimes

Despite that the September 11 hijackers were not from Afghanistan, Afghan Americans have increasingly faced discrimination in the United States, notably after the events of September 11. For instance, a few weeks after September 11, an American businessman, Nathan Chandler Powell, murdered Afghan filmaker, Jawed Wassel who was an ethnic Tajik, by mutilating his body and leaving it inside a van outside on a street in New York.[9] Also around the same time, an individual went on a shooting rampage in Mesa, Arizona, where he shot at a home owned by an Afghan American.^[10] Additionally, vandals defaced an Afghan restaurant with red liquid intended to appear as blood. ^[11] Moreover, the Afghan Mission to the UN received a letter that contained quotes from Osama Bin Laden along with a dried pig's ear.^[11]

In more recent acts, Alia Ansari, a mother of six children, was shot dead in California on October 20, 2006, an incident which the victim's family and local leaders deemed a hate crime.^[12][13] While wearing Islamic garb, namely, the hijab, Ansari was gunned down in front of her children. The incident eventually led to local politicians to call November 13 "wear-the-hijab-day".^[14]

Other Afghan Americans, like U.S. Air Force veteran Mustafa Aziz, have faced long delays in obtaining their US citizenship. The ACLU consequently filed a lawsuit and accused government officials of improperly delaying background checks and allowing applications to linger indefinitely.^[15] In 2006, the ACLU claimed victory as Aziz ultimately received his citizenship.^[16]

[edit] See also

• Demography of Afghanistan
• Culture of Afghanistan

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Afghan-American Chamber of Commerce
• Karzai Speaks to Afghan-Americans in Speech at Georgetown (2002)
• 'Little Kabul' immigrants apprehensive (2001)
• In Va.'s Little Kabul, Joy; Afghans' Celebration Tempered by Fears Of Renewed Division
• Two Afghan women visit the Bay Area

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