Venezuelan Americans
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Venezuelan Americans (Spanish: Venezolano americano or Venezolano estadounidense) are Americans who trace their heritage, or part of their heritage, to the nation of Venezuela.
Venezuelan Americans are one of 20 Latin American groups in the United States. While other US citizens or residents with national origins in any of the Hispanic American countries may be closely related to Spaniards in language and culture, Venezuelan Americans reflect their diversified culture. This includes influences from Italians, Spanish, Portuguese, Germans, and the French, along with influences from African and indigenous Amerindian elements.
Venezuelan Spanish is the group's spoken form of the Spanish language.
History
Until the 20th century, there was no clear record of the number of Venezuelans who emigrated to the United States. Between the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, there were many European immigrants who went to Venezuela, only to later migrate to the United States along with their children and grandchildren who born and/or grew up in Venezuela speaking Spanish. From 1910 to 1930, it is estimated that over 4,000 South Americans each year emigrated to the United States. However, there are not many specific figures that indicate the number of Venezuelans who emigrated to this country.[2]
Many Venezuelans settled in the United States with hopes of receiving a better education, only to remain in there following graduation. They are frequently joined by relatives. However, since the early 1980s, the reasons for Venezuelan emigration have changed to include hopes of earning a higher salary and due to the economic fluctuations in Venezuela which also promoted an important migration of Venezuelan professionals to the US.[2]
In recent years, more Venezuelans opposing the economic and political policies of president Hugo Chávez are migrating to the U.S. (mostly to Florida State, but New York City and Houston are other destinations).
Demographics
The largest concentration of Venezuelans in the United States is in South Florida, especially the suburbs of Doral and Weston. Other main states with Venezuelan American populations are, according the 1990 census, New York, California, Texas, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Maryland. Some of the urban areas with a highly populated Venezuelan community include Miami, New York City, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C.[2]
States with highest Venezuelan population
The 10 states with the largest Venezuelan population were (Source: Census 2010[3]):
- Florida - 102,116 (0.5% of state population)
- Texas - 20,162 (0.1% of state population)
- New York - 13,910 (0.1% of state population)
- California - 11,100 (less than 0.1% of state population)
- New Jersey - 6,950 (0.1% of state population)
- Georgia - 6,289 (0.1% of state population)
- Virginia - 4,429 (0.1% of state population)
- North Carolina - 4,070 (less than 0.1% of state population)
- Massachusetts - 3,982 (0.1% of state population)
- Maryland - 3,328 (0.1% of state population)
The U.S. state with the smallest Venezuelan population (as of 2010) was South Dakota with 25 Venezuelans (less than 0.1% of state population).
Population distribution by Venezuelan ancestry
Among U.S. communities in 2000 wherein one thousand or more people indicated their ancestry, those where at least 1% of people claimed Venezuelan ancestry were:[4]
- Doral, Florida 8.22%
- Weston, Florida 4.1%
- Fountainbleau, Florida 3.14%
- The Hammocks, Florida 3.14%
- Key Biscayne, Florida 2.36%
- North Bay Village, Florida 2.15%
- Sunny Isles Beach, Florida 1.96%
- Miami Beach, Florida 1.79%
- Virginia Gardens, Florida 1.58%
- Kendale Lakes, Florida 1.54%
- Kendall, Florida 1.47%
- Surfside, Florida 1.41%
- Richmond West, Florida 1.36%
- West Sand Lake, New York 1.34%
- Aventura, Florida 1.31%
- Country Club, Florida 1.26%
- Bal Harbour, Florida 1.21%
- Coral Gables, Florida 1.17%
- Bay Harbor Islands, Florida 1.15%
- Miami Lakes, Florida 1.06%
- Tamiami, Florida 1.06%
- Miami Springs, Florida 1.01%
- Sand Lake, New York 1.01%
By Venezuelan birth
The top 25 U.S. communities with the most residents born in Venezuela are:[5]
- Doral, Florida 11.1%
- North Westside, FL 5.0%
- Fountainbleau, Florida 4.2%
- Weston, Florida 4.0%
- The Hammocks, Florida 3.3%
- Chambers Estates, Florida 2.8%
- Kendall West, Florida 2.8%
- The Crossings, Florida 2.7%
- Three Lakes, Florida 2.7%
- Key Biscayne, Florida 2.6%
- Sunny Isles Beach, Florida 2.4%
- Kendale Lakes-Lindgren Acres, FL 2.2%
- Virginia Gardens, Florida 2.1%
- Richmond West, Florida 2.0%
- Golden Beach, Florida 2.0%
- Broadview-Pompano Park, Florida 2.0%
- Ramblewood East, Florida 2.0%
- Kendale Lakes, Florida 1.9%
- Kendall, Florida 1.9%
- St. Regis Park, Kentucky 1.9%
- Coldstream, Kentucky 1.9%
- Country Walk, Florida 1.8%
- Celebration, Florida 1.8%
- Meadow Woods, Florida 1.8%
- Country Club, Florida 1.7%
Ethnic variety
The Venezuelan American population represented the Venezuela's ethnic variety. Some 70 percent of the middle-class Venezuelan immigrants are a mixture of European, Amerindian, and African ancestry. The 21 percent are white, the 8 percent are black and only the 1 percent is Amerindian. Most Venezuelan Americans descends of Spanish (mainly), Italians, Portuguese, Germans, and the French.[2]
Socioeconomics
The Venezuelan American population is highly educated. Its members have bachelor's, graduate, and professional degrees at nearly double (48.5%) the total national percentage (27%), while only 6% of the group's adults did not complete high school, compared to 15.9% of the total national population.[6] Venezuelan Americans are not only highly adapted to the English language and achieve great accomplishments in American education, but also tend to consider the teaching and preservation of the Spanish language a priority. Thus, they teach the language to their children.
Venezuelan Americans work in a variety of professions. However, most of them are inclined to banking and the petroleum industry. Thus, they often have a great expertise in these professions. Venezuelan Americans also work in highlighted positions of television, publishing, and radio industries. Also, many Venezuelan Americans are becoming politicians, working both local politics as in government. In addition, also is growing the number of Venezuelan Americans that work in government service on the federal level. Now, the Venezuelan Americans are involved in all the aspect of the American politics.[2]
Relations with Venezuela
Venezuelan Americans still maintain strong relations with their country of origin, which can easily be seen in business, family, and community life. Venezuelan Americans often report on the social and current events in Venezuela and first-generation immigrants visit there frequently. It is also quite common for Venezuelans to visit their relatives in the United States. [2]
Notable Venezuelan Americans
- Arthur Albert - Venezuelan born, American cinematographer and television director.
- María Conchita Alonso - three time Grammy Award–nominated singer/songwriter and actress. Cuban born-Venezuelan raised, she is American citizen[7]
- José de Armas - professional tennis player
- Fred Armisen- actor, comedian, musician.[8][9][10] He attended the School of Visual Arts (NYC)[11]
- Elizabeth Avellán - American film producer, born in Venezuela.
- Devendra Banhart- singer-songwriter
- Baruj Benacerraf- Venezuelan-born American immunologist, 1980 Nobel Prize in Medicine for the discovery of the major histocompatibility complex genes
- Manuel Blum - born in Caracas, Venezuela, is a computer scientist who received the Turing Award in 1995
- Horacio Bocaranda- film director
- Luigi Boria- Venezuelan born, mayor of Doral, Florida
- Andrea Burns - singer
- Miguel Cabrera- Baseball player. In 2012 became the first player since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 to win the Triple Crown in batting.
- Ed Calle - musician from Miami, Florida, born in Venezuela.
- Peter Camejo - (1939–2008) was an American author, activist and politician. He is of Venezuelan descent.[12]
- Mariah Carey- singer; her father Alfred Roy Carey was born in Venezuela.
- Javier Castellano - jockey, Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey 2014
- Grecia Colmenares- actress of telenovelas who gained fame across Latin America, specially during the 1980s.
- Gabriel Coronel- actor of telenovelas, model
- Jesse Corti - Venezuelan-born, American voice actor.
- Majandra Delfino - Alma Award-nominated Venezuelan born, American actress and singer
- Marieh Delfino - American actress.
- Chiquinquirá Delgado- Venezuelan TV host, model, and actress of Univision network in the United States
- Yasmin Deliz - American singer-songwriter, model and actress. She is daughter to a Dominican father and a Colombian and Venezuelan mother.
- Ramon Dominguez - jockey, recipient of three Eclipse Award in the row (2010, 2011 and 2012)
- Gustavo Dudamel - Orchestra conductor and violinist. He is the principal conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony in Gothenburg, Sweden, and music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Los Angeles, California
- George Duran - American chef and entertainer who is currently a spokesman in commercials for Hunt's tomatoes.
- Pedro Eustache- flautist - "World Music" woodwinds-reeds-wind synthesizers and composer
- Nicolas Felizola- fashion designer
- Humberto Fernandez Moran- Venezuelan research NASA scientist winner of the John Scott Award, for his invention of the diamond knife
- Juan Carlos Salazar- Singer, Cuatro-player and songwriter/composer in addition to being an engineer with an MBA, and university instructor
- Juan Pablo Galavis - professional football.
- Philip Giordano - former Republican mayor of Waterbury, Connecticut, and a convicted sex offender. He was born in Caracas, Venezuela, to Italian parents and his family moved to the United States when he was two years old.
- Raúl González - TV host and actor. In Venezuela, he hosted a kids' TV show Supercrópolis. He became one of the hosts on TV show Despierta América of Univisión television network.
- Ozzie Guillén - former professional baseball player and current manager of the Miami Marlins.
- Brooke Haven - American pornographic actress.
- Carolina Herrera- fashion designer
- Marcy Hinzmann - American pairs figure skater
- Perla Haney-Jardine - Brazilian-born American actress. She is best known for her role in Kill Bill Vol. 2 as B.B., the four-year-old daughter of Beatrix "The Bride" Kiddo and Bill. His father is Venezuelan.
- Moisés Kaufman - playwright, director and founder of Tectonic Theater Project.
- Monica Ponce de Leon - Architect with offices in Ann Arbor, New York and Boston. Dean at the University of Michigan. First Hispanic architect to receive the National Design Award in Architecture
- Thor Halvorssen Hellum- Venezuelan-Norwegian businessman who served as CEO and President telephone company, CANTV and later as Special Commissioner for International Narcotic Affairs.
- Thor Halvorssen Mendoza - Venezuelan human rights advocate and film producer
- T. J. MacGregor - Venezuelan born writer
- Eduardo Marturet - composer, music director and principal conductor of The Miami Symphony Orchestra.
- Beatriz Michelena - (1890–1942) was an American actress during the silent film era. She was of Venezuelan descent.[13]
- Chris Moy - singer and a former member of the teen group Menudo.
- Moisés Naím- economist, writer, TV-host.
- Carlos Pena, Jr. - American actor (Big Time Rush), singer, and dancer. His father is of Spanish and Venezuelan descent.
- Clara Perez - film and television actress.
- Elizabeth Pérez - Cuban-Venezuelan Emmy-winning television journalist and presenter working for CNN en Español in Atlanta, Georgia
- William H. Phelps, Jr.- (1902–1988) was a notable Venezuelan ornithologist and businessman.
- Rafael Poleo- a Venezuelan journalist and politician.
- Antonio Piedra - producer, director, photographer and philanthropist
- Édgar Ramírez - actor
- Tina Ramirez - American dancer and choreographer, best known as the Founder and Artistic Director (1970–2009) of Ballet Hispanico, the leading Hispanic dance company in the United States. She is a Venezuelan born, American raised.[14]
- L. Rafael Reif - President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
- Génesis Rodríguez- actress
- Aldemaro Romero Jr.- biologist,dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
- Luis José Santander- actor
- Angel Sanchez- fashion designer
- Al Santos (mayor) - Mayor of Kearny, New Jersey, and a Democrat, born in Venezuela.
- Daniel Sarcos- Venezuelan TV host, model, and actor of Telemundo network in the United States
- Santiago Schnell is a biophysical chemist and computational physiologist who holds an Associate Professorship in Molecular & Integrative Physiology at the University of Michigan.
- Jeanmarie Simpson - American peace activist and theatre artist. His parents are Venezuelans.[15][16]
- Sonya Smith, actress
- Patricia Spanic sister of soap opera actress Gabriela Spanic, she is a Captain in the US Army.
- Monica Spear- Miss Venezuela 2004, actress of Telemundo network
- Tammy Trull - American actress of Venezuelan and Cuban descent.
- Edwin Valero- was an undefeated southpaw Venezuelan boxer and former two weight world champion who fought up to light welter weight.
- Wilmer Valderrama- actor
- Rita Verreos - Venezuelan born beauty pageant contestant, image consultant, model, actress, and reality television contestant.
- Franklin Virgüez- actor
- Orlando Urdaneta- actor
References
- ^ a b US Census Bureau 2012 American Community Survey B03001 1-Year Estimates HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY SPECIFIC ORIGIN retrieved September 20, 2013
- ^ a b c d e f Drew Walker (2010). "A Countries and Their Cultures: Venezuelan American". Countries and their cultures. Retrieved December,10, 2011, to 22:30 pm.
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(help) - ^ http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_113_QTP10&prodType=table American FactFinder - QT-P10: Hispanic or Latino by Type: 2010
- ^ "Venezuelan ancestry by city - ePodunk". Epodunk.com. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
- ^ "Top 101 cities with the most residents born in Venezuela (population 500+)". city-data.com. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
- ^ "S0201. Selected Population Profile in the United States; Population Group: Venezuelan". 2006 American Community Survey. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-06-02.
- ^ Press office. Maria Conchita Alonso Endorses John McCain JohnMcCain.com, October 31, 2008.
- ^ Muther, Christopher. "'SNL' star Armisen drums up a career in comedy", Boston Globe, January 30, 2004 (fee required for full article)
- ^ Karni, Annie (2010-12-02). "Painting the Town Fred | New York Post". NYPOST.com. Retrieved 2012-05-30.
- ^ AP Photo (2012-01-05). "Photo from AP Photo - Fred Armisen, Hildegardt Gemer News, photos, topics, and quotes". 1click.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 2012-05-30.
- ^ "Fred Armisen: Biography," TV Guide, accessdate=2009-11-10.
- ^ "Ancestry of Peter Camejo". Wargs.com. Retrieved 2011-01-01.
- ^ "Fernando Michelena, photograph by Theodore C. Marceau". University of Louisville work=Libraries: Digital Collections. Retrieved April 13, 2010.
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(help) - ^ Dunning, Jennifer. "Ballet Hispanico Finds Its Essence." The New York Times, November 28, 1994.
- ^ http://asinglewomanmovie.com/jeanmarie-simpson-crew.html
- ^ http://korepress.org/CIHAbout.htm