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Bangladeshi Americans

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Bangladeshi American
Hansen Clarke Jawed Karim Reihan Salam Sezan Mahmud
Regions with significant populations
New York City Metropolitan Area[1] · New Jersey · California · Texas · Florida · Illinois · Michigan · Wisconsin
Languages
American English · Bengali
Religion
Islam, Hinduism

Bangladeshi Americans are Americans of Bangladeshi descent. The overwhelming majority of Bangladeshi Americans are Bengalis. Most of them have immigrated from Sylhet region with a long trading history. Bangladeshi immigrants arrived in the United States especially since the early 1990s to become among the fastest growing ethnic communities that decade. New York City, Paterson in New Jersey, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago, Miami, Dallas, and Hamtramck, Michigan are home to notable Bangladeshi communities.

History

Immigration to the United States from Bangladesh grew slowly from the 1970s-80s. However during the early 1990s, the number of Bangladeshi immgrants increased during the peak of 1991, with more than a thousand annually. Many of the migrants settled in urban areas such as New York City and Paterson, New Jersey; as well as Los Angeles, Chicago, and Detroit. Some authorities claimed that a number of these people were illegal immigrants, around 100 were deported under the 1996 immigration act, by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). In New York, it was estimated that 10,000 Bangladeshis resided in the city. During the late 1990s, some Bangladeshis moved from New York City to Detroit, home to prominent communities of other Muslim Americans, in search of better work opportunities and an affordable cost of living,[4] but many have since returned to New York and to Paterson, New Jersey. The community formed newspaper organizations. The Los Angeles Bangladesh Association was created in 1971, and there were 500 members of the Texas Bangladesh Association in 1997. The Bangladeshi population in Dallas was 5,000 people in 1997, which was large enough to hold the Baishakhi Mela event.[5] Many of these Bangladeshis were taxicab drivers, while others had white-collar occupations.[6]

Demographics

The 2000 census undertaken by the Census Bureau listed 57,412 people identifying themselves as having Bangladeshi origin.[7] Almost 50% of Bangladeshis over the age of 25 had at least a Bachelor's degree as compared to less than 25% of the United States population.

The New York City Metropolitan Area, including New York City and Paterson, New Jersey, is home to the largest Bangladeshi community in the United States, receiving by far the highest legal permanent resident Bangladeshi immigrant population.[8] The Bangladeshi community in New York City was spread out in the Jackson Heights neighborhood. 74th Street has most of the Bangladeshi groceries and clothing store. The Bangladesh Plaza hosts several number of Bangladeshi Businesses and cultural event. Recently, one part of Jackson Heights has become the open platform of all sorts of protests and activism. Interestingly most of the cab drivers belong to Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and Awami League branch of New York City. So they dont hesitate to come to these reflective events of Bangladesh, since they have lot of free time to ponder over a cup tea issues originating in Bangladesh. The neighboring areas of Jackson Heights, Woodside, Elmhurst also similarly became attractive places to live for Bangladeshi Americans.

Since the 1990s, thousands of Bangladeshis were able to legally migrate to the USA through the Diversity Visa Program/ lottery. Interestingly they started moving to Jamaica, Queens. Continuous movement of Bangladeshis to Jamaica has made some parts extensively Bangladeshi majority zone. Centering around 169 street and Hillside Avenue, the neighborhood has become a popular zone due to the large number of Restaurants and Groceries. Sagar Restaurant, Gharoa, Deshi Shaad, Kabir's Bakery are attractions for the Bangladeshi communities all over the city. Largest number of Bangladesh originated now live in Jamaica, Hollis and Briarwood. Another reason of popular settlement are the pharmaceutical companies exisiting in Long Island. There are quite a large number of Bangladeshi owned pharmaceutical companies in Suffolk county, and beyond doubt most of the workers are also of Bangladeshi origin.

Many Bangladeshi grocery stores and clothing stores are locating on Union Avenue and the surrounding streets in Paterson, as well as a branch of the Sonali Exchange Company Inc., a subsidiary of Sonali Bank, the largest state-owned commercial bank in Bangladesh. Masjid Al-Ferdous is also located on Union Avenue, which accommodates Paterson's rapidly growing Bangladeshi pedestrian population.

New York statistics:

  • 1990 census:
  • 2000 census:
    • Total population: 28,269
    • High concentration: Queens—18,310 people (65%), Brooklyn—6,243 (22%), Bronx—2,442 (9%), Manhattan—1,204 (4%), Staten Island—70 (0.2%)
    • Population growth rate from 1990-2000: 471%
    • Foreign-born population: 23,157 (85%)
    • Limited English Proficiency: 14,840 (60%)
    • Median Household Income: $31,537
    • People Living in Poverty: 8,312
    • Percentage of people in poverty: 31%

The majority of Bangladeshi immigrants are between 10–39 years of age; 62% are men. Mainly men immigrated due to employment opportunity differences. Approximately 50% of men and 60% of women are married upon arrival to the United States. Statistics show that Bangladeshis tend to vote for the Democratic Party.[10][verification needed]

Notable Bangladeshi Americans

In 2010 Hansen Clarke, whose father was Bangladeshi, was elected to the United States Congress from Michigan's House of Representatives. Dr. Fazlur Rahman Khan designed the Sears Tower (now Willis) towers of Chicago, the John Hancock Center and is noted as the Einstein of structural engineering and one of the pioneer architects of the twentieth century. Also, Salman Khan (educator), whose father is from Barisal, Bangladesh, has gained worldwide renown as the founder of Khan Academy, a non-profit education organization. Professor Badrul Khan, has the credit of first coining the phrase Web based instruction and popularizing the concept through his 1997 best-selling Web-Based Instruction book which paved the way for the new field of e-learning. Dr. Sezan Mahmud, a writer, medical scientist has received American Public Health Association APHA PHEHP Early Career Award as first Asian since the introduction of the award in 1972. Ishfer is a Bangladeshi-American who became First place SECME Olympiad,and stayed a member 5 times and still counting. Shafee is famous for winning the Who will be smarter than a fifth grader contest. Samee is rewarded for being the smartest second grader ever.

References

  1. ^ "Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2010 Supplemental Table 2". U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved 2011-06-10.
  2. ^ Population Group: Bangladeshi alone
  3. ^ Selected Population Profile in the United States (Bangladesh) (2007) United States Census Bureau
  4. ^ Kershaw, Sarah (8 March 2001). "Queens to Detroit: A Bangladeshi Passage". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  5. ^ Other Immigrants: The Global Origins of the American People. By David M. Reimers. page 198-200.
  6. ^ The North American Muslim Resource Guide : Muslim Community Life in the United States and Canada. By Mohamed Nimer. page 33.
  7. ^ Jessica S. Barnes (February 2002). "The Asian Population: 2000" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. U.S. Department of Commerce. Retrieved 30 September 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2010 Supplemental Table 2". U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved 2011-06-10.
  9. ^ Salaam America: South Asian Muslims in New York. By Aminah Mohammad-Arif. page 33-35.
  10. ^ Harvard encyclopedia of American ethnic groups. By Stephan Thernstrom, Ann Orlov, Oscar Handlin. page 173-174.

External links

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