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Assyrian Americans (Syriac: ܣܘܼܖ̈ܵܝܹܐ ܐܲܡܪ̈ܝܼܟܵܝܹܐ) refers to individuals of ethnic Assyrian ancestry born or residing within the United States. Assyrians are an indigenous Middle Eastern ethnic group native to Mesopotamia in West Asia who descend from their ancient counterparts, directly originating from the ancient indigenous Mesopotamians of Akkad and Sumer who first developed the independent civilization in northern Mesopotamia that would become Assyria in 2600 BC. Modern Assyrians often culturally self-identify as Syriacs, Chaldeans, or Arameans for religious and tribal identification. The first significant wave of Assyrian immigration to the United States was due to the Sayfo genocide in the Assyrian homeland in 1914–1924.
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 94,000 (2022)[1] 0.03% of the US population | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Phoenix, Arizona · San Diego, California · Chicago, Illinois · Metro Detroit, Michigan · Turlock, California | |
| Languages | |
| Assyrian, English | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity (majority: Syriac Christianity; minority: Protestantism) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Assyrian Canadian, Iraqi American, Iranian American, Syrian American, Middle Eastern American, Armenian American, Armenian people |
The largest Assyrian diaspora is located in Metro Detroit, with a figure of 150,000.[2] High concentrations are also located in Phoenix, San Jose, Modesto, San Diego, Los Angeles, Turlock, and Chicago among others.[3][4][5]
As of 2022[update] U.S. Census Bureau estimates, there are 94,532 people in the United States declaring Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriacs ancestry (with a margin of error ±7,255).[6]
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Early history
Assyrians have been present in the United States since the late 19th century. The first recorded Assyrian in America was Zia Attala.[7] He reportedly immigrated to Philadelphia in 1889 and found work in the hotel industry.[8] Most early Assyrian immigrants, however, were young men sent by Western missionaries for religious training;[9] among them was Yaroo Michael Neesan, an Assyrian from Urmia.[10]
Second wave of immigration
Following the turn of the century, Assyrian immigration to America mostly came to a halt due to the Immigration Act of 1924, which effectively cut off any legal immigration to the United States for Assyrians and other non-Western European groups. The second large wave of immigration occurred in the 1960s and 70s, mainly from northern Iraq due to conflicts and persecution by the Ba'athist government of Iraq. Others arrived from Iran following the Iranian Revolution. Many Assyrians arrived during this period and took advantage of the ongoing White flight in Detroit.
As a result of the situation, Assyrians gained a monopoly over grocery stores and other small businesses, and in many cases used their finances and newfound wealth to benefit the Assyrian community there and take in Assyrian refugees from Iraq. More Assyrians arrived throughout the 80s and 90s for similar reasons, with newer residents moving out of Detroit into suburbs such as Royal Oak and Sterling Heights due to the crack epidemic in Detroit, while others began to move to San Diego, establishing a new Assyrian community there.
In 2005, the first Assyrian school in the United States, the Assyrian American Christian School, opened in Tarzana, Los Angeles.
In Michigan
Assyrian immigration to cities in Michigan began in the early 20th century. The cities in the state include, but are not limited to, Detroit, Southfield, Sterling Heights, Oak Park, Troy, West Bloomfield, Walled Lake, Rochester Hills, Farmington Hills, Ferndale, Warren, Bloomfield Hills, and Ann Arbor. More and more Assyrians, as they establish themselves financially, quickly move out of Detroit and into the other locations, including San Diego and cities in Arizona.
Before the 1970s, Assyrians came to the United States in search of greater economic opportunities. After the 1970s, many Assyrians fled for political freedom, especially after the rise of Saddam Hussein and after the Gulf War. Some were drawn by the economic opportunities they had seen successfully affect their family members who had already immigrated.
Less stringent immigration laws during the 1960s and 1970s facilitated increasing numbers, with the 1970s seeing the highest number of Assyrians coming to the United States. In 1962, the number of Assyrian owned grocery stores was 120, but grew to 278 in 1972. The main cause of this were the 1967 Detroit riots, after which Jewish grocery store owners left the area and left the opportunity open for Assyrians to take over. Often these Jews sold their old stores to Assyrians.[11]
Iraqi president Saddam Hussein donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Chaldean Catholic Churches in Detroit and received a key to the city in the 1980s on behalf of mayor Coleman Young, when the Ba’ath regime was an ally of the United States government.[12]
Mostly all new Chaldean Catholic Assyrian immigrants and low-income senior citizens tend to reside in Detroit, in the 7 Mile Road between Woodward Avenue and John R Street. This area was officially named Chaldean Town in 1999.[13] There are eight Chaldean Catholic Churches in Metro Detroit, located in West Bloomfield, Troy (where there are two), Oak Park, Southfield, Warren, Sterling Heights, and Detroit.
In California
After World War II, several Assyrian men who had been educated in Iraq by American Jesuits traveled to the United States. They were to teach Arabic to U.S. officers at the Army Language School who were going to be stationed in the Middle East. The men started the San Diego-area Chaldean Catholic community. Yasmeen S. Hanoosh, author of The Politics of Minority Chaldeans Between Iraq and America, wrote that the Chaldean Catholic Church in San Diego "continued to grow in relative isolation from the family-chain-migration based communities in and around Michigan."[14]
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According to the 2022 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, 94,532 people in the United States are of Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac ancestry (with a margin of error ±7,255).[6] The Census Bureau list all three groups as one option on forms.[15] Michigan, California, and Illinois account for 80% of the Assyrian population living in the US.[16]
Michigan
There were 34,484 living in Michigan according to the 2000 United States census.[17] The 2022 estimates put this number at 41,020, with the overwhelming majority of the population–95%–residing in the Metro Detroit area counties of Macomb County (23,707), Oakland County (14,535), and Wayne County (665).
California
There were 22,671 living in California according to the 2000 United States census. The 2022 estimates put this number at 24,748. The state's largest Assyrian American population lives in San Diego County (9,165), followed by Los Angeles County (3,642), Santa Clara County (2,919), and Orange County (1,816). The population in Southern California accounts for more than 60% of the state's total Assyrian population estimate.
A little over 16% of the state's population (4,097) resides in the Central Valley and San Francisco Bay Area, places known for several Eastern Assyrian, Chaldean Catholic, and Syriac Orthodox churches.[18] These include:
- Santa Clara County (2,919)
- Sacramento County (663)
- San Francisco (201)
- Contra Costa County (198)
- Alameda County (65)
- San Mateo County (51)
Illinois
There were 15,685 Assyrians living in Illinois according to the 2000 United States census.[19] As of the 2022[update] estimate, that number has held steady at 15,694, with over 89% of that population residing in Cook County (14,035). As of the 2023 American Community Survey five-year estimates, the largest populations reside in Chicago (3,099)[20] and the adjacent northern suburbs of Niles (1,113)[21] and Skokie (2,768).[22]
DuPage County (241) and Lake County (213) have the second and third highest populations.
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The federal government of the United States took the word Syrian to mean Arabs from the Syrian Arab Republic and not as one of the terms to identify the ethnically distinct Assyrians, although the terms Syrian and Syriac are strongly accepted by mainstream majority academic opinion to be etymologically, historically, geographically, and ethnically derivative of the earlier term Assyrian,[23][24] and historically meant Assyrian (see name of Syria) and not Arab or Aramean. In addition, the Syrian Arab Republic is home to many ethnicities, including Arabs, Assyrians, Armenians, Kurds, and Turkmens, and is thus not an exclusively Arab nation.
The Syriac Orthodox Church was previously known as the Syrian Orthodox Church until a Holy Synod in 2000 voted to change it to Syriac, thus distinguishing from the Arabs. Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim wrote a letter to the Syriacs in 2000 urging them to register in the census as Syriac with a C, and not Syrian with an N to distinguish the group. He also urged them not to register as the country of origin.[25] The Church was previously known as the Assyrian Orthodox Church in America and Israel-Palestine, which can be seen in the name of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Paramus, New Jersey.[26]
Chaldean refers to ethnic Assyrians who are (traditionally) Eastern Catholic, having split from the Assyrian Church in Upper Mesopotamia between the 17th and 19th centuries (see Schism of 1552). Chaldean is thus a religious term, not an ethnic term. The majority of Chaldean Catholics come from Iraq's Nineveh Plains region, which is located in Upper Mesopotamia (northern Iraq). The Chaldeans of antiquity lived in southeast Mesopotamia from the 9th century BC and disappeared from history in the 6th century BC.
On the US census, there is a section for the Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac, which is listed separately from Syrian, Syrian being a subcategory for Arab.[27]
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- Brian Awadis (FaZe Rug), YouTuber
- Terrence Malick, film director, screenwriter, and producer[28][29]
- Adam Benjamin Jr., former politician and a United States Representative from Indiana's 1st congressional district[30]
- Rosie Malek-Yonan, actress, author, director, public figure, and activist[31][32][33][34]
- Anna Eshoo, U.S. Representative for California's 18th congressional district[35][36]
- Victor Kamber, labor union activist and political consultant in the United States
- Vincent Oshana, actor, comedian, and ardent Trump supporter[37]
- Narsai David, author, radio and television personality in the Bay Area
- Raad Ghantous, half-Assyrian, half-Lebanese Interior designer[38][39]
- Scott Rumana, Assyrian-American Republican Party politician[40]
- Yasmine Hanani, Assyrian American actress
- Jumana Hanna, imprisoned at the facility known as Al Kelab Al Sayba, or Loose Dogs, during the rule of Saddam Hussein[41]
- Reine Hanna, director of the Assyrian Policy Institute[42]
- Diane Pathieu, television anchor
- Larsa Pippen, reality television personality[43]
- Janan Sawa, Assyrian musician
- Timz, Assyrian American rapper
- Justin Meram, footballer[44][45]
- Sargon Dadesho, campaigner, nationalist[46]
- Michael Shabaz, Assyrian American tennis player
- Beneil Dariush, Assyrian American professional mixed martial artist[47]
- Daniel Alaei, professional poker player
- John Batchelor, American author and host of The John Batchelor Show radio news magazine[48]
- Bob Miner, former American businessman, co-founder of Oracle Corporation and the producer of Oracle's relational database management system.[49][50]
- John Joseph (historian), Assyrian-American educator and historian
- Steven Beitashour, international soccer player[51]
- John Nimrod, U.S. politician[52][53]
- Atour Sargon, Assyrian activist and politician[54]
- Andrew David Urshan, evangelist and author[55]
- Juliana Taimoorazy, activist, founder and current president of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council[56]
- Jacob David, pastor and relief worker
- David B. Perley, philosopher and nationalist
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