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Ethnic group in Nashville, Tennessee From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The single largest community in the United States of ethnic Kurds exists in Nashville, Tennessee.[1] This enclave is often called "Little Kurdistan" and is located in South Nashville.[2] The majority of Nashville's "Little Kurdistan" comes from Iraqi Kurdistan, however there are sizeable communities of Kurds from Syria, Iran, and Turkey.[2] It has been estimated that there are 15,000 Kurds living in Nashville,[2] although more recent estimates place the number at around 20,000, the largest in the country.[3]
It is estimated that there are 15,000 Kurds in Nashville.[2] However, the US census does not take official data on the number of Kurds living in the United States.[4] In the 1990s, the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) fingered Nashville as a center of resettlement and issued them federal funding to resettle the Kurds who came to Nashville.[5] Nashville has since become a hub of refugee resettlement for other communities as well.[5]
Following the breakup of the Ottoman Empire, the Kurdish people were separated into many nation-states.[6] While Kurds are in Iran, Turkey, and Syria, the majority of Nashville's Kurdish population is Iraqi.[7]
The Kurdish portion of Iraq is oil-rich and much of the strife between the Iraqis and Kurds has been regarding this issue.[8] This reached its epoch during Saddam Hussein's reign in the 1980s who started the anfal campaign.[6] Iraq began this campaign to stop the Iraqi Kurds from aiding Iran in a war between the countries.[8] This, however, changed into a genocide which killed 50,000–100,000 Kurds.[6] During this genocide, 3,000 to 4,000 Kurdish towns were destroyed, and 1.5 million Kurds were displaced.[8] The American-led Gulf War restored peace to the Kurds after Resolution 688 of the UN established a no-fly zone.[6] Moreover, the Gulf War, as covered by Western media outlets such as CNN, led to the "Kurdish Question" becoming a global issue. While the coverage was originally focused on the Iraqi treatment of the Kurds, CNN covered Turkish military's treatment as well which was negatively received.[9]
The majority of Kurdish immigration happened following Saddam Hussein's genocide in the anfal campaign.[7] Somewhere between 750 and 3000 people came during this largest wave but likely the lower end of that range.[10] There were two other waves of Kurdish immigration to Nashville that preceded this were during the First and Second Iraqi-Kurdish conflicts in the 1970s.[2]
Little Kurdistan is located in the south of Nashville.[2] Unlike other enclaves in major cities like Chinatown or Little Italy, Little Kurdistan is centered around a strip mall, a mosque, and a few stores.[11] While small, the Kurds of Nashville are hoping to create a semblance of their home country in the United States.[11]
Many Kurds are Sunni Muslims, but they are not a religious monolith. There are a number of Kurds who are Shi'a Muslim, Alevi Muslim, Jewish, and Yarsani.[7] In Nashville, the Salahadeen Center of Nashville is the hub of religious life for many of the Kurds living in Little Kurdistan.[11]
Despite holding a strong minority in the city, the Kurds of Nashville do not hold prominent political office; however, the director of the Salahadeen Center, Nawzad Hawrami, is on Nashville's New American Advisory Council, which informs Nashville's local government of pressing issues regarding refugees and immigrants in the city.[12] Moreover, historically, the Kurds in Nashville have been long time Republican voters and proponents of American foreign policy.[13]
Nashville is deigned as one of the few international locations where Kurds can cast their ballots in Iraqi elections.[14] In 2005, Kurds were able to vote in democratic elections for Iraq as long as they were able to prove Iraqi citizenship and US residency.[15] Prior to the vote for the independence of Kurdistan, many Kurds protested in downtown Nashville against the Iraqi government and advocating for a Kurdish nationstate.[16]
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a Kurdish gang—Kurdish Pride Gang—formed.[2] By 2006, the Nashville police had designated 24 individuals as members and many arrests were made for their violence.[2] However, the Kurdish community strongly rebuked the gang and urged for peace led by leaders in the community including a college professor and Nawzad Hawrami, the director of the Salahadeen Center.[17] These actions in conjunction with anti-gang related policing in 2012 disrupted Kurdish Pride.[18] While it was believed that the gang activity lessened following these actions, in 2018, the first Kurdish police officer was arrested for allegedly being a part of Kurdish Pride.[18] Metro Police have not given numbers at how many members still exist.[18]
On October 6, 2019, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of Turkey, informed the US that the Turkish army would be invading Northeast Syria, where many Kurds live.[19] The next day President Donald Trump announced plans to remove troops from the regime which left the Kurds at risk to Turkish aggression.[19] The US House of Representatives in a bipartisan show of support to the Kurds condemned President Trump's actions.[19]
In Nashville, the hundreds of Nashville's Kurdish population protested downtown against President Trump's action.[20] They were joined in protest by Democratic Congressperson Jim Cooper.[20] Both of Tennessee's Republican senators also rebuked President Trump's withdrawal.[21]
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