Bangladeshi Americans
Bangladeshi Americans (Bengali: বাংলাদেশী মার্কিনী, romanized: Bangladeshī Markinī) are Americans of Bangladeshi descent. Most Bangladeshi Americans are also Bengali Americans. Bangladeshi Americans are usually Muslims with roots in Bangladesh in which Bengali is the majority language. (However, other Bengali speakers can be Hindus from India.) Since the early 1970s, Bangladeshi immigrants have arrived in significant numbers to become one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the U.S. New York City is home to two-thirds of the Bangladeshi American population. Meanwhile, Paterson, New Jersey and Atlantic City, New Jersey[8] are also home to notable Bangladeshi communities. Over 400,000 people leave Bangladesh with the sole goal of finding employment in other countries.[9]
History[edit]
Immigrants from present-day Bangladesh have been in the United States since at least the First World War, originating from East Bengal of British India.[10]
Since the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, immigration to the United States grew slowly but steadily through the 1970s and 1980s. Over 10,000 Bangladeshis have immigrated to the United States annually.[4] Many of the migrants settled in urban areas. New York City is home to two-thirds of the Bangladeshi population in the United States. Other cities including Paterson, Atlantic City, New Jersey; Buffalo, New York; Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles; Boston; Chicago; and Detroit.
In New York, it was estimated that 15,000 Bangladeshis resided in the city in the early 1980s. During the late 1970s, some Bangladeshis moved from New York City to Detroit, and Atlantic City for jobs. Homes to prominent communities of other Muslim Americans, in search of better work opportunities and an affordable cost of living,[11] but most have since returned from Detroit to New York and to New Jersey, in hope of starting a new community and a peaceful life. In Atlantic City, Bangladeshis established an association, and two smaller Melas are held in June/July and in August.
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.
Baishakhi Mela events have been held in major American cities such as New York City; Paterson, New Jersey; Atlantic City; Washington, D.C.; and Los Angeles; as the Bangladeshi population continues to increase in these cities.[12] The third and largest wave of arrivals came in the 1990s and 2000s. Because of the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, professional and educational criteria were not used. Most Bangladeshi immigrants took blue-collar work such as taxi driving and restaurant help.[13]
Major communities[edit]
New York City[edit]
New York City is home to the largest Bangladeshi community in the United States, receiving by far the highest legal permanent resident Bangladeshi immigrant population.[4] The Bangladeshi-born immigrant population has become one of the fastest growing in New York City, counting over 93,000 by 2011 alone.[18][19] The city's Bangladeshi community is prominent in Jackson Heights, Queens. 74th Street has most of the Bangladeshi grocery stores and clothing stores in Jackson Heights. The Bangladesh Plaza hosts numerous Bangladeshi businesses and cultural events. Recently, one part of Jackson Heights has become an open platform for all sorts of protests and activism. The adjacent neighborhoods of Woodside and Elmhurst in Queens have also drawn Bangladeshi Americans.
In the 1960s, Bangladeshi Americans developed the Manhattan restaurant area called Curry Row.[20] Since the 1970s, thousands of Bangladeshis were able to legally migrate to the U.S. through the Diversity Visa Program lottery. Centered on 169th Street and Hillside Avenue, Jamaica, Queens, has become a popular draw due to the large number of Bengladeshi restaurants and grocery stores. Sagar Restaurant, Gharoa, Deshi Shaad, Kabir's Bakery, and other stores in Queens are attractions for the Bangladeshi community from throughout New York City. The largest numbers of Bangladeshi Americans now live in the Queens neighborhoods of Jamaica, Jackson Heights, Hollis, and Briarwood. Bangladeshi enclaves have also emerged in Parkchester, Bronx; Ozone Park, Queens; City Line, Brooklyn.[21] More affluent Bangladeshis have relocated to Long Island, largely due to many Bengladeshi-owned pharmaceutical companies that also employ many Bengladeshis there. However, a relatively small number of Bangladeshis have moved from New York City to cities such as Buffalo, New York, and Hamtramck, Michigan, mainly due to low costs of living there.
Community and economic issues[edit]
Per capita income[edit]
In 2014, identified by factfinder census, when Americans per capita income was divided by ethnic groups Bangladeshi Americans were revealed to have a per capita income of only $18,027, below the American average of $25,825.[30]
Median household income[edit]
In 2015, Bangladeshi Americans had an estimated median household income of $49,800, lower than the overall American median of $53,600.[31]
In 2019, Bangladeshi Americans had a median household income of $59,500.[32]
Poverty[edit]
In a 2013, NPR discussion with a member of the Economic Policy Institute and co-author of the book The Myth of the Model Minority Rosalind Chou who is also a professor of sociology. One of them stated that "When you break it down by specific ethnic groups, the Hmong, the Bangladeshi, they have poverty rates that rival the African-American poverty rate."[33]
Education[edit]
In the 2000 U.S. Census, 57,412 people reporting having Bangladeshi origin.[34] In 2015, it was reported that 16% of the Bangladeshi population in the US had at least a Bachelor's degree.[35] Almost 22% of Bangladeshis over the age of 25 earned at least a Bachelor's degree, compared to less than 25% of the U.S. population.
Politics[edit]
Bangladeshi Americans strongly favor the Democratic Party. Republican President Richard Nixon's support of Pakistan during Bangladesh's struggle for independence partly swayed Bangladeshis to the Democratic Party.[36] In the 2012 U.S. presidential election, 96% of Bangladeshi Americans voted to reelect Barack Obama.[37] In the 2016 U.S. presidential election, 90% of Bangladeshi Americans voted for Hillary Clinton.[38] In the 2020 U.S. presidential election, 91% of Bangladeshi Americans voted for Joe Biden.[39]
In recent decades, the Bangladeshi-American community has become more active in local and national politics, with many Bangladeshi Americans seeking office or forming political organizations to better represent those within or outside the community who share similar goals.[40][41][42]