History of Ethiopian Americans in the United States - Research Paper Example

History of Ethiopian Americans in the United States 1. Demographic Data in the United States According to the US American Census Survey, there are up to 250, 000 to 460, 000 Ethiopian American immigrants residing in the United States. Most of the Ethiopian Americans live predominantly in major urban cities on the east and west coast of America. Washington DC has the highest concentration of Ethiopians in America with an estimate of around 250,000. Additionally, according to the census, 13, 927 Ethiopians reside in Minnesota. This number is however an estimate and there is likelihood that it could be more (Stratis Health, 2012). 2. Geographical boundaries brief Introduction of Somali. Ethiopia is a non-coastal country in Eastern Africa at the horn of Africa. The range of the country is 437, 794 square miles, which is close to double the size of Texas. The capital city of Ethiopia is Addis Ababa, and other major cities in the country include Harar, Asmara and Dire Dawa. Ethiopia experiences a mild climate despite its nearness to the equator. It has two major seasons- one persists from late January to beginning of March when the country experiences short spells of rain. The second season is in September, which is characterised by heavy rainfall. The dominant group mostly reside on the highlands, which is characterised by the tropical climate and heavy rainfall (Kobel, 2007) 3. Background of Ethiopian Americans According to research carried out by the US Committee of Refugees, the overall total of African immigrants in the US is still lower as compared to other natives such as Asians. However, after the passing of the Refugee Act in 1980, the number of Ethiopian immigrants moving into the US increased. The only group of African immigrants with a higher number of immigrants in the US as compared to the Ethiopians are the Somalis (Kobel, 2007). 4. Biological Variation The most sure physical characteristic notable in most Ethiopians is their curly hair, narrow thin nose and black brown complexion. 5. Culture and Ethnicity There are several ethnic communities in the countries. Galla makes up the largest ethnic group at about forty percent of the entire group. The Ahmara and the Tigre, who also makeup about forty percent of the people, are the most dominant and influential group when it comes to politics. The rest of the inhabitants are the Walamo, Somali and Gurage (Kobel, 2007) 6. Time Ethiopians conform to the Julian calendar, which is comprised of twelve months each year with a total of thirty days each month. The calendar is behind from the Western calendar by seven years and eight months. In addition, they celebrate their Christmas on 7th January and New Year on 11th September which may be a little confusing to someone used to the Western calendar (Beyene, 2008). The Ethiopian clock on the other is similar to the one used in most equatorial countries. There exists a six-hour difference between the Ethiopian time and the Western time. This therefore means that when it is 9:00 am in Ethiopia, it is 3:00 pm in Western time. Furthermore, the Ethiopian time is three hours ahead of the Greenwich Mean Time. 7. Nation of Origin of residents Ethiopia’s history can be traced back up to 3000 years ago. It was among the only African nations that were not colonized. In the mid 1970’s, the government of Haille Selassie was overthrown and replaced with a repressed regime. This system has been maintained to date (Molakign, 1996) 8. Total Population Ethiopia is one of the most populated landlocked countries globally. It also has the largest city, Addis Ababa. The Ethiopian American immigrants have a high number estimated to be about 450, 000 in total. According to research, about 150,000-250,000 of these immigrants are concentrated in Washington DC (Kobel, 2007). 9. Name of City Ethiopia has one of the largest capital cities, Addis Ababa. 10. Breakdown by areas. Residential Concentrations According to the US American census survey, there are up to 250,000 Ethiopian immigrants in the US. Most of the Ethiopian American immigrants dominate major urban cities on the east and west coast of America. Washington Dc has the largest number of Ethiopian American immigrants at 13, 927. Minnesota, Dallas and Seattle whose total is an estimated 6000-7000 Ethiopians then follow this. Additionally, the total for New York and Los Angeles is estimated to be around 7000. Women and children take the highest number of the immigrants. The Ethiopian immigrants in New York are spread out over several districts and not concentrated in one area (Kobel, 2007). 11. Ages The population in Ethiopia is mostly composed of young single adults. 70% of the total population is composed of people under the age of forty years. Out of the entire population of the country, men take up the largest portion of at 60% while the women make up 34% of the population (Beyene, 2008) 12. Education In Ethiopia, Education is only mandatory for only six years, which could be the cause for the high rate of illiteracy among the Ethiopians. Most of the Ethiopian immigrants in the US are crowded in the service sector. The few immigrants who have managed to secure gainful permanent employment in the US had the assistance of the state and federal assistance programmes when qualified. However, the immigrants living in Dallas have no need for assistance of the programs and they have been able to make it on their own. Over half of the Ethiopian immigrants living in the US have had to rely of the state and federal assistance programs for their survival (Kobel, 2007). 13. Occupation Ethiopia itself as a country mostly depends on Agriculture for its income. The vast industry-dealing majority of the people are employed in this industry dealing with exports of their produce to other bordering countries. The government runs most parts of the industrial sector such as the food processing industry, metal processing and cement. Consequently, this means that most of the Ethiopians employed in these industries barely gain any industrial expertise needed to make a living in the advanced capitalist economies like the US. Only a small percentage of the wealthy population of Ethiopians have acquired the skills necessary to afford a middle class livelihood in the US. Consequently, most of the Ethiopian immigrants living in the US are employed in low earning jobs just as parking valets, gas station attendants, waiters in restaurants and other jobs that do not require many skills (Stratis Health, 2012). 14. Speak their Own Language The population in Ethiopia like other countries is rather diverse with over 80 spoken languages. Amharic is the most common language and is often referred to by the natives as lesananegus, which when directly translated means “the language of Kings (Kobel, 2007). Although Amharic is the national language, for uniformity, the working language is English. The other major languages include Tigrinya, Arabic, Somali, Orominga and Guaraginga (Beyene, 2008) 15. Wear Ethnic Attire The Ethiopian women wear white dresses known as Shamma, while the men wear white cotton pants over their Shamma. Over the festive season, the Shamma is ornamented with a red stripe down the hem, commonly referred to as Jano. The unique part of the Amharic and Tigrayan dress is the large white cloth worn by both men and women over their shoulders. There is no strict dress code which all the people in Ethiopia are expected to adhere to. Most of the Ethiopians barely dress in their cultural attire unless it is the festive season or during special occasions such as weddings (Kobel, 2007) 16. Touch and Communication Ethiopians are generally viewed to be soft spoken and polite in nature. As a way of respecting the elders and formality, they refer to each other as Mr., Mrs., or Miss. Hugging, touching cheeks or touching are generally an accepted method of greeting among the Somalis (Stratis Health, 2012). References Beyene , Y. (2008).Ethiopian Immigrants in the US: Community Profile and Health Risks.30th Annual National Diversity Conference. Three Decades of Diversity: From Mandate to Mission. Barkan, E. R. (2013). Immigrants in American history: Arrival, adaptation, and integration. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO. Kobel, S. P. (2007). Ethiopian Americans.Countries and their Cultures. Retrieved from http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Du-Ha/Ethiopian-Americans.html Molakign, A. (1996). Ethiopian Cultural Profile.Ethiopian Community Mutual Association. Retrieved from http://ethnomed.org/culture/ethiopian/copy_of_ethiopian-cultural-profile Stratis Health. (2012). Ethiopians in Minnesota.Stratis Health. Retrieved from: http://www.culturecareconnection.org/documents/InformationSheet_Ethiopian.pdf Wilson, J. H. (2013). African-Born Blacks in the Washington, D.C., Metro Area. Population Reference Bureau. Retrieved From: http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2008/blackImmigrantsdc.aspx Read More