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'Assyrian Americans' or 'Chaldean Americans' constitute the third-largest population of Assyrians in the world, and the largest in the Assyrian diaspora. According to the 2000 United States census,^[1] 82,355 Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Syriacs collectively live in America,^[2] with 42% (34,484) living in Michigan, and large concentrations around Chicago, Illinois, and Southern California. Their is also a growing Assyrian Chaldean population in Arizona as well; specifically in Scottsdale and Peoria. Presently, the Assyrian Church of the East is headquartered in Chicago, with five parishes and the home of Patriarch Mar Dinkha IV in the city. Formerly, San Francisco hosted the Assyrian Church. In 2005, the first Assyrian school in the United States, the Assyrian American Christian School, opened in Tarzana, California.^[3]

Contents

Chaldean Community in Detroit

Saddam-Detroit Connection

Census data

References

See also

Chaldean Community in Detroit

Chaldean Assyrians immigration, mainly to Detroit, MI, began in the early 20th century. The first reported Chaldean who immigrated to the United States was Zia Attala, who was a hotel owner in Philadelphia, PA.
Chaldeans began immigrating out of Telkaif, where they worked mainly as farmers, to the bigger cities, such as Baghdad & Mosul, for more opportunities in Iraq. There, they were employeed as doctors, lawyers, and businessmen, many of whom received their degrees from accreditted universities of Iraq.
Before the 1950s, Chaldeans came to the United States in search of greater economic opportunities. After the 1950s, many Chaldeans had the same reason to immigration: political freedom, especially after the rise of Saddam Hussein & the Gulf War. Some Chaldeans were drawn by the economic opportunities they had seen successfully affect their family members who had already immigrated. Immigration in the 1960s and 1970s were at the all time highest due to less strict immigration laws, which made it easier for immigrants to enter the United States. This is the time period, especially the 1970s, when most Chaldeans came to the United States. Another major reason to leave Iraq is the way Chaldeans were treated as a religious (Catholic) and ethnic minority (Assyrian). Many were tormented, persecuted, and treated as a minority rather than a significant group of people.
Chaldean immigrants were initially drawn by the potential employment at the Ford Motor Plant in Detroit, MI. When many of these newly arrived Chaldeans did not become employed by Ford, they went on the work in grocery stores, to make ends meet for their families. These grocery stores were small and mainly to make quick money, but many in recent days have grown to large, full-scale convenience stores. Mostly all of these stores were owned and operated by the Chaldean businessman and his family. In 1962, the number of Chaldean-owned grocery stores was 120, but grew to 278 in 1972. The main cause of this were the 1967 riots, in which white grocery store owners left the area and left the opportunity open for Chaldeans to take over.
Once a good amount of Chaldeans concentrated in Detroit, many new immigrants were drawn there due to being near other family members. Alongside the economic benefit of working and making money, Chaldeans were also drawn to being with their own people, who practiced the same Catholic religion and spoke the same Chaldean Neo-Aramaic language. Mostly all immigrations are to reunite with family, and to eventually work with them and live near them. Mostly all Chaldean stores are owned and operated by Chaldeans and their families. It is a rarity to see non-Chaldeans employed in a Chaldean party store.
The largest Iraqi Chaldean diaspora is located in Metropolitan Detroit, where there are an estimated 100,000 members. These cities include, but are not limited to, Detroit, Southfield, Sterling Heights, Oak Park, Troy, West Bloomfield, Farmington Hills, Ferndale, Warren, & Ann Arbor. More and more Chaldeans, as they establish themselves financially, quickly move out of Detroit and into the other mentioned cities. Other diasporas in the United States include California (mainly San Diego), Arizona, & Illinois (where there is a large diaspora of Assyrians).
Mostly all new Chaldean 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.
There are six Chaldean churches in Metropolitan Detroit, including West Bloomfield, two in Troy, Oak Park, Southfield, and Detroit.
Today, more and more Chaldeans are returning to the old time tradition of college education, seen last in Iraq before the immigration. The number of doctors, lawyers, and businessmen is rapidly rising. Most Chaldeans todays are professionals. The family factor and professionalism has always been a key part of Chaldean life, whether in Iraq or the United States.

Saddam-Detroit Connection

The then Iraqi president Saddam Hussein donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to a Chaldean Catholic churches in and received a key to the city in the 1980s on behalf of mayor Coleman Young, when the Baath regime was an ally of America.^[4]
Saddam's bond with Detroit started in 1979, when the Reveran Jacob Yasso of Chaldean Sacred Heart congratulated Saddam on his presidency. In return, Yasso's church received 250,000 dollars. The money reportedly helped build the Chaldean Center of America located on Seven Mile Road next to the Sacred Heart Chaldean Church, which received an earlier Saddam gift of $250,000, the station reported.^[5] More Iraqi money reportedly went to other churches around Detroit and around the country. This was widely seen by the Assyrian community as an attempt by the Baath party to Arabizanate the Chaldean Catholic Church.

Census data

★ 2000 census: 82,355 Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac

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★ 34,484 in Michigan

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★ Sterling Heights, Michigan: 5,515 (4.4% of the city)

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★ West Bloomfield, Michigan: 4,874 (7.5%)

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★ Southfield, Michigan: 3,684 (4.7%)

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★ Warren, Michigan: 2,625 (1.9%)

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★ Farmington Hills, Michigan 2,499 (3.0%)

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★ Troy, Michigan: 2,047 (2.5%)

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★ Detroit, Michigan 1,963 (0.2%)

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★ Oak Park, Michigan 1,864 (6.3%)

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★ Madison Heights, Michigan: 1,428 (4.6%)

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★ Orchard Lake Village, Michigan: 241 (10.9%)

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★ 22,671 in California (The state's largest Assyrian American communities are in (not in order of size): San Francisco, Santa Clara County such as San Jose, Stanislaus County, Merced County, the Fresno area, the Los Angeles area, Orange County, the San Diego area, and the Coachella and Imperial Valleys.

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★ 15,685 in Illinois

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★ Chicago, Illinois: 7,121 (0.2%)

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★ Niles, Illinois: 3,410 (3.3%)

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★ Maine Park, Illinois: 1,035 (0.8%)

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★ Speakers of the Syriac language: 46,932^[6]

References

1. 2000 United States census
2. US Census, QT-P13. Ancestry: 2000
3. Homepage of the Assyrian American Christian School
4. Associated Press. "Saddam Once Received Key to Detroit" by Alexandra R. Moses.[1]
5. Saddam Reportedly Given Key To Detroit[2]
6. U.S. Census 2000, Language Spoken at Home for the Foreign-Born Population 5 Years and Over: 1980 to 2000

See also