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; 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]
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]
Demography
States, Cities, and Metro Areas by Population
Bangladeshi Americans are largely concentrated in metropolitan areas in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Great Lakes regions of the country, especially working-class neighborhoods and suburbs. There are smaller concentrations in states such as Texas, California, and Nevada.[14]
The states with the highest percentages of Bangladeshi Americans are:[citation needed]
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.[15][16] 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.[17] 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.[18] 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.
New York statistics:
1990 census:
Total population: 10,000 (7,592 in New York State and 29,000 in total in the United States).[19]
Bangladeshi neighborhoods in NYC include Jamaica, Jamaica Hills, Briarwood, Jackson Heights, Woodside, Elmhurst, Hollis, Queens Village, Hunters Point, Long Island City, East Harlem, Bayside, Hillcrest, West Maspeth and Astoria in Queens; Kensington and City Line in Brooklyn;[18] and Parkchester and Castle Hill in The Bronx.[22][23] Smaller Little Bangladesh communities can be found in Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; Detroit; and Los Angeles.
Paterson, New Jersey, in the New York City metropolitan area, is home to a significant and growing Bangladeshi American community. Many Bangladeshi grocery stores and clothing stores operate in the emerging Little Bangladesh on Union Avenue and on nearby streets in Paterson, as well as a branch of a subsidiary of Sonali Bank, the largest state-owned financial institution in Bangladesh. The Masjid Al-Ferdous mosque is also located on Union Avenue. Mohammed Akhtaruzzaman was ultimately certified as the winner of the 2012 City Council election in the Second Ward, making him northern New Jersey's first Bangladeshi-American elected official. The current Second Ward Councilman is Bangladeshi Shahin Khalique, who defeated Akhtaruzzaman in 2016 as well as in 2020. Khalique has largely stimulated growth and advancement of the Bengali community in Paterson.[25]
On October 11, 2014, a groundbreaking ceremony was conducted for the Shohid Minar Monument in West Side Park in Paterson. The monument pays tribute to those killed in Pakistan in 1952 while protesting the country's ban on the use of Bangladeshis' native language Bangla (বাংলা). The monument is modeled after similar monuments in Bangladesh, according to the World Glam Organization, the Bangladeshi cultural group working on the Paterson project. The Shohid Minar Monument was completed and unveiled in 2015.[26] This project reflected the increasing influence of Paterson's growing Bangladeshi community as reported in The Record.[27]
Community and economic issues
Per capita income
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.[28]
Median household income
In 2015, Bangladeshi Americans had an estimated median household income of $49,800, lower than the overall American median of $53,600.[29]
In 2019, Bangladeshi Americans had a median household income of $59,500.[30]
Poverty
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."[31]
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.
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]
Culture
Bangladeshi Americans are highly visible in medicine, engineering, business, finance and information technology. Bangladeshi Americans have introduced Bengali cuisine through several Bangladeshi markets and stores in the U.S. Some of the largest are in New York City; Paterson, New Jersey; Central New Jersey; Washington, D.C.; Atlantic City, New Jersey; and Los Angeles, California.
Languages
Bangladeshi Americans often retain their native language Bengali and run many programs to nourish their mother tongue. Many also speak regional dialects of Bengali, such as Noakhailla (prevalent in Bangladesh’s Noakhali District), Sylheti (prevalent in Bangladesh's Sylhet Division)as well as Chittagonian (prevalent in Bangladesh's Chittagong and Cox's Bazar Districts) among many other dialects from various regions.
Religion
Before the colonization of South Asia by Great Britain, folk religion in villages in the Bengal region incorporated elements of Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism to varying degrees. Leading up to the modern era, Bengali families increasingly began identifying with a single religious community. In North America, Bangladeshis residing in rural areas often practice their faith at home and make special trips during community holidays like Ramadan and Durga Puja. In cities such as Detroit and New York, Bangladeshi Muslims attend religious activities at mosques in their own ethnic enclaves. Bangladeshi Americans have taken on leadership roles at major Hindu temples in the U.S.
M. Zahid Hasan – scientist and professor of quantum physics at Princeton University- known for seminal discoveries in quantum physics.[43] Fellow of American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[44]
^Moharnrnad-Arif, Aminah (2002). Salaam America: South Asian Muslims in New York. Translated by Patey, Sarah. Anthem Press. p. 33. ISBN1-84331-009-0.
^Moharnrnad-Arif, Aminah (2002). Salaam America: South Asian Muslims in New York. Translated by Patey, Sarah. Anthem Press. p. 34. ISBN1-84331-009-0.
^Moharnrnad-Arif, Aminah (2002). Salaam America: South Asian Muslims in New York. Translated by Patey, Sarah. Anthem Press. p. 35. ISBN1-84331-009-0.
^ ab"Asian American Federation NY"(PDF). www.aafny.org. Asian American Federation. Archived(PDF) from the original on October 25, 2014. Retrieved September 26, 2014.
^Clunn, Nick. "Officials certify election of Akhtaruzzaman to Paterson's 2nd Ward"Archived March 21, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, The Record, November 27, 2012. Accessed February 18, 2015. "Election officials Tuesday certified Mohammed Akhtaruzzaman as the winner of a special City Council race, settling a prolonged political contest that ended with his reclaiming the seat he lost in a court challenge.... It was unclear when Akhtaruzzaman would take office as the representative for the 2nd Ward and reclaim his mantle as the first Bangladeshi-American elected to municipal office in North Jersey."
^Budiman, Abby (April 29, 2021). "Bangladeshis in the U.S. Fact Sheet". Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends Project. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
^Jessica S. Barnes; Claudette E. Bennett (February 2002). "The Asian Population: 2000"(PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. U.S. Department of Commerce. Archived(PDF) from the original on November 16, 2020. Retrieved September 30, 2009.
^NW, 1615 L. St; Suite 800Washington; Inquiries, DC 20036USA202-419-4300 | Main202-857-8562 | Fax202-419-4372 | Media. "Educational attainment of Bangladeshi population in the U.S., 2015". Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends Project. Retrieved August 23, 2023.((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
Bald, Vivak. Bengali Harlem and the Lost Histories of South Asian America (Harvard University Press, 2013).
Baluja, Kagri Glagstad. Gender Roles at Home and Abroad: The Adaptation of Bangladeshi Immigrants (LFB Scholarly Publications, 2003).
Harris, Michael S. "Bangladeshis," in American Immigrant Cultures: Builders of a Nation, edited by David Levinson and Melvin Ember. (Macmillan Reference, 1997).
Jones, J. Sydney. "Bangladeshi Americans." in Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America, edited by Thomas Riggs, (3rd ed., vol. 1, Gale, 2014), pp. 221–235. online
