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| Notables (U.S.): Shirley Chisholm · Walter Spence · Kojo Nnamdi |
| Total population |
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| 214,529 people [1] |
| Regions with significant populations |
| New York · New Jersey · Maryland · Florida · California · Texas · Pennsylvania |
| Languages |
| Religion |
Guyanese Americans are citizens and residents of the United States who can trace their ancestry back to the South American and Caribbean nation of Guyana, or a Guyanese who emigrated to the United States but has American citizenship.
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After the independence of Guyana from Great Britain, in 1966, Guyanese immigration to the United States increased dramatically. Political and economic uncertainty, and the internal strife two years earlier prompted many Guyanese who could make the move to seek opportunities abroad.
Many of the first Guyanese emigrants to the United States were of African descent. They were women who were recruited as domestic workers or nursing assistants. Prior to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 Guyanese of Asian descent faced immigration restrictions because of US Immigration policy that was more pro-European. However, many Guyanese who had studied in the US in the mid 20th century or earlier stayed on the US; some, like Cheddi Jagan returned to Guyana. Shirley Chisholm's father represents one of the earliest of Guyanese immigrants to the US during the 20th century; emigration from Guyana at that time was mostly to Caribbean or Commonwealth countries.
Since the 1960s, the majority of Guyanese immigrants to the U.S. have been women. In 1980, the U.S. Census Bureau registered a total of 48,608 people of Guyanese descent living in the United States, which exceeded half women, as these were already 26,046 people. In 1990, approximately 81,665 people Guyanese were already living in this country.[2]
[3] The United States has the highest number of Guyanese people outside of Guyana. As of 1990, 80 percent of Guyanese Americans lived in the Northeast. A large concentration of them can be found in the neighborhoods of Richmond Hill, New York,[2] Irvington, New Jersey, Orange, New Jersey, East Orange, New Jersey, Flatbush, Brooklyn, East Flatbush, Brooklyn, Rockland County, New York. There are also important Guyanese communities in Miami, Florida.[2] The Guyanese American students vary their English accent, depending on whether they are at home or at school. In schools, Guyanese students learn to speak English with an American accent. At home, however, tend to speak with an accent of Guyana. Some Indo - Guyanese Americans, in addition to speaking English, also speak Hindi. The Hindus have religious ceremonies at their houses monthly and they attend a temple. The Indo-Guyanese who are Christian attend a local church but there are a lot more Hindus than Christians. They have various centers for Bahjans. They worships Sathya and Sai Baba in a group prayer ceremony with songs.[3]
The Guyanese have formed their own businesses in the United States, many of which are shops, restaurants of traditional food of Guyana, grocery stores and jewelry stores. There are also some shops of clothing belonging to Guyanese and trinidarios that sell clothing Indian (due to the many Guyanese of Indian origin). In addition to these stores also had some video playback stores specializing in Indian films with English subtitles for those who do not understand Hindi. The Indo - Guyanese Americans try to keep alive their Hindu culture and contact with Guyana and India. Hence, they watch movies, listen to music and read books of Guyana and India. In addition, people of Indian - Guyanese descent that do not speak Hindi, try to learn it. [3]
Guyanese have organized most of the U.S. Caribbean organizations. There are many nurses from Guyana and police associations. although this group does not has managed to have a collective impact on U.S. national policy, they do have organized, however, through their churches with other ethnic groups to promote knowledge and struggles against the problems in their neighborhoods. Have also entered local politics.[2]
Some of the associations are the indo - Caribbean American Cultural and Arts Association, The Indo-Caribbean Federation of North America, and the Association of Guyanese-Americans. A major part of the shows the various Indo-Guyanese Associations put together his the songs and dances.The Indo-Guyanese organizations teach the youth about their cultural origins and let them show it off on stage by performing dances, songs, and plays. The development of the cultural groups in the area had made a necessity for announcements of community news.[3]
Americans Guyana has close ties with Guyana and help them financially to this country. There is a large ongoing academic exchanges between Guyana and the United States as academic conferences.[2] The Journal of the Caribbean is a Caribbean newspaper important to inform the Indo-Guyanese and other Caribbean groups of their achievements and inform them about the events in Guyana. This newspaper is published weekly and distributed throughout North America. The publications of these papers are written in English. However, there are also publications in other languages. Newspapers offer services to help people. In the newspaper there is tax air tickets and visa forms, applications and service support for the elderly, advertisements for charities for children in Guyana and India.[3]
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