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The Chaldean Americans: Changing Conceptions of Ethnic Identity

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The Chaldean Americans: Changing Conceptions of Ethnic Identity DOCUMENT RESUME ED 223 740 UD 022 551 , AUTHOR Sengstock, Mary C. TITLE The Chaldean Americans: Changing Conceptions of Ethnic Identity. First Edition. INSTITUTION Center for Migration Studies, Inc., Staten Island, N.Y. REPORT NO ISBN-0-913256-43-9 PUB DATE 82 NOTE // 184p.; Some research supported by_a Faculty , Grant-In-Aid from Wayne State University. Not available in paper copy due to institution's 'restrictions. AVAILABLE FROM Center for Migration Studies, Inc., 209Flagg Place, . Staten Island, NY 10304 ($9.95)., ,PUB TYPE llooks (010) EDRS PRI'CE MF01 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS. _DESCRIPTORS(' *Acculturation; *Adjustment (to Environment); Catholics; Church Role; *Cultural Influences; Ethnic Groups;'*Ethnicity; Family Striicture; Group Unity; *Immigrants; Nationalism; Political Influences; , Public Policy; Religious Cultural Groups; Small Businesses; Social Structure; *Socioeconomic Influences s IDENTIFIERS *Chaldean Americans; Iraqis ABSTRACT Chaldean Americans in\ Detroit, Michigan, a growing community of Roman Catholic immigrants from Iraq, are thefocus of this study. A description is given of theDetroit Chaldean community centers around three key institutions, namelythe church, the family, and the ethnic occupation or communityeconomic-enterprise, and of how these institutions have beenaffected by the migration experience and by contact with the new culture. An analysis ofthe social setting of migration-examines religious and economicdeterminants of migration to America, migration effects on the_Detroitcommunity, and Chaldeane relationships with other socialgroeps in Detroit. An exploration of Chaldeans' adaptation to their new settingconsiders' assimilation and acculturation pr cesses, changes insocial structure and values, creation of a balance etween old country patterns and new practices, and the developmentof an ethnic identity and a sense of nationalism. Ethnic donflicts an 'accommodation processesthat arise from efforts to achieve the b lance between oldand new are explored, and it is suggested that family andfriendship ties will offset the divisive effects ofconflict and American liberalism and' kee0 the-Chaldean community from disintegrating.Finally, an exploration Of\the future direction of American ethnicitypoints to the need for unity in a culturally diversesociety. (Author/MJL) *********************************************************************** * * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * from the original document. * *********************************************************************** "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS 4,1,1-11 4 el likb MATERIAL IN MICROFICHE ONLY c.V/ HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TU / al,c6 LypoF. owr .S %.4.11 4 tS' <- 14 UAW li1;v1. Ldwi I vkiyb TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." / WA" Ur p&i%gajrjl otu 4gy4.0g: L.f tlI Vs / (1 ie 4:.-41 ow / iftr...dij ;jab -tiT 4011 1/4, )41 4sy4e.)1 40.1 tremh Otiv II 4.b.044% vAlas tat y;AA disb 4 tai...b-yh., Y 401 iy JD.g kola 4..! ay g vijcij aAj cielT jr U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 411?ris? NA IONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION ED ATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization 4.4n04:1 originating it. CI Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality n.af. ve6.1teto :Zees Points of view or opinions stated in this docu- ..ti%ers e? int ment do not necessenly represent official NIE . position or policy 4,LituvaVdiveZa 71.23 43.47? ap I. 6512 "suA 0 U.: Lilacsz..113a646. 1.441 7.21-4:0 1.11S.-10)3 : ? file) SID A 2LQL bus.* 0 5 1.1.7.6./L 40".. I.L.ZisO !447t;e CHALDEAN AMERICANS Changing Conceptions of Ethnic Identity by Mary C. Sengstock 1982 CENTER FOR MIGRATION STUDIES NEW YORK 3 CHALDEAN-AMERICANS Changing Conceptions of Ethnic Identity by Mary C. Sengstock Wayne State University First Edition ,Copyright ° 1982 The Center for Migration Studies of New York, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may bereproduced without written permission from the publisher. CENTER FOR MIGRATION STUDIES 209 Flagg Place Staten Isjanci, New York 10304 Library of,congress Cataloging in Publication Data Sengstock, Mary C. Chaldean Americans. Bibliography Inludes index. 1. Chaldean Catholics . Michigan DetroitRegionr=Ethnic Identity. 2. Detroit Region (Mich.)Social conditions. 3.Detioit Region (Mich.) Social life and customs. I. TitIe. F574.D49C367 1982 305.6'215'07743492-9592 ISBN 0-913256-42-0 (cloth) ISBN 0-913256-43-9 (paper) Library of Congress No. 8049268 4 This book is gratefully dedicated to the two men. who helped make it possible In Memory of Thomas Hakim BornApril 22, 1884 in Telkaif,. Iraq DiedNovember 25, 1972 in Birmingham, Michigan A merchant in Telkaif, Lebanon, and Mexico, Mr. Hakim immigrated to the United States in 1923. Following a midnight boat ride across the Rio Grande, he came to Detroit and established himself as a wealthy grocer and businessman. For many years hewas a Baba (father of manyan esteemed leader) in Detroit's Chaldezn community. He sacrificed many hours and much energy to provide me with information on Chaldean history and community life. His deep love and appreciation of his people and their cul ture were the foundation stone of his life. In a real sense,,e_ii: his tory is also his own. In Memory of Frank S. Sengstock BornNovember 24, 1933 in Detroit DiedDecember 28, 1975 in Detroit LaWyer, teacher, counsellor, husband and friend, he was a legal scholar with knowledge and interests which ranged far beyond the narrow confines of the law. He followed my Chaldean research from its inception in 1962. His understanding and insights helped, me to formulate many of the ideas included here. His advice and stringent criticism led me to revise and reformulate them. And his insistent urging encouraged me to organize the materials and put them into manuscript form. His keen mind andgentle ways are deeply missed. Preface THE study. of ethnic diversity hai been a major challenge to the professional dispassion and integritAmerican social science for the last decade and a half. A large proportion of the social science community has personal:and ideological reasons for not wanting to take the persistence of ethnicity seriously. Rootless as a matter of principle and uniVersalists as a matter of conviction, they cannot help being a bit revulsed by the persistence of such primordial social components as nationality and neighborhood. The pertinent question which must be asked of these scholars is whether they have been able to overcome such predispositions to examine objectively the actual functioning of ethnic diversity in American Re. While there has been an enormous monographic literature concerned with.the persistence of ethnic diversity during the past fifteen years, it must be confessed that the social science "establishment" has flunked the test to its scholarly integrity; journals tend to publish articles which "reftite" the persistence of ethnicity and /not those which provide evidence that ethnicity still has an effectlin American social structure. Books which attack the71egitimacy"-6F ethnicity are reviewed and those Which report on empirical ethnic research are not. 'The principal prophets of ethnicity have been Orlando Patterson who refers to research on ethniCity as chauvinism and Stephen Steinberg who dismisses ethnicity as a "myth", the former innocent of empirical eyidence (which he haughtily dismisses) and the lat\ter using evidence in a narrav and rigid way that excludes broader interpretations. Neither Patterson nor Steinberg pay any attention to the literature on specific 'groups such as the Chaldeans. It is as though such communities were beneath their notice and the careful documentation of how such communities maintain their identity irrelevant to understanding the complex mosaic of American life. Ideology has never cared much for facts. Nevertheless studies such as the present one are important for those of us who try to understand American life the way it is instead of the way it viii CHALDEAN AMERICANS should bewhich, one would have thought, is the function of empirical research. The neo-assimilationism of Steinberg and Patterson would see little poinLin the efforts of a small community like the Assyrians of Detroit to maintain their ethnic identity. Would not they be much better off if they forgot their Chaldean heritagewhatever that may be (and who are the King's Men anyway?) and settle down to being good Americans just like everyone else? Such a position may seem eminently reasonable from the ivory tower of a university campus, but it makes no sense atall to the members of the Chaldean community who areunaccountably to the neo-assimilation- ists proud of who and what they are and most reluctant to trade intheir heritage for radio standard English and all that that implies. The pertinent question then for serious scholarship is how the various groups within the society manage to maintain theiridentity, sometimes against what appear to be overwhelming odds, and still becomeeconoiiii- call y and socially successful. Small groups like the Chaldeans are inter- esting, not only in themselves (and the reader of this book will certainly find them fascinating) but also and especially because they are excellent laboratories for studying up close mechanisms of identity formation and preservation which seem to operate among larger groups too. Much more research will be needed to say for sure but I will be very much surprised, if the dynamics working in the Chaldean microcosm are not very similar to thcise to be discovered in large groups.Surely there are s triking pa r a I lets- tiel-ween the-Chaldeans---and-what-we_ know_of Grk.e e Romanian, Maronite, and Jewish identity preservation in America. Particularly important, it seerif§, is-the role of the religious institution as a focus and a symbol of ethnicidentification. One would miss the point if one said that the church is "used" to.preserveethnicity. Rather, religious and ethnic identification are so inextricably related that neither the church leadership nor the membership see any conflict between religion.and ethnicity.
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