https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Punjabi_AmericansPunjabi Americans - Revision history2026-08-19T21:32:44ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Punjabi_Americans&diff=308650&oldid=prev183.82.26.240 at 13:07, 12 April 20222022-04-12T13:07:35Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{short description|Americans of Punjabi birth or descent}}<br />
{{Infobox ethnic group<br />
| group = Punjabi American<br />
| image = <br />
| population = 310,650<ref>[http://www2.census.gov/library/data/tables/2008/demo/language-use/2009-2013-acs-lang-tables-nation.xls US Census Bureau ''American Community Survey (2009-2013)'' See Row #62]</ref><br />
| popplace = [[Philadelphia]], [[Sacramento]], [[New York City]], [[Metro Detroit]], [[Atlanta]], [[Raleigh-Durham]], [[Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area|Baltimore-Washington]], [[Boston]], [[Chicago]], [[Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex|Dallas–Fort Worth]], [[Houston]], [[Los Angeles]], [[New Jersey]], [[San Francisco Bay Area]], [[Seattle]]<br />
| langs = [[American English|English]], [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] and [[Punjabi dialects|its dialects]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/indian-immigrants-united-states-1/#10|title=Indian Immigrants in the United States|work=migrationpolicy.org|date=9 June 2010}}</ref> [[Urdu]], [[Hindi]] <br />
<!--Do not add in languages unless they have their own category on the census--><br />
| rels = [[Sikhism]], [[Punjabi Hindus|Hinduism]], [[Punjabi Muslims|Islam]], [[Punjabi Christians|Christianity]], [[Irreligion|Unaffiliated]]<br />
| related = [[Indian Americans]], [[Pakistani Americans]], [[Punjabi Mexican Americans]]<br />
}}<br />
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[[File:Panjabi USC2000 PHS.svg|thumb|Punjabis in the US by State]]<br />
[[File:SinghYubaCity.jpg|thumb|A Punjabi-Mexican American couple, Valentina Alarez and Rullia Singh, posing for their wedding photo in 1917.]]<br />
'''Punjabi Americans''', are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in the [[Punjab]], a region in northern [[South Asia]] in [[India]] and [[Pakistan]]. There are over 300,000 Punjabi Americans, many of whom were [[Sikh]]s who first settled in [[California]]'s [[Central Valley (California)|Central Valley]] to do agricultural work.<br />
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{{Punjabis}}<br />
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==Sikhs==<br />
Sikhs have been a part of the American populace for more than 130 years. At the turn of the 19th century, the state of Punjab of [[British India]] was hit hard by British practices of [[mercantilism]]. Many Sikhs emigrated to the United States and began arriving to work on farms in California. They traveled via [[Hong Kong]] to [[Angel Island, California]], the western counterpart to [[Ellis Island]] in [[New York (state)|New York]].<ref>[http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/h_es/h_es_korit_histical.htm#Pioneers The Pioneers, America, "A historical perspective of Americans of Asian Indian origin 1790-1997"] 31 October 2006</ref><br />
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"Some Sikhs worked in lumber mills of [[Oregon]] or in railroad construction and for some Sikhs, it was on a railway line, which allowed other Sikhs who were working as migrant laborers to come into the town on festival days".<br />
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Due to discrimination from [[Anglo-America|Anglo Americans]] many early Punjabi immigrants in California married [[Mexican Americans]], forming a sizable [[Punjabi Mexican American]] community. Punjabi farmers were also able to circumvent [[California Alien Land Law of 1913|laws prohibiting their ownership of property]] by operating through American bankers.<ref>Bhatia, Sunil. ''American karma: race, culture, and identity in the Indian diaspora''. p. 84 (2007) {{ISBN|0-8147-9959-0}}.</ref><br />
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==Role in America==<br />
Most Sikhs started life in America as farm labourers, with many eventually becoming landowners and successful farmers. In 1956, [[Dalip Singh Saund]] became the first Asian American to be elected to the [[United States House of Representatives]]. At present Amarjit Singh Buttar is perhaps the only turbaned Sikh who holds elected public office. He was elected in December 2001 to the [[Vernon, Connecticut]] Board of Education for a four-year term. He has also been recently selected as the chairman of the board. [[Bobby Jindal]], the governor of [[Louisiana]] is also of Punjabi descent, as well as [[Nikki Haley]], the former [[United States Ambassador to the United Nations]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nikki-haley-confirmed-as-new-us-envoy-to-the-united-nations/2017/01/24/004a5260-e274-11e6-a453-19ec4b3d09ba_story.html | title=Nikki Haley confirmed as new U.S. envoy to the United Nations | work=The Washington Post | access-date=2017-01-25}}</ref> and the 116th governor of South Carolina.<ref name=IHT_Nossiter_20071022>{{cite news|access-date=2008-10-14|author=Nossiter, Adam |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/10/22/america/22louisiana.php|title=In a Southern U.S. state, immigrants' son takes over |work=[[International Herald Tribune]]|date=October 22, 2007}}</ref> <br />
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Many Punjabi Americans have become successful in technology-related fields. [[Vinod Dham]] helped to develop the [[Pentium]] processor while [[Vinod Khosla]] and [[Sabeer Bhatia]] co-founded [[Sun Microsystems]] and [[Hotmail]] respectively.<ref>{{cite news|last=Shankar|first=Ravi|title=Capitol cats|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/110353/Simply%20Punjabi/capitol-cats.html|access-date=30 March 2011|newspaper=India Today|date=26 August 2010}}</ref> [[Aneesh Chopra]] served as the first Chief Technology Officer of the United States (CTO), appointed by President Barack Obama.<br />
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== Notable Punjabi Americans ==<br />
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=== Activists ===<br />
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* [[Kala Bagai]], immigration activist<br />
* [[Bhagat Singh Thind]], soldier and spiritualist. Fought for [[United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind|Indian-American citizenship rights]] in the US<br />
* [[Sakharam Ganesh Pandit]], lawyer and civil rights activist. Lawyer of Bhagat Singh Thind in [[United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind]]<br />
* [[Khizr and Ghazala Khan]], parents of US Army captain Humuyun Khan and anti-[[Islamophobia in the United States|Islamophobia]] activists<br />
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=== Military ===<br />
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* [[Humayun Khan (soldier)|Humayun Khan]], [[United States Army|US Army]] officer who was killed in the [[Iraq War]]<br />
* [[Uday Singh Taunque|Uday Singh]], soldier of Indian descent who died in Operation Iraqi Freedom<br />
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=== Musicians ===<br />
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* [[Heems]], rap artist and former member of alternative hip-hop group Das Racist<br />
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=== Politics ===<br />
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* [[Bobby Jindal]], governor of Louisiana<br />
* [[Nikki Haley]], governor of South Carolina and former United States Ambassador to the United Nations<br />
* [[Kash Gill|Kashmir "Kash" Gill]], former mayor of Yuba City, California<br />
* [[Ravinder Bhalla|Ravinder "Ravi" Bhalla]], mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey and first turban-wearing Sikh mayor of a U.S. city<br />
* [[Dalip Singh Saund]], first Asian American and first member of a non-Abrahamic faith elected to the House of Representatives<br />
* [[Ro Khanna]], U.S. Representative for California's 17th District<br />
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== See Also ==<br />
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* [[List of Indian Americans]]<br />
* [[List of Pakistani Americans]]<br />
* [[List of Sikh Americans]]<br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
{{notelist}}<br />
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{{Demographics of the United States}}<br />
{{Punjabi diaspora}}<br />
{{Pakistani diaspora}}<br />
{{NRI-PIO}}<br />
{{Asian Americans}}<br />
<br />
[[Category: Indian diaspora in the United States]]<br />
[[Category: Pakistani diaspora in the United States]]<br />
[[Category: Punjabi American| ]]<br />
[[Category: Asian-American society]]<br />
[[Category: Pakistani American]]</div>183.82.26.240