Ethnic Groups In Houston

Houston is a diverse and international city, in part because of its many academic institutions and strong biomedical, energy, manufacturing and aerospace industries. According to the U.S. Census 2000, the racial makeup of the city was 49.3% White (including Hispanic or Latino), 25.3% Black or African American, 0.4% Native American, 5.3% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 16.5% from other races, and 3.2% from two or more races. 37% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.

By 2010 Houston had significant numbers of Hispanic and Latino Americans, African Americans, Chinese Americans, and Indian Americans, as well as the second-largest Vietnamese-American population of any U.S. city. The city of Houston became a "majority-minority" city (one where the non-Hispanic White population is smaller than the other minority groups combined) in the 1990s, and by 2000 the total Greater Houston area also became a majority-minority. John B. Strait and Gang Gong, authors of the journal article "Ethnic Diversity in Houston, Texas: The Evolution of Residential Segregation in the Bayou City, 1990–2000", wrote that in the 1990s, the minority groups of Houston became more integrated with one another but more segregated from whites. Hispanics integrated with other groups more because the overall number of Hispanics in Greater Houston increased. Many Asians moved into neighborhoods with other Asians, and blacks and Hispanics moved into neighborhoods which Whites were leaving.

Hispanics and Latinos

The Hispanic population in Houston is increasing as more immigrants from Latin American countries come to work in the area. As of 2006 the city has the third-largest Hispanic population in the United States. As of the same year Karl Eschbach, a University of Texas Medical Branch demographer, said that the number of illegal immigrants in the Houston area was estimated at 400,000, with over 70% being of Mexican descent. This influx of immigrants is partially responsible for Houston having a population younger than the national average.

As of 2011, the city is 44% Hispanic. As of 2011, of the city's U.S. citizens that are Hispanic, half are at voting age or older. Many Hispanics in Houston are not U.S. citizens, especially those living in Gulfton and Spring Branch. As a result, Hispanics have proportionally less representation in the municipal government than other ethnic groups. As of April 2011 two of the Houston City Council members are Hispanic, making up 18% of the council.

As of 2010, Strait and Gong, authors of "Ethnic Diversity in Houston, Texas: The Evolution of Residential Segregation in the Bayou City, 1990–2000," stated that Hispanics and Latinos had "intermediate levels of segregation" from non-Hispanic whites.

In the early 1980s, there were 300,000 native Hispanics, and an estimated 80,000 illegal immigrants from Mexico in Houston.Rodriguez, Nestor, "Undocumented Central Americans in Houston: Diverse Populations," p. 4.

In 1985, Harris County had about 500,000 Hispanics. Eschbach said that, historically, Hispanics resided in specific neighborhoods of Houston, such as Denver Harbor, the Houston Heights, Magnolia Park, and the Northside. Between 1985 and 2005, the county's Hispanic population tripled, with Hispanics making up about 40% of the county's residents. In most communities inside and outside Beltway 8, Hispanics became the predominant ethnic group. Some communities in Greater Houston which do not have Hispanics as the predominant ethnic group include expensive, predominantly non-Hispanic white communities such as Memorial, Uptown, and West University Place; and historically African-American neighborhoods located south and northeast of Downtown Houston. Eschbach said, "But even these core black and white neighborhoods are experiencing Hispanic inroads. Today, Hispanics live everywhere."Rodriguez, Lori.
Targeting Spanish-speaking riders, Taxis Fiesta's business blossoms as Hispanic communities spread across the city / Latino growth drives cab boom
" ''Houston Chronicle,'' November 28, 2005. B1 MetFront. Retrieved on December 31, 2011. Quote: "Since 1985, said Eschbach, the Hispanic population has tripled, and now two of every five Harris County residents are Hispanic. Hispanics are becoming the dominant population group in most areas out to and past Beltway 8. The exceptions are the historically black neighborhoods northeast and south of downtown and high-dollar white communities from West University Place through Uptown and Memorial."

Asians

Houston also has large populations of immigrants from Asia. In addition, the city has the largest Vietnamese American population in Texas and third-largest in the United States as of 2004.

According to a 2002 survey of 500 Asian Americans in Harris County overseen by Stephen Klineberg, a professor at Rice University, Asian immigrants have substantially lower household income than Anglo residents and other immigrant groups, while they have higher levels of education. Indicating the community suffers from severe underemployment.Snyder, Mike.
Survey provides insight into Chinese community
" ''Houston Chronicle''. October 2, 2002. Retrieved on April 22, 2013.

Non-Hispanic Blacks

African Americans

Historically Houston had a significant African-American population,Treviño, Robert R. '' The Church in the Barrio: Mexican American Ethno-Catholicism in Houston''. UNC Press Books, February 27, 2006
29
Retrieved from Google Books on November 22, 2011. , . as this area of the state developed cotton plantation agriculture that was dependent on enslaved laborers. Thousands of enslaved African-Americans lived near the city before the Civil War. Many of them worked on sugar and cotton plantations. Slaves held in the city primarily worked in domestic household and artisan jobs. In 1860 forty-nine percent of the city's population was made up of enslaved people of color. In 1860 nearby Fort Bend County had a population with twice as many black slaves as white residents; it was one of six majority-black counties statewide.

From the 1870s to the 1890s, black people made up almost 40% of Houston's population. Before being effectively disfranchised by the state legislature imposing payment of a poll tax in 1902, they were politically active and strongly supported Republican Party candidates. After disfranchisement, the state legislature established legal segregation and Jim Crow. Between 1910 and 1970, the black population of Houston ranged from 21% to 32.7%. They were virtually without political representation until after 1965 and passage of the federal Voting Rights Act, which enforced their constitutional rights of suffrage. Many blacks left Houston for the West Coast during and after World War II in the Great Migration, as jobs increased rapidly in the defense industry on that coast and social conditions were better.

In 1970, 90% of the black people in Houston lived in predominantly African-American neighborhoods, reflecting decades of legal, residential segregation. By 1980 there was some increase in diversity in the city, and 82% of blacks lived in majority-black areas.Finkel, Adam N. ''Worst Things First?: The Debate Over Risk-Based National Environmental Priorities''. Resources for the Future, 1995
249
Retrieved from Google Books on October 6, 2011. , Since the late 20th century, with changes in social conditions and the burgeoning Houston economy, there has been an increasing New Great Migration of blacks to the South. Many are college educated and have moved to Houston for its lower cost of living and job opportunities compared to some northern and western cities. Many of the new professional migrants settle directly in the suburbs, which offer more housing than the city; among them are upper class, majority-black neighborhoods.
Black Enterprise has referred to Houston as the next black mecca. Houston is ranked among the best U.S. metros for Black professionals.
In 2010 Strait and Gong stated that of all ethnic groups in Houston, African Americans were the most segregated from non-Hispanic whites.

African immigrants

A significant number of African immigrants have made the Houston area home.Corey, Charles W.
Houston Looking to Expand a "Natural" Relationship with Africa
" ''U.S. State Department''. November 21, 2003. Retrieved on December 11, 2009. As of 2003 Houston does not have as many African immigrants as Hispanic and Asian immigrants. The African immigrants in Houston have higher education levels than other immigrant groups and US-born whites. According to Stephen Klineberg, a sociology professor at Rice University, as of 2003, almost 35% of African immigrants have university degrees, and 28% of African immigrants have postgraduate degrees. In the Houston area, 28% of US-born Whites have university degrees, and 16% have postgraduate degrees.Romero, Simon. "Energy of Africa Draws the Eyes of Houston," ''The New York Times'', September 23, 2003
1
Retrieved on October 24, 2011. In 2012, the total trade between Houston and Africa was $19.7 billion. Houston is Africa's largest U.S. trade partner. In 2016 the city had about 60,000 people of recent African immigrant origin.

In 2019 Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde GebreMariam stated that the presence of African immigrants in United States is one reason related to the airline's decision to establish the Bush Intercontinental Airport-Lome Airport route.

Nigerians

Charles W. Corey of the U.S. Department of State said that it has been estimated that Greater Houston has the largest Nigerian expatriate population in the United States.
As of 2018 about 150,000 Nigerian Americans are in the Houston area. The 2017 American Community survey estimated that 65,000 Nigerian Americans live in Texas, the vast majority of which reside in Houston. As of 2003 Houston had 23,000 Nigerian Americans. Many Nigerian Americans choose Houston over other American destinations due to its warmer climate and the ease of establishing businesses. Nigerians in Houston are highly educated and often have postgraduate degrees. Nigerians in the Houston area opened Nigerian groceries, restaurants, and churches.

Until Continental Airlines began nonstop flights to Lagos from George Bush Intercontinental Airport in November 2011, many Nigerians had to fly through Europe to travel between Texas and Nigeria. Jenalia Moreno of the ''Houston Chronicle'' said that the Nigerian community and the energy companies in Houston have worked for a long time to get a flight to Nigeria from this city.Moreno, Jenalia.
Houston gets first scheduled nonstop flight to Africa
(). ''Houston Chronicle'', November 15, 2011. Retrieved on November 17, 2011. In 2016 United Airlines, which had merged with Continental, canceled the Lagos route, citing a decline in the energy industry and inability to get currency out of Nigeria.

In 2020 '' No Passport Required'' featured Nigerian restaurants in Houston. According to the Migration Policy Institute, 2018 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau state that 40,000 Houston residents are of recent Nigerian origins.

Until 2006 there was a video rental shop catering to the West African community. Houston has TV services catering to area West Africans, including AfrocentrikTV, Afrovibes Entertainment, and Millenium Broadcasting Corporation.

Ethiopians

Mesfin Genanaw, a Houston Community College teacher who was one of the individuals who assisted with the building of the area Ethiopian Orthodox church, stated in a 2003 ''Houston Chronicle'' article that there are an estimated 5,000 Ethiopians in Greater Houston.Vara, Richard.
Ethiopian believers find strength in Orthodox church
" ''Houston Chronicle''. February 15, 2003. Retrieved on May 5, 2014. In 2020 Dai Huynh wrote in ''Buzz Magazines'' that the number of ethnic Ethiopians in the Houston area goes "from 3,000 to 10,000 depending on whom you ask". - In ''West University Buzz'' (January 2021) it is on page 32.

One Ethiopian Orthodox church in Houston is the Debre Selam Medhanealem Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church ( am, ደብረ ሰላም መድኃኔዓለም የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን ''Debre Selam MedhaneAlem YeItyopphya Ortodoks Tewahedo Bete Kristiyan''; the name approximately means "Sanctuary of Peace and the Savior"). Prior to the construction of the church, those of the Ethiopian Orthodox faith worshiped at Coptic Orthodox churches. Genanaw, stated that in 1992 20 Ethiopian women who were attending a Coptic church planned the establishment of an Ethiopian church. In 1993 the group purchased a site and a tent, and conducted church services in a tent. After fundraisers were held, in 1995 construction of the permanent church started, and the church later obtained an additional of land.

In 2020 Huynh wrote "the Ethiopian restaurant scene is vibrant" with several restaurants in the Gulfton area.

Other African immigrants/expatriates

the number of Equatorial Guinean citizens in the Houston area under 100, was the largest Equatorial Guinean population in the United States. The Consulate-General of Equatorial Guinea in Houston is located in Houston.

St. Nicholas Catholic Church in East Downtown (historically the Third Ward) has African immigrants in its congregation. By 2012 the church held Swahili masses due to it gaining African immigrant parishioners. In particular it has a group of Cameroonians in the congregation served by the Assumption Cameroonian Catholic Community, so it has services each month tailored to that group.

Non-Hispanic Whites

White Americans of northern and western European origin, particularly those of German and British origins, founded the City of Houston. Historically in the mid-nineteenth century, Southern Anglo settlers primarily from the Southeastern United States crossed the Mississippi River, migrating to Texas.Higham, Nicholas J., and Martin J. Ryan. ''The Anglo-Saxon World''. Yale University Press, 2013. Roberto R. Treviño, author of '' The Church in the Barrio: Mexican American Ethno-Catholicism in Houston,'' said that German Americans "historically played a central role in Houston, far outnumbering other whites such as the British, Irish, Canadians, French, Czechs, Poles, and Scandinavian groups who historically have comprised a smaller part of the city's ethnic mosaic."

In 1910, prior to new waves of immigration from eastern and southern Europe, descendants of ethnic Whites who had founded Houston numerically outnumbered other ethnic groups who had later settled in Houston. After European immigrants and their descendants assimilated into United States culture, they tended to develop with the city of Houston. Demographics at mid-century reflected a white majority, with Latino (mostly Mexican-American) and African-American minorities. The state legislature had disfranchised most blacks at the turn of the century and in practice, erected barriers to Latino voting as well.

After the Civil Rights Movement gained some successes, such as congressional passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 to enforce minority constitutional rights, in the 1970s, white flight occurred in Houston as wealthier people moved to newer housing in suburbs, also choosing to avoid economic and racial integration of public schools in the city. The city government used annexation as a strategy to mitigate White flight by annexing areas where White Americans moved. Between the 1970-1971 and the 1971-1972 school years, enrollment at the Houston Independent School District decreased by 16,000. They were overwhelmingly ethnic Whites; 700 African-American students left the system.White flight accompanies integration
" ''Associated Press'' at '' The Telegraph-Herald''. January 17, 1972. 6 Retrieved from Google Books (6 of 38) on October 3, 2011.

As the suburbs developed and Texas enjoyed the 1970s oil boom, many Anglo Whites settled directly in established suburbs, and they lacked any ties to inner city Houston. In 2004 about 33% of Anglo white people residing in Harris County originated from the Houston area, either by birth or from growing up there as children.

Demographers Max Beauregard and Karl Eschbach, both of University of Houston Center for Public Policy, concluded from their analysis of the 2000 U.S. Census that white flight from the city continued to occur in the 1990s. In the decade prior to the 2000 U.S. Census, White residents left communities within Houston such as Alief, Aldine, Fondren Southwest, Gulfton, and Sharpstown. Other communities in Houston that lost large numbers of Whites by the 2000 census include Inwood Forest, Northline, Northside, and Spring Branch. Communities in other parts of Greater Houston that lost large numbers of Whites include Channelview, Cloverleaf, Galena Park, and Pasadena.

Lori Rodriguez said, regarding the movement of white people in Greater Houston leading up to the year 2000, "Picture a stone dropped on the urban core and ripples of people spreading from within the Loop to the second-ring suburbs between the Loop and Beltway 8; and then beyond, to the outer-ring settlements and even unincorporated perimeter; Kingwood, The Woodlands, FM 1960."Rodriguez, Lori.
THE CENSUS / Census study: White flight soars / UH analysis spots segregation trend
" ''Houston Chronicle,''. April 15, 2001 (Sunday). A1. Retrieved on December 30, 2011.

In the period between the 1990 and 2000 censuses, the largest growth of non-Hispanic White Americans within Greater Houston occurred in White-majority communities, such as Clear Lake City, Kingwood, northwest Harris County, the FM 1960 corridor, and The Woodlands.

European residents and immigrants

19th and early 20th centuries

In the late 19th and early 20th century, Houston received numerous immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe, many of whom entered through the Port of Galveston. As did other southern cities, Houston attracted "overflow" European immigrants first destined for industrial cities in the eastern seaboard and the Midwestern United States, which received larger numbers of Eastern Europeans and Southern Europeans in this period. In 1910, Houston had groups of Austro-Hungarians, Greeks, Italians, Russians, and Europeans from other populations. Those groups were smaller than the total of Mexican-Americans in Houston. By 1930, Houston had 8,339 first and-second generation Eastern and Southern European people. This was almost half of the size of Houston's Mexican-American population.

Armenians

there were about 4,000-5,000 ethnic Armenians in the Houston area, according to St. Kevork parish council chairperson Vreij Kolandjian and pontifical visit host committee chairperson David Onanian.Vara, Richard.
Head of Armenian Apostolic Church visiting Houston
" ''Houston Chronicle''. Saturday October 20, 2007. Retrieved on April 27, 2016. Most are descendants of early 20th century immigrants who fled persecution the Ottoman Empire and Turkey. St. Kevork Armenian Church, which was established around 1982, serves as the Armenian Apostolic Church facility in Houston. about 10% of the ethnic Armenians in Houston are active in this church.

Czechs

Czechs, also known as Bohemians arrived in Texas around the mid-1840s. Although they tended to settle more in areas around Austin and the Texas Hill Country of central Texas, a sizeable community exists in Houston. The Czech Center Museum celebrates their achievements and contribution to Texas life and culture. https://www.czechcenter.org/home-1/

Germans

German immigrants arrived in number following the revolutions of 1848 in the German states, like their Bohemian brethren; they tended to oppose slavery and supported the Republican Party through the Reconstruction era. The Second Ward, in the 1800s, had a heavily German American community. Thomas McWhorter, author of "From Das Zweiter to El Segundo, A Brief History of Houston's Second Ward," wrote that "Second Ward became an unofficial hub of German-American culture and social life during the nineteenth century." German settlers also predominated in Spring Branch, a community that later become a part of Houston, in the mid-1800s.

Houston Saengerbund, established in 1883, is a German-American singing group; there were groups like it that proliferated in communities of Germans overseas in the 1800s. It bought the William Hamblen House in 1913. As of 2010 the group still conducts regular meetings. It was the final German American cultural organization to be established in the Second Ward.McWhorter, p. 41. In the late 1800s Volksfest Park hosted the Volkfest festival, a German-American event. Its attendance prompted the Bayou Street Railway Company to, in 1889, add a mule car line to the park.

Greeks

The first recorded ethnic Greeks in Houston, listed in the ''Houston City Directory of 1889-1890,'' were George and Peter Poleminacos. They worked as manual laborers, as they did not speak English. Kalliope Vlahos was the first Greek woman to arrive, in 1903; after her, more women and families with children began settling Houston. Many of the earliest settlers planned to make money in the U.S. and then return to their homelands. Several Greeks became businessowners; historically many Greeks operated cafes and sweets shops in Downtown Houston. The capital start-up costs of such shops were relatively low.

Italians

about 40,000 people in the Houston area were of Italian descent.

Brina D'Amico, a member of the D'Amico restaurateur family, said in 2014 that most Italian-American families in Houston were of Sicilian origins, and their immigrant ancestors had entered in the late 19th and early 20th centuries at the Port of Galveston. In addition to Galveston, many other southern Italians arrived through Indianola, Texas and New Orleans, while several people from northern Italy entered through Ellis Island and traveled from there to Texas. Many ethnic Italians, after arrival, began working in groceries. Prior to 1900 Galveston, then more prominent than Houston, attracted Italian immigrants.

In previous eras there were over twenty ethnic Italian clubs in the Houston area, with several associated with particular religious institutions; immigrants founded several of them, and several were defunct by 2018. Federation of Italian-American Organizations of Greater Houston is a collection of Italian American organizations. In 2018 it hosted five to six of the aforementioned clubs. The Italian Cultural and Community Center (ICCC) is located in the Houston Museum District, and is operated by the federation. The ICCC and federation offices are in the John G. Logue House, which the federation obtained in 1988.

In the "Space Age" era, many members of that ethnic group moved to Glenbrook Valley.Jansen, Steve. "War Zoned." '' Houston Press''. Wednesday June 22, 2011
1
Retrieved on June 25, 2011.

''La Voce'', an ethnic newspaper published by the federation, had a circulation of 3,700 as of 2001.

The ICCC holds the Houston Italian Festival or ''Festa Italiana'' every year. It has music, food, and art programs. The city government provides funding and proceeds help fund the ICCC. The festival started in 1979.

The first volume of ''Houstonians of Italian Descent'', a non-fiction non-academic collection with personal testimonies about ethnic Italian communities as well as information about religious and organizational institutions, was released in 2002. Lena Mandola of the Mandola restaurateur family was the principal driver behind the book. The creators of the book deemed the sales of the first volume to be positive, and the second volume was released in 2004.

Bell Park in the Museum District area formerly had a statue of Christopher Columbus, which the Italian American Organizations of Greater Houston Inc. had commissioned. In 1992 the organization donated the statue to the city government. By 2020 Columbus became a target of criticism, with detractors citing his holding slaves. Area Native Americans expressed their desire that the statue no longer be in place. In a single week in June 2020 there were instances where vandals attacked the statue, with two instances involving red paint placed on the statue and one instance of the removal of one of the statue's hands. On Friday June 19, 2020, the statue was taken out of the park.

By 2021 the muffaletta, an Italian American sandwich, was available in Houston.

Norwegians

In the late 1800s, more Norwegians arrived at the port of Galveston than any other United States port other than Ellis Island in New York City. Many of the Norwegians who were processed through Galveston migrated to join compatriots in farming areas of Minnesota and other areas in the Midwestern United States. Houston and Stavanger, Norway have been sister cities since 1980, furthering this relationship.

Poles

The city has a Polish American church, Our Lady of Czestochowa Roman Catholic Parish in Spring Branch, established in the 1980s. At the time Polish immigrants who resisted Communist rule in that country arrived in Houston. There is a Polish festival, Houston Polish Festival, held twice each year. In 2019 organizer Damian Reichert stated that it was the state's only major Polish festival.

Romanis

Houston has a significant Romani population.

Late 20th century to present

Since the late 20th century, new immigrants have arrived from Norway, Russia, and the Mideast. In addition, there are nationals from the UK and other countries who work here for a period of time. Lasse Sigurd Seim, the consul general of the Norwegian Consulate General, Houston, described the estimated 5,000–6,000 Norwegians in the Houston area around 2008 as the largest concentration of ethnic Norwegians outside of Scandinavia. Jenalia Moreno of the ''Houston Chronicle'' said during that year that the influx of Norwegians into Greater Houston was "relatively new" and related to Norway's also having a major oil industry.Moreno, Jenalia.
"For Norway, Houston is Oslo on the bayou" / Many from Scandinavian nation, which has a major oil industry, are finding opportunities in Texas
" ''Houston Chronicle'', August 17, 2008. Business 1. Retrieved on February 11, 2009.

In a 2004 ''Houston Chronicle'' article, Nikolai V. Sofinskiy, the first consul general of the Consulate-General of Russia in Houston, said that there were around 40,000 Russian speakers in the Houston area.

As of 1983 there were about 10,000 British nationals in Houston.Cook, Allison. "The Grand Tour." '' Texas Monthly''. Emmis Communications, January 1983. Vol. 11, No. 1. ISSN 0148-7736. START: p
98
CITED: p
101
Annette Baird of the ''Houston Chronicle'' said that, as of December 2000, the number of British citizens in Greater Houston was estimated to be over 40,000. Grainne O'Reilly-Askew, the first headmistress of the British School of Houston, said that before the school was established, British companies encountered difficulty in convincing their executives to relocate to Greater Houston, since the area previously did not have a school using the British educational system.Baird, Annette.
British school to expand to accommodate demand

Archive
. ''Houston Chronicle''. Wednesday December 20, 2000. ThisWeek 2. Retrieved on December 9, 2010. John Major, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, attended the school's official opening.

Circa 2013 the Houston area had about 98,300 people of Middle Eastern origins, with a margin of error of more than 27,700. This figure includes people of Arab, Iranian, Israeli, and Turkish origins.

Iranians/Persians

As of 1994, over 50,000 ethnic Iranians live in Houston. As of that year, 12 city blocks along Hillcroft Avenue, from Westheimer Road to a point just south of Westpark, contain a Persian business district including shops and restaurants. Allison Cook of the '' Houston Press'' referred to the area as "Little Persia".Cook, Allison. "Touring Little Persia," '' Houston Press''. September 15, 1994. p
1
Retrieved on May 12, 2014.

As of 1990 most Iranians/Persians in Houston are not religious.Fischer and Abedi, p
269

As of 2000, Iranians were one of the two main Zoroastrian groups in Houston. As of that year the total number of Iranians in Houston of all religions is larger than the total Parsi (generally immigrants from India) population by a 10 to 1 ratio.Rustomji, p
249

Rustomji wrote that as of 2000, because of the historic tensions between the Parsi and Iranian groups, the Iranians in Houston did not become full members of the Zoroastrian Association of Houston (ZAH), which was majority Parsi. Rustomji stated that Iranian Zoroastrians "attend religious functions sporadically and remain tentative about their ability to fully integrate, culturally and religiously, with Parsis." In 1996 the Iranian population had its largest attendance at a ZAH event when it attended ''Jashne-e-Sade'', an event the community created for ZAH. By 2000 some Muslim Iranians who were opposed to fundamentalism in the mosques, began attending Zoroastrian events. Rustomji wrote in 2000 that from 2000 to 2005, Iranians were expected to make up a greater proportion of ZAH.

As of 2006, most member of the Houston Haziratu'l-Quds (a Baháʼí Faith center) were Persians. As of 2010 many Houston Baháʼí are refugees from Iran. In Iran many of their relatives and parents suffered state sanctioned persecution of Baháʼís, being arrested and/or executed.

After Iranian student and activist Gelareh Bagherzadeh was murdered in Houston in 2012, Lomi Kriel of the ''Houston Chronicle'' stated that "The case has been complicated by the possible Iranian link and the close-knit nature of Houston's Iranian community. Many have been either afraid to talk or reluctant to disclose details they consider private or disrespectful." The perpetrator, Ali Irsan

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