Ivorian Americans are an ethnic group of

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...

of Ivorian descent. According to estimates, in 2014 there were 6,000 people in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

of Ivorian ancestry.

History

Like other African groups, the first Ivorians to arrive in the United States were imported as slaves in the 18th century.The

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

library extension publication, Volumes 10-11 (1944), p. 25 In the 1970s a small group of Ivorian students came to the United States and then lived there permanently. A larger wave of migration of Ivorians happened in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Ivorians (and people of West Africa in general) saw the US as a place of great economic and educational opportunities. Thus, the Ivorians began to settle in cities such as

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

and

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

to get better work than they could at home. Hairbraiding and driving taxis were prominent occupations for Ivorians. A strong system of

chain migration Chain migration is the social process by which immigrants from a particular area follow others from that area to a particular destination. The destination may be in another country or in a new location within the same country. John S. MacDonal ...

began. That is, friends and family emigrated to the United States, coming to places like

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

.Encyclopedia of Chicago: Ivorians in Chicago
Posted by Tracy Steffes. Retrieved September 2, 2012, to 23:03 pm. Also, the

First Ivorian Civil War The First Ivorian Civil War was a civil conflict in the Ivory Coast (also known as Côte d'Ivoire) that began with a military rebellion on 19 September 2002 and ended with a peace agreement on 4 March 2007. The conflict pitted the government of ...

in 2002 prompted the emigration of thousands of Ivorians to North America.L'immigration ouest-africaine aux États-Unis
(in French: African immigration in United States).

Demographics and languages

The cities with the most significant population are:

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, Worcester (Massachusetts), Bridgeport (Connecticut),

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and the

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

state, mainly in

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

. Ivorian immigration into the U.S. has been increasing since the 1990s. Ivorians speak several African Languages, being the most spoken the Dioula dialect of Bambara, Dioula,

Gurma Gurma (also called Gourma or Gourmantché) is an ethnic group living mainly in northeastern Ghana, Burkina Faso, around Fada N'Gourma, and also in northern areas of Togo and Benin, as well as southwestern Niger. They number approximately 1,750 ...

, and Senufo, other languages native languages include: the

Gur languages The Gur languages, also known as Central Gur or Mabia, belong to the Niger–Congo languages. They are spoken in the Sahelian and savanna regions of West Africa, namely: in most areas of Burkina Faso, and in south-central Mali, northeastern Iv ...

, the

Senufo languages The Senufo or Senufic languages (''Senoufo'' in French) has around 15 languages spoken by the Senufo in the north of Ivory Coast, the south of Mali and the southwest of Burkina Faso. An isolated language, Nafaanra, is also spoken in the west ...

, the

Kru languages The Kru languages are spoken by the Kru people from the southeast of Liberia to the west of Ivory Coast. Classification According to Güldemann (2018), Kru lacks sufficient lexical resemblances and noun class resemblances to conclude a relati ...

(including the

Bété languages The Bété languages are a language cluster A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumu ...

, and the

Kwa languages The Kwa languages, often specified as New Kwa, are a proposed but as-yet-undemonstrated family of languages spoken in the south-eastern part of Ivory Coast, across southern Ghana, and in central Togo. The name was introduced 1895 by Gottlob Kra ...

from which Baoulé and Anyin are used by a considerable part of Ivorians, French is the national language of Cote D'Ivoire.

Organizations

In 1999, the Organisation des ressortissants de l'Ouest de la Côte d'Ivoire, a social and mutual aid organization, was founded. Chicago is a major city with a large Ivorian population. Most of them come from the west of Ivory Coast, culturally similar to Malians. However, there are also important groups from the north of Ivory Coast and small groups from the east and south of the country, which sometimes gather together to celebrate social events and for mutual assistance. Thus, these groups invite each other to parties, christenings and other events. Although also meet with other people from West Africa. Groups are also involved in political activity, locally representing the main political parties in Côte d'Ivoire, such as the Popular Front for the Ivory Coast or the Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire African Democratic Rally. The Ivorians have tried to create organizations and events aimed at uniting the entire population of Ivorians in the U.S. So, in the late 1980s, the earliest Ivorian migrants created the Association of Ivorians in Chicago, celebrating festivals and sponsored parties, but ended up disbanding in the 1990s despite its success. Events currently exercised by the Ivorians are in holidays like

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Man ...

. The Ivorians also start churches in the U.S. in which there are translators for English and French speakers. An example is La Generation Des Vainqueurs Ministry Church in Richardson, Texas with a predominantly Ivorian Congregation. In 2000, they created a nonprofit organization called IvoirEspoir (Ivory Hope) which aims to raise funds and awareness of the force, the dangers and prevention of HIV and AIDS in Côte d'Ivoire. The organization provides medical training, health clinics, and information on the disease. The organization is expanding rapidly and seeks to raise global knowledge about the AIDS crisis in Africa.

Notable people

Bambadjan Bamba Bambadjan Bamba (born in Abidjan) is an Ivorian-American actor and filmmaker known for his roles in ''Black Panther'', ''Suicide Squad'', and ''The Good Place''. He is also a prominent immigrant rights advocate. Life and career Bamba was born ...

* Isaach De Bankole *

Roland Hayes Roland Wiltse Hayes (June 3, 1887 – January 1, 1977) was an American lyric tenor and composer. Critics lauded his abilities and linguistic skills demonstrated with songs in French, German, and Italian. Hayes's predecessors as well-known Af ...

Alex Poythress Alex Poythress (born September 6, 1993) is an American-Ivorian professional basketball player for Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israeli Premier Basketball League and the EuroLeague. He won the Gatorade Player of the Year in Tennessee in 2011–12 in h ...

(born 1993), American-Ivorian basketball player for

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

of the

Israeli Premier Basketball League Ligat HaAl ( he, ליגת העל, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is the top-tier level league of professional competition in Israeli club basketball, making it Israel's primary basketball co ...

Maki Tall Maki Madani Tall (born October 30, 1995) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward who currently plays for Olympique Marcquois Football. Born in the United States, Tall is of Ivorian descent. He has represented France ...

Amos Zereoué Amos L. Zereoué (born October 8, 1976) is a former American football player in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for West Virginia. He was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round (95th overall) of the ...

Tanoh Kpassagnon Tanoh Kpassagnon ( ; born June 14, 1994) is an American football defensive end for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Villanova and was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the second rou ...

References

External links