South African-American
 
|
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
|
69,677 (2013 American Community Survey) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Miami, Minnesota, Illinois, Atlanta, Maryland, New York, Arizona, California, Texas | |
| Languages | |
| American English, South African English, Afrikaans, Zulu, Tswana, Cantonese, see languages of South Africa | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholic, Reformed Churches, Jewish, Methodism, Anglicanism, Atheism |
South African Americans are Americans who have full or partial ancestry from South Africa. According to the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development, there are 78,616 people born in South Africa that currently live in the United States.
Free South Africans began arriving in the United States as early as the late-nineteenth century. The first groups were Afrikaner miners who arrived in California. Significant numbers South Africans, typically of British Isles heritage, arrived in the mid-twentieth century. Immigration by Black South Africans was limited. Though the standard of living for black Africans in South Africa was higher than for most people living on the African continent, political and economic conditions still made immigration difficult, as blacks were forced to escape to other African nations before they could emigrate to the country of their choice.
Following the Soweto uprising in 1976, there was a significant increase in South African immigration to the United States. Many of the immigrants were South African Jews, who formed a community in the northern suburbs of Chicago. Although emigration policies during apartheid made immigration difficult, there were a small number of black students and political refugees who emigrated to the US. During the 1980s and 1990s, many South Africans entered the US for political reasons, to be with family members, or to access professional opportunities not available in their home country.
The largest wave of South African emigration was in 1994, after the election of Nelson Mandela as the President of South Africa. Many White South Africans, especially Afrikaners, emigrated out of fear for their safety after the acquisition of political power in the black population.
The end of the apartheid system brought significant waves of South Africans, most of British descent with a significant number of Portuguese heritage.
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Wikipedia