History
Egyptians began to migrate to the U.S. in significant numbers in the second half of the twentieth century. The majority of Egyptians left their country for economic or educational reasons. However, many emigrated because they were concerned about the political developments that were occurring in Egypt after the Egyptian Revolution of 1952. Thousands of Egyptians, mainly Copts, left Egypt in 1967 after its defeat in Six Day War of 1967. From 1967 to 1977, more than 15,000 Egyptians immigrated to the United States alone. Since the 1981 assassination of Anwar Sadat and consequential inauguration of Hosni Mubarak as the President, the Egyptian economy has endured three decades of economic stagnation that has prompted a significant number of Egyptians to emigrate to more prosperous countries, such as the United States. Attracted by the higher standards of living and greater civil liberties, Egyptian expatriates have traditionally favoured permanent residence in countries such as the United States, and Canada, but sizeable numbers are also present in Australia, Italy, the United Kingdom, France, and the Gulf Arab states. The first wave of Egyptian immigrants to the United States were mostly educated professionals and skilled workers. Egyptian immigration to the United States was further eased by the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, which allowed selective entry of certain professionals, especially scientists, from countries such as Egypt, which was up until then subjected to stringent emigration restrictions. As a result most Egyptian Americans, especially first and second generation Egyptians, have in comparison, become generally very well educated relative to the American population as a whole.
Read more about this topic: Egyptian American
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Don’t you realize that this is a new empire? Why, folks, there’s never been anything like this since creation. Creation, huh, that took six days, this was done in one. History made in an hour. Why it’s a miracle out of the Old Testament!”
—Howard Estabrook (1884–1978)
“No one is ahead of his time, it is only that the particular variety of creating his time is the one that his contemporaries who are also creating their own time refuse to accept.... For a very long time everybody refuses and then almost without a pause almost everybody accepts. In the history of the refused in the arts and literature the rapidity of the change is always startling.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)
“It would be naive to think that peace and justice can be achieved easily. No set of rules or study of history will automatically resolve the problems.... However, with faith and perseverance,... complex problems in the past have been resolved in our search for justice and peace. They can be resolved in the future, provided, of course, that we can think of five new ways to measure the height of a tall building by using a barometer.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)