The influence of the Greek diaspora on Greece and the United States.(Report)

From the late nineteenth century to the late twentieth century, Greeks in large numbers left Greece to come to the United States. The numerous obstacles placed before them did not deter many of them from achieving success. Their success in the United States and their desire to remain connected to Greece much contributed to involvement in Greek affairs. Successive Greek governments also attempted to maintain a relationship with diaspora Greeks in the United States, a problematic relationship which persists even today despite the declining numbers of Greek-Americans.

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The summer of 1974 and the immediate period after 1974 was most critical for modern Greece at many levels: the northern part of Cyprus was invaded by Turkish troops, which much contributed to the fall of the Greek junta; Karamanlis was invited back to Greece from his self-imposed exile to restore democracy; democracy gained widespread acceptance in Greece; and the number of Greeks coming to the United States declined dramatically as a result of Greek democratization and better economic conditions, which in part resulted from European Union (EU) membership. Unlike previous periods, the number of immigrants to the United States was evenly balanced between men and women, and some families included young children for the first time in Greek immigrant history. The year 1980 signifies the beginning of declining migration. This is an important development considering that Greece "has always been a country of emigration." After 1973 and the resulting economic crisis because of the oil embargo, unemployment in the United States and Western Europe skyrocketed. Thousands of Greeks living in West Germany and other Western European countries [as well as in the United States] decided to return to Greece. (1) "During the 1980s approximately 2,500 Greeks annually were coming to America. In the 1990s the figure dropped to 1,500. Factoring in the probable number of returnees, there is no longer any net Greek increase in this country from immigration. Also to be noted, since the 1960s, a low birth rate means the American-born generations have not been replacing themselves. With no renewal of immigration in sight and with little likelihood of a rise in the birthrate, the Greek-American population will shrink in the years to come." (2) See Tables 1 and 2. Yet Greek-Americans, despite their declining numbers, continue to play an important role in the United States as well as Greece.

 
Table 1: Greek Immigration To The United States 
 
                        Era        Approximate    Approximate 
                                     Total       Annual average 
 
Early migration      1873-1899       15,000            500 
Creat wave           1900-1917      450,000         25,000 
Last exodus          1918-1924       70,000         10,000 
Closed door          1925-1945       30,000          1,300 
Postwar migration    1945-1965       75,000          4,000 
New wave             1966-1979      160,000         11,000 
Declining migration  1980-present    35,000          2,000 
 
Source: C. Moskos, "The Greeks in the United States," in R. Clogg (cd.) 
The Greek Diaspora in the Twentieth Century, St. Martin's Press, New 
York, 1999, p. 105. 
 
Table 2: Greek Immigration To The United States By Decades to 1998 
 
      Decade     Number 
 
1.   1881-1890    2,308 
2.   1891-1900   15,979 
3.   1901-1910  167,519 
4.   1911-1920  184,201 
5.   1921-1930   51,084 
6.   1931-1940    9,119 
7.   1941-1950    8,973 
8.   1951-1960   47,608 
9.   1961-1970   58,969 
10.  1971-1980   92,369 
11.  1981-1990   38,377 
12.  1991-2000   17,560 
 
Source: Found in Y. Papadopoulos, "Prejudice and its Relationship to 
Acculturation for Greek Immigrants in the United States," in S. D. 
Orfanos (ed.) Reading Greek America: Studies in the Experience of 
Greeks in the United States, Pella Publishing Company, 2002, p. 349. 

DECISION BY GREEK-AMERICANS TO RETURN TO GREECE

Mass repatriation in recent years has increased for numerous reasons. "First, there are those who had only temporarily emigrated to western Europe in the first place, of whom 13.9 percent of those who left between 1968 and 1970 have returned, 21.6 percent of those who left between 1970 and 1974, and 27.4 percent of those who left between 1970 and 1976. These figures represent not so much the classic repatriation of Greek Americans and Greek Canadians as the experimental return of Greek Australian families, the permanent repatriation of 20,000 or so political refugees from the Civil War, the return of Greeks from northern and particularly central and southern Africa, and finally the Greek government's efforts to procure the return of a large number of the Pontic Greeks in the USSR (of whom there are 336,869, according to Soviet statistics of 1970). Today in Greece the main problem is not that people are emigrating in search of work, but that the returning emigres have to adapt to contemporary Greek economic, social, and educational reality." (3) After the election of Andreas Papandreou as prime minister, many Greek-Americans teaching at leading institutions of higher education were invited to return to Greece and teach at Greek universities. They have helped to modernize the Greek university system, although much more work is necessary. They have also helped to establish think tanks which regrettably are still in their infancy and not fully self-sustaining. The more problematic segment of the returning emigres is the members of the lower middle class who are characterized by a "conservative ethos." Their long stay in the United States has led to a static view of Greece and the resulting affect of having difficulties understanding changes in Greece as well as the rest of the European Union. Their more conservative and unprogressive inclinations could prove an obstacle to effectively managing the forces of globalization and to introducing the necessary policy adjustments to successfully deal with problems at home and to overcome problems with neighbors including Turkey. Democratization of Greece and better economic conditions resulting primarily from European Union membership are among the other important factors that provided the impetus for many Greek-Americans to return to Greece.

ROLE OF THE GREEK-AMERICAN LOBBY