Immigrant Entrepreneurship in Detroit: The Chaldean Community and Their Rise to Majority Ownership in the Grocery Markets, 1943-1990

Abstract

This thesis investigates the changing demographics of store ownership in the city of Detroit from 1943-1990 and explains how a small immigrant community from Iraq; the Chaldeans, rose to control 90% of the grocery markets. The Chaldeans began immigrating to the United States in the early 20th century primarily because of economic opportunity and political instability in the Middle East. United States Immigration law kept the community small until restrictions were relaxed in 1965. During these years, Detroit was undergoing a race-relations-crisis, culminating in years of unrest and two major riots that required the use of federal troops to intervene. In the meantime, political instability in the Middle East and the growing option of immigrating to the United States led to widespread immigration in the Chaldean community, primarily to the city of Detroit. I trace the progress of Chaldean store ownership and the changing demographics of business-owners using secondary sources concerning race-relations, business environment, sociological research on the Chaldean community, and primary source from: The Detroit Free Press, Jewish and Chaldean publications, interviews, and business directories. I conclude that Chaldean store ownership in the grocery markets reached 90% by 1990 due to deteriorating race-relations, unstable business environments, earlier immigrant communities leaving the occupation with better opportunities, and the development of an ethnic-occupation that led to the Chaldean community creating systems to help encourage and expand ownership in the grocery markets.