Sri Lankan Americans

Sri Lankan Americans are a small group, 25,263 in the most recent census figures. The number is probably slightly larger than that if one accounts for the Sri Lankan-born or -descended Americans who do not self-identify as “Sri Lankan American” but instead identify either more broadly as South Asian Americans or especially more specifically as Tamils, Moors, Burghers, Malays, or Sinhalese. Before 1975, Sri Lankans were simply classified as “other Asian.”

Sri Lanka is a multiethnic country in south Asia, of which the Sinhalese are the largest portion of the population. The Tamils, the largest minority, have frequently opposed the Sinhalese government, and a recurring insurgency has been fought since 1983 between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. This instability has been a major factor in immigration out of Sri Lanka. In older history books, Sri Lanka is referred to as Ceylon, and the first immigrants therefrom were called Ceylonese. Sri Lanka is also the geographic and cultural center of the Buddhist faith.

Sri Lankans have been coming to the United States in small numbers since shortly after World War II. Large-scale immigration did not begin until the late 1980s and 1990s; it resulted from the conflict with the Tamils and the general instability of the region. Many of the Sri Lankan immigrants to the United States are admitted as refugees; a significant number, relative to the small size of the population, are winners of the immigration diversity lottery offered to countries with low rates of immigration.

Sri Lankans primarily settle in large cities, and the largest communities are in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Miami, where there are existing Indian communities; Hindu Sri Lankans generally prefer to move to areas with a Hindu community, since their numbers are too small to support one themselves. For the same reason, some Buddhist Sri Lankans have settled in the Tampa Bay area, where there is a Buddhist community of about 30,000.

First-generation immigrants often have difficulty adjusting to life in America, though they are usually at least somewhat fluent in English, the biggest obstacle to navigating the hurdles of American life. Assimilation and acculturation sometimes depend on whether the Sri Lankan considers himself or herself an immigrant or an exile; exiles intend to return home once the chaos ends and may be reluctant to take steps to put down roots in America, or lack the motivation to assimilate. Sri Lankan American parents are also likely to put a priority on maintaining a connection with Sri Lankan culture; they express concerns about their American-born or American-raised children growing up lacking the cultural touchstones and ideas that they themselves grew up with. Often, they encourage their children to take religion courses in order to better understand Hinduism or Buddhism.