Why Are There So Many Pakistanis In Texas?

Summary

Houston, Texas, home to NASA and the fossil fuel industry, also hosts a thriving Pakistani community, especially in the suburb of Sugar Land. This multicultural enclave has cricket tournaments, a local TV station broadcasting in Urdu, and diverse food options. The Pakistani population began expanding here due to historic immigration policies during the Cold War, and now, faith, food, and culture permeate through both Pakistani and American spaces. Despite facing challenges, including discrimination and post-9/11 tensions, this community continues to thrive, blending Texan and Pakistani cultures into a unique and inclusive experience.

Highlights

• Houston hosts national cricket tournaments and a TV station in Urdu 🏏📺
• Pakistani culture permeates Houston, evident in local stores and festivities 🎉
• Immigration laws from the 1960s helped South Asians settle in Houston 📜
• Pakistani Texans navigate identity amid cultural challenges and acceptance 🌐
• Aj's restaurant in Houston symbolizes cultural integration and diversity 🍽️

Key Takeaways

• Houston is home to a thriving Pakistani community, especially in Sugar Land 🌟
• The Pakistani presence in Houston includes sports, food, and media 🏏📺🥘
• Immigration policies during the Cold War contributed to the Pakistani population in Texas 📚
• Despite challenges, Pakistanis have created a unique Texan-Pakistani identity 🤠🇵🇰
• The community is vibrant and inclusive, attracting non-Pakistani participation 🌎

Overview

The Pakistani community in Houston, Texas, particularly in Sugar Land, is a vibrant blend of cultures, offering a slice of home with its cricket tournaments, Urdu TV stations, and rich culinary scene. This community, formed partly due to Cold War immigration policies favoring skilled South Asians, has created a unique cultural landscape that is both Pakistani and Texan.

The journey of Pakistani immigrants has not been without challenges. From post-9/11 prejudices to struggles in rural areas marked by ignorance and bigotry, the community has faced and continues to navigate cultural sensitivities. Despite these, the resilient Pakistani Texans assert their identity, often interwoven with Texan culture, offering a portrait of diversity and integration.

In places like Aga’s restaurant, the fusion of Pakistani culture with Texan hospitality is apparent. Here, diverse patrons come together to enjoy authentic Pakistani cuisine, demonstrating the inclusivity and cultural exchange that defines this community. This dynamic reflects how Pakistani culture is becoming an integral part of the broader Texan narrative.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction to Houston's Pakistani Community The chapter introduces Houston, Texas, as a city known for its humidity, NASA, and the fossil fuel industry, and highlights a thriving Pakistani community located in the suburb of Sugar Land. The environment in Sugar Land is compared to that of cities like Karachi, Lahore, or Islamabad, emphasizing the uniqueness of such a community atmosphere in America. The presence of national cricket tournaments is mentioned as part of the vibrant cultural activities in Houston.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Cultural Aspects and Challenges The chapter explores the multicultural aspect of Houston, Texas, highlighting the presence of diverse elements such as a TV station that broadcasts local news in Urdu and a wide variety of food options. However, it contrasts this multiculturalism by pointing out that not all of Texas shares this diversity. The narrative includes personal experiences, mentioned through the sight of Confederate flags, indicating a potentially unwelcoming environment for some, particularly after Trump's presidency. It also touches on the challenges faced by the Pakistani American community, using the personal anecdote of someone who stopped wearing their hijab after 22 years, bringing to light the complex identity dynamics of being Pakistani in Texas.
• 01:00 - 03:00: Afia's Story The chapter titled 'Afia's Story' explores the presence and integration of South Asians in Houston, Texas, particularly focusing on their migration to the suburban areas. It introduces Afia Jalali, a respiratory therapist and Houston resident since 1983, who is notably passionate about local sports, showcasing her affinity through sports-themed attire. The narrative seems to delve into both cultural assimilation and the personal interests of Houston's South Asian community.
• 05:00 - 09:00: Historical Context: Immigration and Integration The chapter explores the historical context of immigration and integration with a focus on the Pakistani community in Texas. The narrator is shown around by a guide who highlights the significant Pakistani population in Texas, particularly in Houston. The tour involves visiting Hillcroft neighborhood, known for its array of Pakistani and Indian restaurants and stores, emphasizing how cultural practices like dressing up for Jummah are maintained within the community.
• 09:00 - 10:00: Building Community and Facing Discrimination Chapter Title: Building Community and Facing Discrimination Summary: The chapter explores the experiences of Pakistani Americans as they navigate their cultural and religious identity in the United States. It highlights how the presence of the Pakistani and Muslim communities has influenced local businesses, such as Party City, which now stocks decorations for Ramadan. This reflects the broader impact and integration of Pakistani Muslim culture within American society. The chapter also touches on the challenges of facing discrimination and navigating spaces that may have been unwelcoming or unfamiliar.
• 10:00 - 11:30: Living in Ethno-burbs The chapter "Living in Ethno-burbs" discusses the complexity of cultural identity and acceptance for Pakistanis in Sugar Land, Texas. Despite their visible presence and celebration of cultural events, Pakistanis often face challenges such as feeling unwelcome or unsafe in certain areas due to their faith. The narrative highlights the experiences of Afia, a respiratory therapist who regularly enters people's homes for work, navigating both professional and personal interactions in these intimate settings. It suggests a duality of cultural expression and the fear of exclusion in her everyday encounters.
• 11:30 - 13:00: Pakistani and Texan Identity The chapter discusses the intersection of Pakistani and Texan identities through the experiences of Afia, a character who used to wear a hijab. Due to safety concerns stemming from the political climate during Donald Trump's presidency, she decided to stop wearing it. Afia reflects on wearing the hijab for 22 years before she felt compelled to take it off. The chapter highlights her experiences traveling to treat patients in areas outside of Houston, which might not be welcoming to her ethnic and religious identity. Her story illustrates the challenges faced by individuals balancing their cultural and religious identities within certain political and social environments.

Why Are There So Many Pakistanis In Texas? Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 You probably know Houston as the home of humidity, NASA and the fossil fuel industry. But on the outskirts of the fourth largest city in the country, in the suburb of Sugar Land, lives a thriving Pakistani community. I have never seen anything like this for desis in America. Can we please pay for it? No, no, no, no. This is very much an atmosphere you would find back home in cities like Karachi or Lahore or Islamabad. But we're finding it here in Texas, and that's amazing. There are national cricket tournaments in Houston,
• 00:30 - 01:00 a TV station that broadcasts local news in Urdu and tons and tons of food options. But while Houston might be multicultural, it doesn't mean the rest of Texas is. - I swear to God, I saw many Confederate flags. And Texas after Trump was completely different for the Pakistani American community. I had worn hijab for 22 years before taking it off. So what's it like being Pakistani in Texas?
• 01:00 - 01:30 How did South Asians even get to the Lone Star State? And what attracted them to the suburban sprawl of Houston? Your earrings right now, I just noticed. - My Astros earrings? I think opening day is tomorrow, I believe. I thought it was today. So I always try to coordinate with my sports team. Meet Afia Jalali. Afia is a respiratory therapist who's been in Houston since 1983, and she's a huge Houston sports fan. - Red and black, dude. It's for the Rockets. - What ring is on your other hand?
• 01:30 - 02:00 - Oh, that's just saying I'm married. [both laughing] There are more than 50,000 Pakistanis in Texas, but I couldn't think of a more perfect person to show me around the city. - We're just really, really nice people. I mean that in the very most unbiased way. [laughing] Our first stop was in Houston's Hillcroft neighborhood. We drove into this strip mall, and all we saw were Pakistani and Indian restaurants and stores. And I was just amazed at how Afia was able to find Pakistani clothes so easily in the U.S. - We try to make it a point to dress up on Jummah. But here's the thing, in Houston, Pakistani culture isn't limited
• 02:00 - 02:30 to certain neighborhoods or certain stores. It's permeated American chains too. One day, Afia and I went to Party City, and it was packed with decorations for Ramadan. Pakistan is a majority-Muslim country. Some 97% of the population practices Islam. And for many Pakistani Americans, faith is a big part of their identity. - I'm about to go broke, seriously. What is this? I'm definitely gonna get this. - I mean, the crazy part is the Pakistani and Muslim community here in Sugar Land is changing what Party City looks like, this like American company.
• 02:30 - 03:00 - Isn't that crazy? - Yeah. - Yeah, and I can promise you that this, this will be sold. - While faith was on display at Party City in Sugar Land, it doesn't mean that Pakistanis are always welcome or feel safe in other parts of Texas, especially because of that faith. Afia's job as a respiratory therapist means she often has to go into people's homes to treat them. It can be a very close and intimate setting. You're my best patient though, you know?
• 03:00 - 03:30 Well, you're not my best patient - - Oh, wait. - but you're my favorite patient. [Laughs] Afia used to wear hijab, but after Donald Trump's presidency, she said she didn't feel safe going into some people's homes. And so she stopped wearing it. I had worn hijab for 22 years before taking it off. Yeah, it's weird to talk about this. [Laughs] Afia said she'd often travel far outside of Houston to treat patients, places that might not be so welcoming
• 03:30 - 04:00 to people that look like her. Very rural areas. I swear to God, I saw many Confederate flags. Not a couple, many. To the point where I'm like, I'm not even gonna Snapchat this sh*t, OK? Some of Afia's patients wouldn't even let her in the home. I have a ventilator, like literally a ventilator on a stand with me. They know I'm coming. They open the door. They see me in my scarf and my scrubs and stethoscope, by the way. They wouldn't let me in.
• 04:00 - 04:30 You know, I was upping my Texas accent, like, can I just do my job? Can I just help you breathe? OK, I don't carry a gun. I am in the middle of nowhere, and little spidey senses start feeling that they are uncomfortable with me, the respiratory therapist, being there. And this didn't happen once, this happened over and over again. I started wearing hijab in college, actually. After 9/11, there was anti-Islam rhetoric,
• 04:30 - 05:00 but it wasn't like this, man. I want people to know how much courage it takes to walk out of your house and put a scarf on to represent your religion and walk around, and automatically you're identified as a Muslim. I loved that about wearing a hijab. I absolutely loved wearing my identity and sharing it and also like screaming at the refs at Rockets games.
• 05:00 - 05:30 But yeah, I have a scarf on, because we're just like you. After Trump was elected, and even during his campaign, yeah, we got a lot more stares. Hijabi girls will tell you everybody stares. No problem. But it did get worse. It's sad that this president made Muslims look like so negative, and this beautiful religion of Islam look so negative, that I'm afraid of being hurt
• 05:30 - 06:00 because of what people's perception of is me, 'cause I walk in with a scarf on. That's pretty sad. While she worries about rural Texas, in Sugar Land and Houston, Afia says she feels at home. But how did it become home for so many Pakistani immigrants? Well, it turns out it actually has a lot to do with the Cold War. So, who's coming to the United States from India and Pakistan? The highly skilled. That's Dr. Uzma Quraishi. She's a historian who wrote the book, "Redefining the Immigrant South," where she looked into Indian and Pakistani immigration
• 06:00 - 06:30 to Houston. Uzma found that there are four main reasons why South Asian immigrants, including Pakistanis, chose Houston as their destination. First is the Cold War. In the 1950s, the government created the United States Information Agency, or USIA. What was USIA? It was an agency created to counteract Russian Soviet propaganda. And the United States countered that propaganda with its own propaganda, like this promotional film funded entirely by the U.S. government. - For the first time in its history,
• 06:30 - 07:00 Pakistan offers its proverbial hospitality to the wife of a president. Early government documents refer to it as psychological warfare. Their preferred term eventually becomes public diplomacy, because of the taint associated with the word propaganda. So what did the USIA do? Well for one, it created libraries throughout Pakistan and India, like this one in Peshawar. And in smaller towns, USIA would set up exhibits for people to learn about American culture. - USIA and USIS posts arranged entertainers, lecturers.
• 07:00 - 07:30 Athletes performed, for example, demonstrations in swimming. And dancers also came. Dance troops came and performed. So it was a revolving door of American cultural diplomats that were proud of the United States. Through this propaganda, Indians and Pakistanis learned about the United States. And through scholarships like the Fulbright Program, some of them were able to study in the United States too. The second reason is that immigration laws changed. In 1965, the landmark Immigration and Nationality Act was passed, which allowed more non-European immigrants
• 07:30 - 08:00 to come study in the United States. Immigration policy was overhauled, and national origins quotas and racial restrictions were removed from immigration law. But U.S. lawmakers didn't think that immigrants who came to study would stay. They wanted people to go back to their homelands and spread the so-called "gospel of democracy." The '65 Act wasn't intended to bring permanent residents from these countries. But the U.S. has no intention of changing the ethnic or racial makeup of the United States. But those students ended up building lives here. So why did so many of those students end up choosing
• 08:00 - 08:30 to study in Houston, specifically the University of Houston? Well, because in the '60s and '70s, Houston was booming and engineers were in high demand, especially because of the oil and gas industry and because Houston was home to NASA. That's reason three. - Houston was put on the global sort-of radar because of NASA. It sort of seeped into the consciousness of people around the world, where it never had prior to that. And the last reason Houston becomes a hub is because of the Pakistani and Indian word-of-mouth network. The South Asian students who now had jobs here started sponsoring relatives.
• 08:30 - 09:00 They then invite family members to apply for visas. And you have this chain migration of families that then join them. That takes place, especially over the 1980s. Since the 1980s, the Pakistani and Indian populations have dramatically increased. And new facilities have come up to serve the community, like this TV channel: We are the first South Asian channel here in Houston.
• 09:00 - 09:30 We do our content in three different languages: Hindi, Urdu and English as well. And no Pakistani community would be complete without an appreciation for cricket. I mean, Pakistan’s current prime minister is a former cricket player. And when I was visiting Houston, the city was host to a national cricket tournament, not to mention its usual cricket leagues. - We’re playing in this league. We have 16 teams. And majority of the players are from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. But there’s a reason why Houston would be the place where South Asian Americans could build cricket facilities and fund a TV station.
• 09:30 - 10:00 The Pakistanis who came to Houston were privileged in many ways. Because they already spoke English and had professional degrees, South Asian immigrants had more advantages than Houston’s Black and Latinx populations. But that doesn’t mean they were immune to discrimination. Many landlords would not rent to Indian and Pakistani students or immigrants. And when it came to jobs, South Asian engineers often weren’t promoted into management. - They weren't able to rise high in the ranks, whereas others who were less experienced and less qualified
• 10:00 - 10:30 were given those opportunities because they were white. During Houston’s recession in the 80s, and with the forced integration of school systems, there was a lot of white flight in Houston. White families moved to the suburbs, leaving city schools underfunded. And South Asian parents followed white parents outside the city. I call it brown flight. It maps neatly onto white flight. But Pakistani immigrants didn’t just go where white families went. They actually carved out their own spaces. - Immigrants aren't just going to the suburbs generally or randomly, they're going to specific suburbs where there are other south Asian co-ethnics in particular.
• 10:30 - 11:00 And “ethno-burbs” like these are where a lot of Pakistanis live today, just like Afia. Afia actually lives right next to her parents. My mom's my next door neighbor. Both my sisters live in this neighborhood. It's awesome. Today, they’ve invited me to a mushaira that her parents are hosting. The closest thing I can compare it to is a poetry reading, but that’s doing it a disservice. Urdu is such a beautiful language, and it's like Shakespeare.
• 11:00 - 11:30 Afia told me that she’s glad that her kids grow up where they can be around people who look like them. It's really nice to be in Sugar Land because of the community and just for your identity, right? And there's no like confusion. Afia says that her family is equally Pakistani and equally Texan. - Of course, I cook Pakistani food at home. But of course we have Taco Tuesday and all that too. And hanging out in Houston for a week, I learned that being Pakistani and Texan wasn’t incompatible.
• 11:30 - 12:00 And it wasn’t one-sided. Non-Pakistanis were embracing Pakistani culture too. And the place where I saw that was at Aga’s restaurant. There’s like a gun store next door. Of course, we’re in Texas. So, you know they're most known for their goat chops. So, if you’re going to come to Houston, Texas, and come eat at Aga’s and not eat goat chops, you will be doing an injustice. Oh, that's good. - Mmm. You gotta be kidding me.
• 12:00 - 12:30 How many times have I had this? Same reaction, every time. The food was simply incredible. But what was more shocking to me was to see how diverse the eaters were. - And so, when you come in here, you’ll see white people, you’ll see Asians, you’ll see Black people. I can talk to random people, like my chiropractor. “Yeah, of course I know Aga’s. Who doesn’t know Aga’s?” I’m like, wait, you’re Vietnamese. OK. The fact that you get this diverse of a crowd with a place that doesn’t serve alcohol says a lot to me.
• 12:30 - 13:00 Says a lot. Especially during COVID. To me, that was fascinating. In Texas I found a Pakistani community that forged its own ethno-burb, but is such a part of the fabric of Houston that non-Pakistanis were participating in its culture and food too. It was powerful to see a Pakistani community that's so thriving that it has its own TV stations and sports leagues and of course amazing food and hospitality. An experience that is uniquely Southern, Texan and Pakistani - all wrapped up into one - just like Afia and her family.