Congolese Americans (French:Congolo-Américains) areAmericans descended from the peoples of theDemocratic Republic of the Congo and theRepublic of the Congo, which consist of hundreds ofethnic groups.
In the2020 U.S. Census,110,537 people reported Congolese descent, reflecting significant growth in the community.[5]Rose Mapendo, who suffered as a result of the war, helped 2,000 refugees to emigrate into the U.S. through the organization Mapendo International.[6][7] In 2013, roughly 10,000 refugees from the DRC were living in the U.S.[8]
Like other Central/West African groups in the United States, the first Congolese arrived as enslaved people in the modern-day United States as part of theAtlantic slave trade. Congolese were most likely sold inCabinda in modern-dayAngola and were then imported to places such asLouisiana andSouth Carolina.[9] However, due to the difficulty of tracing specific ancestry through the Atlantic slave trade and the lack of records on specific geographic origins of slaves, very few descendants of enslaved Congolese today identify specifically as Congolese Americans.
In the 1960s, Congolese gradually began to voluntarily migrate to the U.S. for educational reasons. However, in the 1980s, the first large wave of Congolese immigrants came to the U.S. for educational purposes. Initially, most of them decided to return home when they finished their studies in the U.S. However, many of them chose to stay in the U.S. due to the worsening political and economic situation in the DRC. The First Congo War (1996–97) in the DRC drove many Congolese to leave their families at home to seek asylum in the U.S. as war refugees. Only a few families migrated to the U.S. together. Some refugees wereTutsi who sought refuge from theRwandan genocide in the DRC before arriving in the U.S.[10]
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The modern-day Republic of the Congo and the DRC were both colonized byFrancophone powers, the former byFrance and the latter byBelgium. Thus, many Congolese speakFrench in addition toEnglish and severalBantu languages. Immigrants from the DRC speakLingala,Swahili,Kikongo,Bembe, andTshiluba.[4] However, recent immigrants are less likely to speak English than the better-educated Congolese migrants before them, and thus, have more difficulty adjusting to daily living in the U.S. Still, U.S. employers do not always accept the professional expertise and education that immigrants received in the Congo. Thus, many educated Congolese have been forced to work in unskilled and low-paying jobs such as dishwashing and taxi cab driving. Most Congolese areChristians.
According to the US Census Bureau in 2023, 62,547 people from the Democratic Republic of Congo and 43,066 from the Republic of Congo lived in the United States in this year.[2]
A significant number of Congolese Americans reside in theCharlotte andRaleigh areas ofNorth Carolina,[11] in theDallas–Fort Worth metroplex in Texas (mainly inArlington,Bedford,Dallas,Euless,Grand Prairie,Hurst, andIrving);[4] in theCleveland andColumbus areas of Ohio; and inIowa, where the Congolese community of DRC this growing due to sending refugees (although quantitatively reduced in the last years.)[12] There is also a growing population of Congolese inPortland, Maine[13] (with 1,379 self reporting as Congolese alone inCumberland County as of 2020.)[14] Additionally, most of the refugees inTallahassee, Florida, are from the Democratic Republic of Congo.[15]
Since 2001, many refugees from the DRC have resettled in the United States. In 2013, it was estimated that more than 10,000 refugees from the DRC live in the U.S.,[8] of which more than 3,000 arrived in the U.S. in 2010.[7] The U.S. had hoped to resettle tens of thousands more from the DRC over the next five years.[8] There is a growing Congolese refugee population inMemphis, Tennessee, and other cities in the state.[16] InKentucky, thousands of Congolese have settled inLouisville and other cities.[17] InBowling Green, Kentucky, Congolese refugees already compose a sizable proportion of the city.[18]
Texas has the highest number of immigrants from theRepublic of the Congo at 6,230.[19] Immigrants from the Republic of Congo took up the largest share of a state's population in Kentucky at 0.041%.[20] As of 2023, the Top 10 cities with the most immigrants from the Republic of the Congo were as follows:[11]
| City | State | Immigrants from Congo | % of Immigrants from Congo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte | North Carolina | 1,793 | 0.207% |
| Louisville | Kentucky | 942 | 0.149% |
| Raleigh | North Carolina | 910 | 0.197% |
| Dallas | Texas | 854 | 0.066% |
| Irving | Texas | 727 | 0.286% |
| Amarillo | Texas | 714 | 0.356% |
| Fort Worth | Texas | 693 | 0.076% |
| Houston | Texas | 655 | 0.029% |
| Abilene | Texas | 651 | 0.519% |
| Lexington | Kentucky | 632 | 0.197% |
Texas has the highest number of immigrants from theDemocratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), formerly known as Zaire, at 5,580.[21] Immigrants from the DRC took up the largest share of a state's population in Iowa at 0.12%.[22] As of 2023, the Top 10 cities with the most immigrants from the DRC were as follows:
| City | State | Immigrants from DRC | % of Immigrants from DRC |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte | North Carolina | 1,847 | 0.214% |
| Lexington | Kentucky | 1,373 | 0.427% |
| Nashville | Tennessee | 1,154 | 0.169% |
| Houston | Texas | 1,020 | 0.044% |
| Louisville | Kentucky | 997 | 0.158% |
| Waterloo | Iowa | 975 | 1.440% |
| Portland | Maine | 967 | 1.421% |
| Buffalo | New York | 874 | 0.317% |
| Phoenix | Arizona | 818 | 0.051% |
| Irving | Texas | 757 | 0.298% |
Congolese Community of Chicago aims to facilitate the integration of people of Congolese descent into the American tapestry while running programs to educate others about Congolese culture.[23]
Congolese Community of North Carolina-Raleigh (COCOM-NC-Raleigh) provides educational opportunities for Congolese children and their families in North Carolina'sResearch Triangle.[24]
Congolese Women Association of New England provides immigration counseling, job training, ESL classes, and cultural practice workshops to Congolese women in New England.[25]
Other organizations include the Salem Gospel Ministries in the DC area, Congolese Community of Houston,[26] and Congolese Community of Northern California.[27]
