Little Ethiopia: A Thriving Community in D.C.

August 21, 2008

WASHINGTON — When Ethiopian immigrants started arriving in the
1970s, 18th Street in Adams Morgan neighborhood was their first home.
Then when prices went up, the community had to find a new place. The U
Street corridor, an area that was largely abandoned, was perfect for a
new community. They revived it with their restaurants and stores, and
it became Little Ethiopia, with its heart beating at the intersection
with 9th Street.

Dereje Desta is the publisher and editor of Zethiopia,
the leading publication among the Ethiopian community in the metro
area. For one morning, he became a guide to journalism students to help
them immerse in the community and learn what “Little Ethiopia” means
beyond the intersection of two streets with more than two dozen
Ethiopian-owned businesses.

Washington D.C. is home for the largest Ethiopian community in the
country. Other large communities are in Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston,
Seattle and Atlanta. As Selam Mulugeta, office assistant for
Congressman Mike Honda, chair and founder of the Ethiopian American
Congressional Caucus described, churches and Ethiopian-owned businesses
help authorities locate this community all over the country. And most
of them are in the nation’s capital.

The number of
Ethiopian citizens in the Washington, D.C. metro area varies all the
time and no one has exact data on this population. According to the
Ethiopian Embassy estimates, around 200,000 citizens in the metro area
are of Ethiopian descent. The Ethiopian Community Center estimates
around 150,000 people from the African country.

Most Ethiopian immigrants come to the United States for education
purposes as part of the African country’s immigration policy, the
Diversity Visa Lottery — an immigration agreement with countries that
have low immigration rates to the United States — but economic and
political reasons are behind this decision too.

According to Desta, most Ethiopians consider that they are very well
integrated in American society. The interaction between Ethiopians and
Americans is not only limited to locals’ admiration of Ethiopian
restaurants.

“The Ethiopian community is very well integrated in the American
culture because of all the business owned by Ethiopians and also
because they work with Americans in other fields,” said Hermela Kebede,
executive director of the Ethiopian Community Center in Washington,
D.C.

However, Ethiopians are waiting to see how the community evolves, as
they are in the middle of a transition between the first generation of
immigrants and their American-born children, who are now graduating
from college.

“As Ethiopian-Americans, they have their Ethiopian side. But they
are living in America, so they have an American side too,” Desta said.

The immersion of Ethiopians in the American society and their search
for their own identity clashes with a very specific characteristic of
the country they come from.

“It’s a very unique country. Ethiopia is the only country in Africa
that was never colonized, so Ethiopians are very proud of that,” Kebede
said.

Ethiopian youth, after studying with Americans, are now also competing with locals for jobs.

Ethiopians have been traditionally known to work as cab drivers in
the area. Even though there is an extended number of them who still do
— 11 percent of employed Ethiopians in the year 2000 were taxi
drivers, according to Shaller Consulting. Many also hold jobs as
university professors or accountants.

“We have also become wiser after living here for a while,” Desta
reflects after showing an Ethiopian-owned Italian Restaurant. La
Carbonara — the name of an Italian pasta recipe — emerges right next
to the Mexican restaurant El Sol, also an Ethiopian property. After
some years in the restaurant business, Ethiopian immigrants are now
renting their properties to run other kinds of businesses, Desta
explained.

Some Ethiopian shops display Barack Obama’s campaign message, ‘Yes,
We Can,’ in their windows. It is, after all, something that applies to
what many Ethiopian want to say about their community and their younger
generation. They want to continue to prosper and thrive.