Tibetans in North America
Tibetans in North America represent a growing diaspora primarily formed after the 1950 Chinese invasion of Tibet, which led to significant political and social upheaval in the region. Following the 1959 uprising, many Tibetans, including the Dalai Lama, fled to India, with a small number later immigrating to the United States in the 1990s due to the Immigration Act of 1990. By the late 1990s, Tibetans were reported in thirty-four states, where they sought to raise awareness about their homeland’s struggles and advocate for autonomy and religious freedom.
In the U.S., they engaged in campaigns to inform the public about human rights violations, including the denial of religious freedoms and incidents of persecution. Events like World Tibet Day and concerts featuring prominent artists helped to elevate the cause, garnering sympathy and support among the American populace. By 2015, estimates indicated that the Tibetan community in the U.S. and Canada had grown to around 15,000, with significant populations in cities such as New York, Toronto, and northern California. The Tibetan diaspora continues to be active in advocating for human rights and maintaining cultural identity while navigating the challenges of life in North America.
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Tibetans in North America
After the 1950 Chinese invasion of Tibet, representatives of Tibet and China signed the Seventeen Point Agreement on May 23, 1951. This agreement gave China control over Tibet but promised to maintain Tibet's existing political system and the Dalai Lama's and Panchen Lama's spiritual status. The Dalai Lama later claimed it was signed under duress. In March 1959, following an uprising in Tibet, the Dalai Lama and about 100,000 followers fled to India. The Panchen Lama remained in Tibet but was imprisoned in 1964. In 1965, Tibet was made an autonomous region of China, though by 1966, the Chinese government had tightened control over Tibetan affairs, including the media. In 1995, the Chinese government rejected the Dalai Lama's choice for the 11th Panchen Lama and installed their own candidate.
In the 1990s, a small number of the Dalai Lama’s followers moved to the United States (US), aided by immigrant visas provided by the Immigration Act of 1990. By 1999, Tibetans were living in thirty-four states. These Tibetans brought the situation in their homeland to the attention of Americans in the hope that the US would use its political influence to get the Chinese to recognize the autonomy of Tibet and the authority of the Dalai Lama and the members of the Lama priesthood.
Throughout the US, various groups such as the Students for a Free Tibet worked to make Americans aware of Tibetan culture and its problems, presenting statistics on the number of Tibetans believed to have been killed by the Chinese and the number of monasteries that were reputedly destroyed. These Tibetans claimed that China had denied them freedom of religion by not allowing Tibetans to choose their own successor to the Panchen Lama or even to hang pictures of the Dalai Lama. As evidence of human rights violations, they related an incident involving Ngawang Choephel, who, in July 1995, after going to Tibet as a Fulbright scholar to make a film on Tibetan arts, was arrested by the Chinese, charged with being a US spy, and sentenced to eighteen years in prison. These groups noted that self-determination, a universal right named in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, was not available to Tibetans.
In 1997, the American Episcopal Church passed a resolution urging talks between China and the Dalai Lama. July 6, the birthday of the Dalai Lama, was recognized as World Tibet Day with an interfaith call for freedom of worship for Tibetans. Festivals were held across the US; popular rock groups such as Pearl Jam participated in a concert in Washington, DC, supporting negotiations for a free Tibet. President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore met with the fourteenth Dalai Lama, and in 1997, Clinton announced the creation of a post for Tibetan Affairs in the State Department. The Tibetan campaign to raise American awareness had become so successful that many Americans plastered “Free Tibet” stickers on their automobile bumpers to support the cause.
Two pro-Tibetan movies were released by Hollywood in 1997: Seven Years in Tibet, starring Brad Pitt, and Kundun, a biography of the Dalai Lama directed by Martin Scorsese. Kundun was released even though the Chinese government threatened economic reprisals against the Disney Corporation, which was responsible for the film. Both movies heightened Americans’ sympathies toward Tibet. During the opening week of Seven Years in Tibet, the International Campaign for Tibet handed out 150,000 action kits, explaining how moviegoers could help free Tibet.
In the 1990s, Tibetan immigration to North America increased, with many Tibetans in the North American diaspora arriving through Nepal and India. North American Tibetan populations continued to grow in the 2000s. Canadian census data indicated a Tibetan community of 4,275 in the country as of 2006, while the Office of Tibet estimated a population of 9,000 Tibetan Americans in the US as of 2008. The Dalai Lama was awarded the 2007 US Congressional Gold Medal, and members of the Tibetan diaspora continued to be active in pro-Tibet human rights and autonomy movements and protests. By 2015 the Office of Tibet increased its estimate of the total number of Tibetans in the US and Canada to 15,000. Most of these immigrants lived in a small number of clustered communities within the US and Canada.
By 2020, a study by the Central Tibetan Administration indicated the population of individuals in the US with Tibetan ancestry had reached 26,700. The largest concentrations of Tibetans in the US and Canada were found in New York, Toronto, northern California, and Minneapolis. Communities also existed in Texas and Virginia. While the Dalai Lama once made frequent trips to the US to meet with leaders and give speeches, his trips declined in the twenty-first century. While the Dalai Lama advocated a solution that allowed for genuine autonomy under Chinese rule, Tibetan Americans, as well as socially-conscious Americans of all backgrounds, continued to protest the occupation of Tibet by China.
Bibliography
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