FEBRUARY 2024

MESOPOTAMIA TO MICHIGAN
continued from page 22
thousands of years of development and
history informed the future of these
people-groups.
After this initial age of trade and
civilizational development, even as
the major Mesopotamian powers fell,
trade routes prevailed. Some of the
most important routes in history relied
on the persistence and stability of the
Mesopotamian region even after its
golden age came and went. The Silk
Road passed directly through Babylon
and Baghdad to follow the mighty Tigris
River. The Incense Route stretched
south along the Arabian Peninsula
and the Royal Road had stops in modern-day
northern Iraq. These trails and
others shaped the lives, knowledge,
economy, and daily practices of
Chaldeans’ ancient ancestors.
Once Islam took hold and
gained power in the region,
centuries after the dawn of
Christianity and the conversion
of people living in the Middle
East, Muslim rulers often ostracized
the remaining Christians
from larger society. Some examples
of systemic persecution
involved levying special taxes
against Christians, preventing
them from obtaining positions
in government, requiring
certain dress codes, restricting
property ownership, limiting
the number of churches and
simplifying their architecture, depriving
them representation in court,
asserting social discrimination, and
even restricting travel.
One specific aspect of Islam helped
shape the role of Christians in the Middle
East. The Quran bans its followers
from consuming alcohol. In many
places, this was and still is enforced
legally. More importantly, though, the
Quran bans Muslims from selling alcohol.
This left a niche for the region’s
Christians to fill. Many Christians that
lived in Muslim societies served alcohol
through restaurants and stores to
the general population — including
Muslims who disregarded the Quran’s
rules, passing down the tradition
through generations, and building experience
in the service industry.
All these historical factors came
into play when the community felt
compelled to leave their homeland of
thousands of years. War, genocide,
persecution, and a lack of economic
prospects resulting from village life motivated
Chaldeans to find a new home.
The process took time, but over the past
century, the Chaldean community in
Detroit now numbers close to 200,000
people, according to recent data.
After learning about the opportunities
available to immigrants in Detroit,
almost all related to the auto industry,
a few brave Chaldeans in villages or urban
areas decided to try it out for themselves.
Some worked for the burgeoning
Ford Motor Company, like John Joseph,
“Man Who Was Born in Region of ‘Garden
of Eden’” according to a 1915 issue
of the Sunday Chronicle, whose story
lives on in the newspaper archives. This
new industry offered direct employment
opportunities, but Chaldeans aspired
to more and had more needs than
the average American, ultimately wanting
to bring their families and friends to
the land of opportunity.
Market Square (left) and Plum Market (right) offer an impressive array of fresh and prepared foods.
CHALDEAN
STORY
Beyond the Assembly Line
Some decades before this, the nation
experienced plenty of periods like the
one Detroit was going through. The
most appropriate example in this case
is the California Gold Rush. Over a period
of seven years, nearly 300,000
people migrated west to find work opportunities
and gold.
Overall, the area developed rapidly
and needed to accommodate the
exponential growth of people. The
most consistently successful people
who moved west were not those who
searched for gold themselves, but the
newcomers who were wise enough to
realize and act upon the opportunities
to provide services like saloons,
supply stores, restaurants, and housing
to the community there.
In this style, Chaldeans established
themselves in Detroit, moving on from
basic factory work into entrepreneurial
territory and imagination. As many
Chaldeans were farmers before their
transition to America, they began with
grocery services and stalls at farmers
markets. Eventually, these developed
into full-fledged stores where they
could employ and teach new Chaldeans
who arrived from Iraq. Detroit
was forever changed by the Chaldeans
who purchased and developed highquality
stores in the area.
Over time, some Chaldeans found
a sense of responsibility to the upstart
community and helped establish
a pipeline for Chaldeans to come
to Michigan, train as store operators,
and eventually become owners and
begin contributing to the economy.
Specific men, like Mike George,
whose legacy lives on in the hearts of
all the Chaldean families he helped
establish, financed business loans for
new immigrant families. Even today,
a loan fund in his name lives at the
Chaldean Community Foundation
and helps immigrants attain a vehicle
for a low interest rate.
In 1962, the Chaldean community
owned around 120 stores in Detroit
and its metro area. By the 1990s,
Chaldeans owned 1,500 stores. In
This report is made possible with generous support from
Michigan Stories, a Michigan Humanities Grants initiative.
many ways, the huge gamble paid off
for the Chaldean community as they
prospered with their new economic
engine. Their status as immigrants
whose native tongue was far from
common in Detroit was not dissimilar
to their status in the homeland,
separated linguistically from Arabic
speakers, religiously from Muslims,
and culturally from city-dwellers.
Trade continued to support and uplift
the community even as it had in ancient
times.
Modern-day grocery stores have
evolved from the smaller stores that
once dotted Detroit’s landscape. While
those still exist in the form of gas stations
and liquor stores, in tandem with
suburbanization, food and grocery
have become a more centralized endeavor
with larger and fewer stores.
Plum Market and Market Square
are two shining examples of the modern
Chaldean grocery store. They offer
high-end food items and serve
hot, prepared food for their customers.
This is a sign of the Chaldean
entrepreneurial spirit, the attitude
that brought the community this far.
Since the establishment of community
stores, Chaldeans have expanded
their business into many different facets
of life and encouraged their children
to join the professions.
Still now, as Chaldeans have
moved away from the storied lands
that are so well-documented in history
books, many traditions stay with
them. In Detroit, the Chaldean community
has become famous for servicing
all kinds of stores and selling
staples like gasoline, alcohol, and basic
food services. In fact, Chaldeans
leveraged these historical skills to
establish their families and peers in a
new society while providing an essential
service to its new community.
24 CHALDEAN NEWS FEBRUARY 2024