Aditya Satsangi
American Hindus are one of the most vibrant communities in the USA and are loved by all Americans for their hard work, entrepreneurial skills and prosperity. In addition, they are considered as positive contributors to the economy by all sections of American society.
They are job creators, law-abiding citizens and educationists. Their contribution in medicine is unparalleled, as per American physician association one out of eight patients are seen by an American Hindu doctor. American Hindus are seen as CEOs of major corporations and also NASA scientists. More than half of all Americans know that Yoga has its roots in Hinduism.
The vast majority of American Hindus are immigrants from the Indian subcontinent (mainly India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, and Pakistan), some from Afghanistan, and Southeast Asia (mainly Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, specifically Bali and Java), the Caribbean (mainly Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, and Jamaica), Oceania (mainly Japan, Fiji, Australia, and New Zealand), Africa (mainly Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Southern Africa, and Eastern African), Europe (mainly United Kingdom, Netherlands, and France), and other Latin American countries and their descendants.
Most Native Americans also follow a culture which is similar to Hinduism and they find great inspiration in Bhagavad Gita.
According to the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies newsletter published March 2017, Hindus were the largest minority religion in 102 counties out of the 3143 counties in the country. If we actually calculate the numbers then it makes up almost 6.5 million rough estimates, not including native Americans and Yoga communities.
If we add the yoga community who consider Hinduism as their origin, then this number swells even more. Even by rough estimate, American Hindus make up more than 10% of the population.
Latest Converts to Hinduism include Hollywood actress Julia Roberts, actor Russell Brand, etc. Will Smith, Bruce Willis is all very pro-Hindu and believe in Hindu spiritual culture. American Hindus have the highest rates of educational attainment and the highest rate of household income among all religious communities and the lowest divorce rates.
48% of American Hindus hold a postgraduate degree. According to a study by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life in 2012, 48% of American Hindus have a household income of $100,000 or more, and 70% make at least $75,000.
Sanatana Dharma is colloquially known as Hinduism. In terms of demography, Sanatana Dharma have even more followers than Hinduism. We are actually looking at a much larger population in the USA. This is the time for all these communities and represents themselves in the upcoming elections in November 2020.
