matthewssz
7 Nov 2009
Work / I'm 19, born in Poland, raised in the U.S. Moving to Poland..or not? [25]
That is how it works in the US.
Through out the 19th and mid 20th century, Poles had it bad in the US, often considered little better then black people, who were easily stuck at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder for obvious reasons. For a long time being "white" meant you were an Angelo-Saxon Protestant and not much else. So more or less a transplanted Englishman. It was acceptable to be Roman Catholic if maybe you were French, but defiantly not Irish, Italian, or Polish etc...
Often the only advantages Poles had in the US was that they weren't blacks, and they were limited to the same crappy jobs that Mexicans do in the US now. But in the modern US, education trumps all because it is so intertwined with material success. So it is no surprise that the children of immigrants who value academic success... i.e Eastern Europeans, Jews, or Asians etc... do very well in the future.
So, I guess there are two ways to look at it. #1, you have empathy for those at the bottom because you, or your elders, experienced the same abuse.
#2, conversely, the cycle of discrimination and abuse continues because it is all they know and now that they are now in a position to discriminate, its just natural. I think #2 is far more common.
That is how it works in the US.
Through out the 19th and mid 20th century, Poles had it bad in the US, often considered little better then black people, who were easily stuck at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder for obvious reasons. For a long time being "white" meant you were an Angelo-Saxon Protestant and not much else. So more or less a transplanted Englishman. It was acceptable to be Roman Catholic if maybe you were French, but defiantly not Irish, Italian, or Polish etc...
Often the only advantages Poles had in the US was that they weren't blacks, and they were limited to the same crappy jobs that Mexicans do in the US now. But in the modern US, education trumps all because it is so intertwined with material success. So it is no surprise that the children of immigrants who value academic success... i.e Eastern Europeans, Jews, or Asians etc... do very well in the future.
So, I guess there are two ways to look at it. #1, you have empathy for those at the bottom because you, or your elders, experienced the same abuse.
#2, conversely, the cycle of discrimination and abuse continues because it is all they know and now that they are now in a position to discriminate, its just natural. I think #2 is far more common.