Where ? I can't really say what's the level of racism in Poland except that It definately isn't nor extremly serious problem and that It definately exists (like everywhere else in case of any race).
There's an ignorance about Asian people, it's really embarrassing.
BS. If anything the racism is first of all against blacks and Arabs.
And what would you know about the topic of people of colour having 'tendencies' to blame things on racism.
I know so I thought I would pitch in with the Asian aspect. We use here not only to refer to concrete, specific places but also in general. Here, as I used it, means when discussing this general issue. The knee-jerk response is to mention that it happens in other countries too, which it unquestionably does, without confining the focus to Poland. Hence, my comment in being over defensive
Seanus wrote: There's an ignorance about Asian people, it's really embarrassing.
BS. If anything the racism is first of all against blacks and Arabs.
Asian as in Indian/Pakistani I think he means. As for rascism against what Yanks call Asians,Ie Koreans ,Vietnammese etc,I didnt see it in Warsaw ,I did hear the urban myth about all the stray dogs going missing whenever a new "Chinese" takeaway place opened :)
Seanus wrote: The knee-jerk response is to mention that it happens in other countries too
Doesn't It ?
Of course it does,the point being though,in other countries "minorities" are not quite so much extreme minorities as they are in Poland,ie a few thousand asians in a British town,one or two in a Polish town,statistics say obviously in Poland the asian is more likely to be a target with less others for the muppets to target.
There is a heavy atmosphere of social control in some polish cities but I guess it regards everyone,it is not racism.Poles are rather friendly with foreigners if they look decent.
its ironic how a lot of right wing polish groups follow hitler (even though hitler attempted to exterminate all of them).
no more ironic than British BNP morons who salute the swastica at their private meetings and sing Tommorow belongs to me or Panzer lied..........and then have the gall to go on about being patriots....
no more ironic than British BNP morons who salute the swastica at their private meetings and sing Tommorow belongs to me or Panzer lied..........and then have the gall to go on about being patriots....
I despise the bnp and the nazis but the nazis did not plan to exterminate the british, the english are germanic while the scts are close to scandanavian. when the nazis invaded the channel islands they taught children german. when they invaded poland they tossed childfen into ovens
I'm Chinese Vietnamese from UK and I've been in Krakow for a week, planning to stay for 6 months.
I've not had problems with the locals. I do get stared at which I'm used to. I've had men say things to me as I walk by that I don't understand, yet. One time, one guy stopped his car and tried to talk and then followed me down a whole stretch of road which was pretty scary but nothing bad happened.
Polish people I've met tell me to stay away from the Nowa Huta area and it seems even they wouldn't wander near there as, according to them, just supporting the wrong football team can get you beaten up. I don't know by experience and hope not to experience.
I'm African American ..... I don't really concern myself with racism.....people will be people .... .I have been to Poland twice in 93 and 94 at the age of 13 and 14 and was approached in my hotel by a older polish guy that obviously had a problem with me being black ..... @ that age he looked like a giant but luckily the guy we were with informed him of something and they argued and he left yelling something in polish.
do i care .....no
does it bother ..... yes
other than this one time did i have issues .... no
will i go back to Poland ....yes
would I work in Poland.... never.
but it is a good place to visit.
if you are a minority you face these obstacles they happen in many places, its how you react to them that makes the difference. The polish ppl other than this guy were nice and welcoming.
also my grandmother is polish (but you could never tell)
also I've ran into more problems in the uk and Germany.
but to be truthful, ppl talk alot of stuff about it being unsafe in the southern USA. Its far less safe in the uk by far for minorities from what i have seen. (4 blks)
plus I think the difference is the confusion of whether a black person is American, brit or african..... the latter being a totally different group. I won't get into that but I'll say the chances of an African-American coming to Poland to take wages from a pole are slim to none.... don't know about a Black British man (is that what you would call them?) but I imagine it to be the same.....
and let it be said that black people are just as prejudiced as every other group.....another subject.
The Polish people I've met so far can be a little shy at first, but generally pretty friendly and approachable. The more effort you make to speak Polish, the more they open up to you.
im a Pakin n livin in waw from last 3 years n havent faced or hear abt any raciest voilance. So feel free to come n live here. Polish ppl r very nice, friendly n open :)
Hi, I am Pol and what I can say is: that movie which you downloaded is more about stupid fanatics of football. It hasn't got anything to do with racist. I won't be suprised if you meet some people who won't be friendly to you but I recom it won't be many of them and to be fair wherever you would be on the World you would see poeple like that.
Maybe you would not feel comfie in small town or village because some people would look at you but I don't think they would bit you up just because you brown skinned.
And anyway Im planning to move back to Poland with my boyfriend and he's not white either. So trust me if I wouldn't believe in it I would not say it. Good luck. And mind someone good advice: Go to the place where you wanna live just to see how is it.
You guys on this forum are fuckinnnnn looooosersss. U guys talk like you know Poland and EASTERN EUROPE, not central, but you don't. If u have the acual cool friends and people who are down with certain things, go to the expensive clubs and all youll know how things go. u guys all talk so much **** on here i cant stand it
its ironic how a lot of right wing polish groups follow hitler (even though hitler attempted to exterminate all of them).
- Really? How about your grandpa fighting on the Nazi side? How about your own Nazi racism displayed in this forum? Have you got the summons from UK human rights already, as regards your racism against the Poles, including threasts of physical violence, voiced in this forum, creep? If not, it should reach you in no time - then we'll see what a tough feller you are.
:)
and let it be said that black people are just as prejudiced as every other group.....another subject.
- I know cases of Polish people harassed, beaten up and murdered by Black people, in both US and UK. Are there as many cases of Black people mistreated so by Poles?
I'm African American ..... I don't really concern
- Why 'another subject'? One who care about truth should always use facts in their proper context, and he shouldn't use them out of context.
the english are germanic while the scts are close to scandanavian
Where did you get that ? English and Scots are a mix of Germanic and Celtic tribes, and maybe others... You seem really proud that daddy Adolf would have given you a stroke on your head.
Do you really know Hitler's plan ? Do you think that because you are supposedly "Germanic", he would never have attacked you ? History told us actually...
Norway is also a Germanic country, more than Britain, and was, for some Nazis, the birthplace of the so-called "Aryan race". What happened ? Germany invaded Norway, killed the coast guards who defended their country (it's a chance that some Polish submarine attacked and sank at least one of these German boats...).
when the nazis invaded the channel islands they taught children german. when they invaded poland they tossed childfen into ovens
As there were quite a lot of Poles (in western Poland particularly) who already spoke German, they didn't need to be taught German. Do you realize that you are talking about kids ? + Polish children who were blond (and maybe with some other features) were supposed to be "germanized".
Seems you like this oven stuff, maybe you should try it...just an idea.
- I know cases of Polish people harassed, beaten up and murdered by Black people, in both US and UK. Are there as many cases of Black people mistreated so by Poles?
You may know of one or two that you heard from someone but I guarantee you don't know of enough to make a trend.
And yes there are cases of blacks mistreated by Poles...again doesn't mean it is common or happening all the time. Just because you do not see something or ignore it doesn't mean it does not exist.
Damn. I'm black and I just moved to Poland tuesday. I was in warsaw for the first three days, and although my girlfriend's family was super nice, people stared at me a lot in the streets, which can get bothersome after a while.
However, I just drove into my girlfriend's small town, called zamosc. I havent been around yet, but I'm pretty scared because I know for a fact that the population is 99% white.
The only reason I fear racism here in Poland is because I have a white polish girlfriend, and she happens to be beautiful (objectively speaking). I am planning on getting a flat in Warsaw, where I will be teaching english. So far many people seem eager to employ me, so right now, I have mixed feelings... I'm still thinking of getting a gun, if thats possible, legally.
I'm still thinking of getting a gun, if thats possible, legally.
That won't help you; Poland is not the US where people have guns in the hope to be protected. In Warsaw there are more international people and you will be fine.
Negrolad violent crime here is lower than some places so as long as you stay out of stupid situations (around drunk people late at night, alone in isolated areas of the city etc etc) you should be ok on that front. Just like if you lived in NYC or London be aware of your surroundings.
During the day, shopping, working etc when people are around the worst you should suffer is staring and comments...yes that gets old and will not stop with time. If you start to understand Polish you will hear people say nasty things about you to their friends etc because they think you cannot understand. Don't let them get away with it...let them know you heard it and think it is very wrong. One of two things will happen...they will get embarrassed and know they were rude or they will lash out and tell you to "f23k off" but either way you win because they don't get away with being a jerk.
This is a very touchy issue because no Pole here wants to admit their people are like this but it is simply true and you will see. In private they will insist to you they are not racist yet if you are privy to living room conversations as a white guy (as I am) you hear how they really are. You will likely get more crap because you have a white Polish gf...which many people see as some personal affront to them...much like the 60s in the USA.
Remember it is a culture of purely white and nearly purely Polish blood. You will see other nationalities in Warsaw but MOSTLY you will see white Polish faces...it is not an international mixed city like you might see in Paris/Barcelona/London etc. They are very nationalistic and because of how they have been treated through history they are VERY prideful and isolated in their view of the world. They have been abused and attacked over and over the past and now becoming strong is very important to them...to the point they are often overly zealous about defending how great and strong they are.
Contrary to what the uber patriots here would have you believe I am not anti Poland...I am just realistic about what is good and what is bad here. You will see after you spend a year or more here...it takes time to settle and see the subtleties that occur daily.
Hey Jones, thanks for your perspective on things. I think the Poles should encourage tourism as well as immigration, for the sake of their economy and international standing, both of which can use a boost. Also I don't understand why a nation that had to deal with Hitler and Stalin would be intolerant to outsiders.
And to answer Grzegorz, the fact that racism in Poland is "simply true" is simply relevant to me, so that's what. And if you think that commenting on Polish homogeneity is an automatic plea to paint your face for "people of colour" then you should take a course on informal logic, because your conclusion does not follow from the premise. I think Jones was just stating a fact, and simply being informative.
I am in Poland right now. And I've been to Germany.
You guys should understand that I'm not saying anything mean about Poland. I moved here after all. I think Poland is an interesting place, especially because I like history, and Poland has an interesting history. The town I'm in now, called Zamosc, is a very interesting example of a renaissance city, founded as it was during the renaissance, by Jan Zamoyski, who is also an interesting historical figure. I like to learn more about the may 3rd constitution and about history from that time on.
The only issue is racial attitudes, and it's a real issue for non polish tourists and immigrants, even though most Polish citizens are really warm, accommodating, and welcoming. So far my experiences have been really good, but I've only been here a few days.
So there's no need to get defensive, especially when people are just relaying information about the country.
