Americans who call themselves Polish - how do you feel about that?

Sorry, but I've always thought that way! I never thought of myself as having an accent, but thought of others from other areas of the country or different parts of the world as having one. Is it perhaps that everyone thinks their local lingo is "normal?"

Sure, most people do, but normal for the country that you live in :) To say that we don't have an accent though?

As for accent, I think we're forgetting something.....

all of the American States have a different sound to the way they sound the words their spoken language of "english".

each country in Europe has it's own language, but Europe does not speake one same language as we do. When people from Europe come here, we notice an accent, too! Not only is it European, but also Polish, Swedish, Italian, Irish, etc....

I visited the Greenpoint/Williamsburg area of Brooklyn NY a few weeks ago...this is a
rather sizable Polish-American area of Brooklyn...it also has a lot of new bars, clubs &
art galleries that have opened up in the past 5 years or so...there were many young
Polish women there, I guess students or maybe new immigrants, and they were speaking Polish, and the accents sounded beautiful...and they were very pretty, too.

Hmmm...this issue is a coin: two sides I mean:

a) US draws its strength from its European heritage, so there is nothing wrong with being Polish-American, Irish-American etc...
b) "there are no hyphenated Americans" as T. Roosevelt & John Wayne put it. There can be loyalty to only one country when in US, and that is the US

This is the thing nobody thinks they have an accent but in reality we all do, its only really noticeable when your talking to people with a different accent. ;-)

They're only identifying their heritage. Your question says more about your ignorance of their culture than anything else.

You obviously couldn't be bothered to read the whole thread so I couldn't really be bothered to reply/explain it to you.

Golly, Wally! That was clever. I know I'll be sorry to have missed your enlightening screed.

:[

Prove it...

The U.S. is an immigrant country, not a nation. A nation is made up of one ethnicity, language, and religion, as it should be. Many Europeans don't want "Americanization" in their countries and want to protect their national identity. They have a right to do so and if I was born and raised in Poland I would be the same way. I cringe when I see McDonald's signs dot the Polish skyline, or the skyline of any European city, and I'm completely American. This is why capitalism has beem staunchly rejected by a significant minority of Europeans. I understand Europeans' dislike for America, but I do get rather pissed when they target the American people, rather than the "idea of America." If I heard a British person make fun of our healthcare system, I'd have to give'em a big ol' heartfelt "**** You." But if they make fun of us for being fat, I don't care because I'm not fat and I realize the downside of capitalism.

hahaha, you have issues.

I am a third generation American, born to parents with only Polish blood, but at heart I consider myself a Pole. All my life I was taught to be proud of my heritage, especially by my babcia who always made delicious Polish food and constantly sung Polish songs to me and my sisters. Every year since I was 10 years old, my family has taken a two week trip to Poland which has definitely made me feel much closer to roots. I see no problem in calling myself a Pole despite the fact that I was not born in Poland, a county that I love with a culture that I open-heartedly embrace.

*Renata

I would like to address the OP on this...

First off, you must understand what it is to be an "American". Secondly.. you must not confuse "Nationality" and "Ethnicity"

The only "True" Americans are that of the American-Indian, they were here the longest, everyone else is just an immigrant.

Yes I was born in America, I am an American... America is my nation. However.. My ethnic background is that of Irish and Scottish and a little Polish.

As an american, I have no cultural Identity... I am extremely envious of people from other countries who have this culture.. American culture is comprised of smaller pieces of various other cultures, because the Majority of our citizens came from other countries.

So, If you are born of 2 100% polish people in America, your nationality is American... but your ethnicity cannot be changed... you are Polish... its that simple...

I say: just think about the difference between nationality and ethnicity when using these words to describe your thoughts.

Jesus Northwood !!! - there is no hope for you !

the reason i claim to be polish (and i am)(althogh not 100 %, my name is swedish.) (but that doesn't mean i can't claim that im polish.) is because i am very proud to be polish. i cant help if my pro babci wanted to marry her love.

To Casimir: No, America is a nation made up of many tribes...the problem in America is
when one of the tribes tries a power-grab & steps on the tribes that have seniority...this
happened to an extent with the original European settlers vis-a-vis the Native Americans, but that story has many dimensions...the country was also wide-open at that

time and there was room for different tribes to expand...the problem now is that we are
being flooded with illegal immigrants, and we are a nation with laws that are designed to
regulate this, but they are not enforced...all the European tribes generally lived in peace
with one another, although there was always a pecking order: WASP's were on top for
a long time; but the last 100 years Jews have made the power-grab...also, the economy
although it seems very prosperous, is a house of cards and this makes the immigration
problem worse...every 'nation' is actually a merger of smaller tribes, it's just that the
tribes have to unite for the greater nation...most ethnics were proud to be Americans first while retaining some of their tribal culture.

i always say i'm a Polish American...if not just American.

I am of Polish ancestry and after learning about my ancestors, I am very proud to say that I am a Polish American. :)

both my parents are off the boat and are pure bred polacks. i was born in the states.
the current crop of fellow polacks that come off the boat dont consider me to be a pure bred polack which i find funny.
while the country i was born in is america, my upbringing was 100% polish.
i guess ill just have to wear sandals with white socks and reek of sausage

still wont help

o.k, brown pants with a red shirt should help me look the roll!

are you kidding me? if one has polish citizenship then one is Polish no matter where they live.

I came to the states when i was 3yrs old! I have lived in the states for the last 18yrs of my life. I am young and i am very proud of my customes and culture!

I go to a all polish mass on sundays. We eat, drink, speak and live like the polish do. We stay current with polish politics. My mother does her best to keep us updated on our origins.

I am 100% full blooded Polish. But as i did travel i came to find out i was not too welcomed by many poles as i was raised in america.

I have pride for Poland and i have grown to be proud of America. Both have made me what i am today.

I feel that i am not the type that is " half polish and half irish and half german and half english and half this and half that" as many americans say. And then pick out the coolest one and claim to be it all the way and can't even find it on the world map.

I was raised in a polish household with polish family all around with polish rules and shown the polish standerds.

I'd agree with this statement. While my heritage on one side of my family may be Polish I'd never claim I was Polish to imply other than genetics and a bit of a cultural influence because of how closed the community was that my mother came from. In having a good friend who is from Poland, it is interesting how much similarity is between her and my mom on values and family attitude. As a result as I have taken better inventory of my value system, I have seen why I have found conflict between the way I have always been told I should be by the American cultural standard for women and what is at my core value system - which is from my mother's traditional upbringing from "The Old Country".

I think as long as someone isn't trying to claim to be something they are not then as an American it is refreshing to know where your roots are from since America can in itself become so homogeneous and non-descript.

Hence the reason that I look to learn more about the culture of my grandparents and bring that culture back into the future generations rather than forgetting my family's roots. I am inclined to create a marriage and a family with a man of similar heritage rather than continuing to water down an identity to the point where my grandchildren one day look at a family tree and decide that they have no strong tie to any one culture. There is strength in knowing your culture for you then know yourself better and how your choices and values affect your life.


Nursing homes are such sad ways to bring a close to a rich, full life. One reason I work - so that I can make sure my parents won't be subject to such a final stage and that they may live comfortably in my home or my siblings home until their last days. So - there are some Americans out there that don't buy the nursing home routine.

I can't believe we actually have people being offended that someone wants to call themselves polish, I wish half the Asians/Muslims in my country (UK) would be proud enough call themselves British/English, surely it's a compliment if anthing ?, My grandad was Polish so I have polish genes in me, not much, but I'm proud of who I am and my ancestry, I am here today because my grandad came here from Poland, I owe him my life, I owe him my respect for fighting for this country in the secound world war, no I don't call myself Polish but I'm proud to have polish blood in me and why not.

that's the paradox of being born in one country and raised in another. in the u.s. i'm considerd too polish to really be an american and in poland i'm too americanized to really be polish. so where do i belong? it's easy to get down on yourself when both sides reject you. although i've noticed most americans consider me to be 'exotic' since i'm from poland and still speak with an accent and the poles assume i live a spoiled and privileged life because i live in the u.s. they still think money grows on trees...

I am an American but all my ancestors hail from Poland and I take great pride in their tales and because of them I visited, then lived in Poland. I am Polish-American and nobody can tell me I am not, well you can but it won't change my mind I am proud of who I am and where my family came from. I even learned enough polish to have a conversation(I sound like a baby but I can converse). Whats the problem?

i believe that but it also depended on an individuals personal experiences. if you grow up with all the love and support about being polish, of course you will have no problem admitting what you are and even have 'polish pride' on the other hand when all you get is grief about being polish then the last thing you want to do is admit that you are.

the first few years i lived in the u.s. i was unmercifully picked on just because i am polish and i came from poland. it got to the point where i wouldn't admit to anyone that i was polish and did everything i could to try to hide it. i wanted to change my name, take diction lessons to get rid of my accent, anything i could just to avoid the pain and misery. i hated myself and felt i was cursed by being polish. i felt ashamed. it took years for those feelings to subside. i still have my name and my accent, and am working on being comfortable admitting that i am polish. trying to feel proud. i tell myself that this is what makes me unique and special (as cheesy as that sounds) and that there are people out there that consider my nationality an asset and not a curse.

no one should ever be made to feel ashamed of what or who they are. it is almost impossible to get past it. i don't think some people truly realize what effect they have on others, especially children. (sorry for the long rant) :)

;

Are you kidding? Anyone can get a citizenship, Olisadebe has a citizenship and sorry but he's not Polish.

According to Polish law, if you have Polish blood you're Polish. That's just the law. To me, you're truly Polish if you're born in Poland, other wise you're just an American with a Polish background.

Very interesting topic.