Polish nationality? Which of the following (if any) determine being Polish.

Polishness is a state of mind.

I am not a Yank.I am being constantly told by Americans that now I am an American.I don't object since they just try to be nice but I am a gd Pole and always will be.


Who?


True in the sense that they are (I am generalizing now)just too proud only of being born in the US but same goes for other nations too.

They should just tell you you aren't very original instead.

Oh yea?elaborate.

Pride comes before a fall and all that.

If someone is convinced they are Polish then that's all that matters.

What if they are from Cambodia and have never been to Poland and have no ties to it?


Lol.

I see too many young people so tuned into their "instant" world that have no interest in understanding what it took to get here. Their only connection to yesterday is their log of phone calls. They will begin to think that all their accomplishment and failures are new and unique, but they won't be.

I remain PROUD of what challenges each and everyone of our parents and grandparents faced and overcame. If you are not, then I feel sorry for you, for you are doomed to struggle and failure.

If you want to know your past, look into your present conditions. If you want to know your future, look into your present actions.
--Buddhist Saying
home.att.net/~quotesexchange/past.html
or "Padmisambha"
iqml.tripod.com/author/padmisam.htm
etc.
cycnet.com/englishcorner/digest/

smigly wilno
Very well said! (or quoted) I agree with you 100%!

Do not listen to those naysayers who chastise you for your pride. You have national pride, which is a very different kind of pride than that which "goeth before a fall." That kind of pride is defined as "a high or inordinate opinion of one's own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority." (from Dictionary.com)

From your post #182, I read that you are proud of your Polish heritage, that your father survived Siberia and that he fought in the Polish army (not sure if that is the correct translation), that the country of Poland is still breathing, of the Polish fight for freedom from Communist control, and that the economy of Poland remains resilient and vibrant. You also say that you "remain PROUD of what challenges each and everyone of our parents and grandparents faced and overcame."

I do not read anywhere where you give a high opinion of your own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority. You are simply "proud to be Polska," one Polish person among many. Bravo! That, IMO, is the perfect kind of pride to have! :-)

Finally, someone understands.

Blood?

I doubt it, as someone who is half Greek and half Polish I can tell you the nationalism is high in these countries but the blood isn't strong, nor is there an origin. Both were lands inhabited by tribes and overtime saw vast emigration and immigration, along with their borders disappearing and blending under countless empires. (Byzantium, Prussia, Russia, Austria, Roman, Ottoman- just to name a few). The blood is mixed, even though there are some genes which most Poles do hold in common which can be used as an identity. But don't expect to be homogeneous like Iceland, or Britain.

Place of birth?

While the place you are born DOES play a factor, with the culture you're taught into, the society you're brought up in, your first nurtured/learned language indeed would play a big implement into being brought up Polish, along with getting a Polish education. While it would be wrong to deny Polish-American their ethnicity, more and more of Polish Americans are speaking the language less and knowing the culture and history less as they blend into the corporatist monoculture of the American melting pot...which I think is sad...

Culture, religion, language?

Culture and language of course. Someone who speaks Polish clearly has a strong interest in the country and is most likely Polish since Polish isn't so much a universal language like French or English, and of course culture plays a big role. But again anyone can pick these things up and not have any heritage, but in terms of Poland (which isn't like Japan or France) most people who speak the language and celebrate the culture are Polish. After all 98% of Poland considers themselves ethnic Poles. As for religion, Catholicism exists everywhere and in terms of culture I think it belongs more to Italy...

Personal reference?

Well if someone truly doesn't want to be Polish to the point where they deny their own heritage, then why would you want them on the train? Better to have a foreigner who loves Poland. But yes if someone does have heritage I think that is enough to make the declaration that they are Polish, regardless is they don't speak the language or culture (in my opinion that would make them less Polish, but that is debatable). However, for a foreigner to just wake up and say it? No. Maybe if they were citizens, had family, lived there for a long time and spoke the language.

Something else?

Yes, they MUST drink wódka. ;-) jking....lol

Not only drink wódka, but must LOVE wódka.......along with Krupnik.....LOL! TOGETHER!!!

It is not that we want to be something else. It is that we are proud of where we came from. I mean if I could trace my roots back 300 years or more in America and my family grew up and was part of that interesting history you spoke of than perhaps I would be more inclined to say I am only American. My family is only second generation living in America. I still have relatives in Poland I keep in contact with. I can trace my families history much further in Poland than I can in the Usa. I teach my children where they came from. I don't want them to forget.

Move to Poland. Learn the language. Eat the food. Contribute to Polish Society. Poland needs people like you. They're asking for people to return, someone mentioned that Poland is offering people money to open businesses in Poland. Reading the posts on this forum convinces me that you can make a go of it economically in Poland.

Yep. Claims to be half Polish and half German. For what it's worth - I think he's really just a plain old racist American ;)

Certainly, his nonsense about Russians being friends of Poles shows him to be totally ignorant.

No. You're an American. How long have you lived in Poland?

Nietzsche wrote "[M]y ancestors were Polish noblemen: I have many racial instincts in my body from that source, who knows? Ultimately even the liberum veto."

A scientist he wasn't.

Well...I can claim to be Japanese....I still won't become one.

But hey..you are claiming to be an Easterner with a distaste to the West. But nonetheless you are also an American, born and living in the epitome of the West. Tja, such is life! Nobody is perfect...

Just because his name is Matt means hes not Polish? are you an idiot?

Where did you get this mother determines the bloodline stuff? Ive only heard Jewish people use that one.
Pretty sure "blood" comes from both parents.

It's rather PolskiDumb trying to pin famous people to Poland just because of a "ski" somewhere in the name...regardless if these people ever set a foot into Poland, had any idea of polish culture or even spoke one word polish.

What do you think of that?

That would be Jewish tradition. In Poland both parents' roots are important, sometimes father being more decisive factor I'd say.

Having Polish blood doesn't make anyone automatically Polish. Nurture, not nature.

It is both. Would you ever consider an african to really be polish?

Yes, very easily if the person is assimilated.

but he cannot be Polish by blood. That and complete assimilation is never possible, unless the person is not a visible minority has has been raised there by non immigrants.

Irrelevant. There are thousands (millions?) of people who are 'Polish by blood' but not in the least bit Polish.


Very possible and very common.

After generations and generations. But no matter what anyone says non whites are never considered Poles. Nothing against them but it is the way it is.

Oh come on thats ridiculuos.
My family is 100% Polish to early 19th century (afaik).
I live in Canada but the fact is im fricken Polish.
I speak and read it. I eat Polish food. etc.

If someone is 99%-100% Polish by blood they are Polish I dont care where the hell they live or what they do.
Even people who are 1/2 Polish have Polish blood. In that case I could say hes 50%Polish 50%German for example.

So there is are no Americans, cept a handful of Natives who it seems are distant migrants from russia/china.
My grandparents all came to US from Yugoslavia. I eat McDonalds. I speak English.
Please enlighten meas to who I am Mr Legend.