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

you are an American with Yugoslavian ancestors.

Yes that is exactly what I say also : )
I was trying to eek out at what point I became American by your thinking I was Yugo up to the 90s then would have switched through no effort of my own; and if you are 100% Polish you can not have any allegiance, brotherhood or claim to Canada or other Canadians. Or, God forbid, Poland merged itself with Germany how you would be able to claim to be Polish or would you then call your self German. All just rhetorically, I mean as food for thought.

I don't just eat MaccyDs BTW ; )

I understand. Different societies have different ways of identifying where one is from.
I know in China it does not matter where you are in the world or what you do. You are Chinese.

In America its completely different because the population is not 'homogeneous'. Everyone comes from different parts.

Also in America they try to make you American in any way possible. I rarely here some call themselves
Polish-American.

But in Canada where I am multiculturalism is HUGE. People are proud of both being in Canada and their past.
I mostly identify myself as Polish/Canadian over here. I was born in Austria (when my parents went from Poland-Canada) but I got no passport/citizenship. So I dont consider myself Austrian.

Not exactly true.

Come here to New York where most Italian & Irish people say they are Italian or Irish not American.
Same with Poles.

The ones in America who don't indentify their ethnicity are typically very mixed Southern & Mid Western Whites who are often like 10 different ethnciities & have been here for so long.


It is generally the same way with Polish people because of the Partitions of Poland we all became part of Polonia no matter what country we lived in.

Nope, you are Canadian.Her majesty QE II is your Boss lady,part of NATO,a westerner,a North American....you have a hobby which involved learning a european language,thats it.

I have a Viking name, I speak dialect that sprung largely from viking times, I live within the boundries of the viking kingdom in england and I drink ale, Im not a Norwegian though....

And yet none of them can speak the language of the country that they identify with.

So what? You don't understand the context here in America. Anglophonic American citizens can recognize each other instantly after speaking with each other. Thus when they ask each other about their ethnicity they do not reply "I am an American" because they would be seen as utter bores stating the obvious. Ethnicity for non-Native Americans is tied to their countries of ancestral origin. We remember where our ancestors came from because it is part of our individual identities in a motley nation of immigrants.

Des Essientes wrote:


but you gotta admit....it gets a bit annoying when you see the Italian kid from Staten Island, driving his Mitsubishi Eclipse with the Italian sticker on the back bumper, wearing a wifey and the big gold chain, slicked back hair, tawkin' wit dat New Yawk accent, going to clubs and pumping his fists, talking about how he's sooo Italian, dropping the vowel at the end of every Italian food name (pepperon, mozzerell) on top of saying words that he thinks is Italian but they're really just made up words like "gabbagool".

I mean.....I get it Des Essientes, people in the USA, especially in the tri-state area (where I'm from) have a bit of an identity crisis and at some point you see it necessary to at least mention that you aren't the descendent of a family of pilgrims from the 1600's so you tell people where your parents or grandparents or great grandparents came from "so I'm 25% X, 25% Y and 50% Z" but at times Des Essientes, Americans sound a bit ridiculous talking about their heritage......which they generally know nothing about in the first place.

It's a weird topic in the USA because you grow up in a country that basically has no true blood line.....unless you're American Indian. Everything traces back to another country.

When I'm abroad, I tell people I'm American. When I'm in America, I wouldn't say "I'm American" because like DE already said, that part is obvious....so I give people the "percentage" speech because there's really no other way to explain it.

If you are born in that country, you are that nationality....if you moved to the country and become naturalised, yes you probably say I originate from so and so.

The world is getting incredibly small and mixed. And good for that :)..Here comes Polski about why race mixing is wrong. and we should create the Aryan race.

Because they are fakes. If you are not in touch with the language and culture then you cannot possibly identify with said group.

Yes Fuzzy, this Italian-American type, often perjoritively described as a "Guido" (which is unfortunate because the name Guido was once synonymous in English with the divine painter Guido Reni), is indeed the most obnoxious example of ethnic identity gone awry in all of the USA. The Irish-Americans are a very distant second that usually only harp (get it?) upon their Irishness when they are in their cups.

Is there such a thing as a British-American?

Nope not really, the American in question would have to specify whether they were English or Welsh or Scottish or Cornish etc. and if they were some combination of these they would have to specify each one. Americans calling themselves Scotch-Irish are very common especially amongst our rustic hill-folk.

Years ago, I worked on Info systems for UK government. Recording ethnicity had to fit in tick boxes for reporting purposes. Legally you can claim any ethnicity an example I remember was an elderly patient who declared her ethnicity as her husband's who was from a different continent and a different colour. You are allowed to say British-American in the UK but in likelihood be boxed into British-Other.

100% correct PolskiMoc. Same thing here in Philadelphia. I know many Irish Americans who are 2nd or 3rd generation here and are full Irish. Many people put aside their Americaness and tend to hang with people of their own ethnicity. It's the ones who are 3,4, 5 different things and are 5th -10th generation in AMerica who feel American.


Well if they came here and continued to have children with other people of Irish decent technically they are full Irish. They are very proud of their heritage, you may not see an American flag flying but you'll see and big flag of Ireland by their house.

nope Candy, he is what he says he is. It's a same with many (not all though) Poles here in the US too. I even prefer if they call themselves Polish, at least I'm less disappointed when they don't act like us when it comes to showing appreciation for everything this country and people did for them. I personally don't blame them for being here since everyone chooses a better place to live for himself. The only thing I don't like about it is that if they don't feel like saying positive things about us, at least they shouldn't constantly criticize everything here either (a little bit of fairness, that's all).

A random person on the internet telling me who I am. Funny.
My nationality is Canadian
My ethnicity is Polish

thats all there is to it. I value my ethnicity more than my nationality.

"Hobby which involved learning a European language?" lmao.
I learned Polish in Poland and Canada in school and from family not from hobby.

QEII? She can go die right now I dont care. The same with the whole British monarchy.
Whether she is the 'boss' is debatable.
The majority of Canadians dont care about some rich losers in a foreign land.


Ahh. I posted 1 minute too late :|

not always my friend. I've met a guy from Czech Rep. in South Carolina who just received his citizenship and he is very proud to be an American and he hopes to be fully accepted here as an American.

Well because what else is he supposed to say 'I feel Czech and always will' he told you what you wanted to hear. I knew a guy from my old job an Iranian who told everyone he's American. He was here for 40 years! Became a citizen, when he spoke of Iran he said 'my old country Iran' (past tense). Anyway he saved his money some 1 million dollars, took it went back to Iran never to return again. People born in an another country will always feel that they are that nationality. Many born here to immigrant parents still feel they are, it's not uncommon at all. Someone like for instance actor and comedian Martin Lawrence will feel he's American being born in Germany, because both his parents were Americans (just stationed over there).

isthatu2
You are what you feel you are. Ethno-cultural awareness and self-identity are subjective concepts, a thing of the consciousness or soul, and no scrap of paper, no chip, no laws, rules, regulations or red tape can change that. Under extreme conditions, one may bite one's lip and not admit one's feelings (if someone, for instance came to power saying 'Starting tomorrow all Norwegians get shot'), but that doesn't have to change how you feel.

Why? I bet I didn't sound like I'm working for the Homeland Security, lol He told me that he always dreamed (dreamt for our British friends) about moving to the US. He seemed to be really genuine about it.


maybe mostly but not always PB. I know, you're trying to excuse your butt now, (lol) but don't speak for everyone else because that Czech guy really sounded like he meant what he was saying.


I don't know about MANY but some for sure. I could imagine, it's mostly the case with Pol-Ams judging by this forum but then again, some guy (a member of PF too) from Chicago told me that PolAms in Chicago are not as anti American as some of you here. I can only repeat what PolAms are telling me as I've never met any PolAm (if I did, I didn't know about it) in the US but of course I've met whole bunch of Poles while I was in Poland.