Polish people and racism.

i've read quite a few entries and unfortunately i have to agree with some of them. being polish myself i feel kind of uneasy about admitting that we are racist, sad but true. i am polish polish, not polish american, living in the usa. i have an interracial marriage! but i guess i am an exception. i think we - polish folks - are a very insecure nation, with a very low self-esteem, which is partly historically motivated. but only partly. our country is 99% mono-racial. moreover, it's all whites. some of us may have some distant ties to other nationalities. and we are pretty much all catholics. we are all the same to an outsider. i am an atypical pole, i am not religious at all, i hate vodka :), i do not steal, i have a very high academic degree and i teach english in america. i am not racist (how can i be? i married a successful businessman who happens to be an african american). i am actually quite embarrassed by my own country fellows in the usa and elsewhere. so i am all those things, but at the same time i am not. people are actually shocked when they find out i am from poland and teach at an american college. i think that polish people create a sort of protective shield in the form of racism. now, sometimes we can be real asses. i am gonna admit it. we are highly critical of others, but to ourselves we are crystal clear. we do not know how to mix only because we never had to. we do not accept other religions because we don't know them. isn't it ignorant?! we are always thinking others are trying to screw us because that has been done to us and our country many times in the past 1000 years. we are a nation of complainers, it's in our DNA. we owe it to comunism, we have a scar in our minds. but i also think we have gotten better, we are a progressive nation these days. EU is teaching us that, and it's good. i am ashamed that some of us do certain things that later on create stereotypes and misrepresent polish people as an entire nation. at first i was pissed when i heard those polish jokes around me, but i grew to understand where they come from. i remember once a guy said to me that polish people are dumb. and i asked him to elaborate on that and he was at a loss for words. i challenged that guy and it turned out that he was dumb. not for nothing, but polish people have opinions of other nations as well. and amercians are stereotyped by us, too. but that's not the point. the point is to learn more of others no matter how different they might seem to be. and people are different, cultures are different, that's what makes it all worth exploring. i have learnt a great deal in the usa, not only about life, but about people ... as an educator i have to hope that one day we will open up more for others, but it's been taking a long time. by the way, i think i am one of very few polish people who will vote for senator obama. bottom line, it's all about one and the same thing proven time and time again in the history of civilization. it's all about us, regular people living on the same planet, breathing in the same air, ain't it? anna

nice first post... i consider myself a nontraditional Pole... I'm not racist and I value my Polish heritage.
We are all people, living on earth as humans... whatever happens happens :)

you can always show for such a person stats :

average IQ in europe:



Average IQ in the world:

as to alcohol (you can always show this stats as well)



I think you should visit Poland ...

as to American Poles you should read history ... who could get passport and could travel to USA ... it wasn't flower of our nation ...


after longer time on this forum I think we are very critical to ourself ...


after some time here I feel you are in some way typical


go to quote nr.1


agree ! stop complaing about our nation be atypical Pole.

You'd know then about appropriate paragraph spacing then? ;-)

not to mention the use of capital letter.

Wow, you do not steal and you are not racist? How atypical. ;)

Being Polish myself I feel kind of relieved to notice that there are all kinds in Poland, just like everywhere else. Some of them are racist, some of them aren't.


Yeah, I must be very atypical as well then. I just happen to teach English in Poland... and my academic degree is coming soon...
I could characterize many of my friends in a similar way. Are we all so atypical???


Really? 100% percent of us? I'm not very critical of others and I don't think I'm crystal clear. That'd be 99,9% then...


I know quite a lot about different religions. However, I don't find them attractive (including Catholicism).


Communism is equally important to me as the Battle of Dunkirk (I've heard about it but have no particular experiences connected with it). It means nothing to me and has left no scar in my mind whatsoever because I simply don't remember it. I was a little girl when it collapsed. Moreover, I think it's always best to look ahead.


Aren't you causing this by writing all this nonsense?


I find all the people who make generalizations (usually basing on some silly stereotypes) dumb.


It surely does. Still, I hate when people assume I'm a catholic, a thief and an alcoholic just when they hear I'm Polish.

and you middle name is a wise ass?

I think the issue is, capellanna, that when you announce yourself as "atypical" simply because you're not a racist, uneducated, complaining bigot, it would ruffle some feathers around here. Regardless of your intention, your first post, while informative and well though out, comes off a bit snooty and high and mighty. Again, regardless of the intention in which it was written, I certainly was left thinking that as a someone who would describe himself as a Pole I must really be awlful. One shouldn't be so cynical and negative about one's own people. You mention how homogenous Poland is but fail to mention that this is a fairly recent phenomena, that before WW2 Poland was one of the most diverse and tolerant nations on earth. We Poles are proud, we understand there's things in our history and people in our present that don't do us any service, but we don't like having just that side of it thrown in our faces.

thief -I`ve never heard that stereotype before.
alcoholic - I`ve heard this in a joking manner. Most people I know don`t consider the average Polish person an alcoholic.
Catholic - yeah.


No. You will find loads of complainers in every democratic nation. When people aren`t complaining, it usually isn`t because they`re happy with their nation but because they feel oppressed. Complacency isn`t exactly a good thing.


I`m not mocking your writing style but please be reader friendly and try to separate your block into readable parts. Your block made my eyes blurry. Thanks.




Me neither. I am a Polka (though I won`t identify with `typical` because I hate that word).
I guess you`re not that special :(


Well, there are more ways than one to be a racist. Just because you are in an interracial marriage doesn`t automatically disqualify you from being racist if you believe in stereotypes for other races (Hispanic, Asian, Caucasian, etc..). I`m not saying that you do, but you need to get off your high horse because being married to an AA doesn`t mean that you`re not racist. In fact, by identifying him as `the other` you are adhering to racist mentalities.


We are not racists. Ignorant individuals are.
Poland is far from perfect and I will not deny that there is racism in Poland (especially against the Roma) but they are trying to work on it. Like you said, Poland is basically one race of people. It is not easy to get around that mentality but steps have been taken.

I wrote it with reference to capellanna's words:

everybody writes from their point of view and I believe that the fact that Anna is married to a non-white person has made an influance on the way she thinks about racism. Well Anna. Not all Poles are racist and I have never been one. Just not my nature.

Germans complain that Polish people steal their cars ;)

Doesn't mean they do...

i know it doesnt but thats the stereotype

In Germany, I guess. Thats probably why I`ve never heard it all the way here in Canada.

A Polish girl stole my heart.....

And tonight she's taken my car too....

Proof I tell you

LOL! Is it a German car?
You better hunt her down because if she`s `typical`, you`re in trouble!


What colour is your heart?

<panics> Yes


Scalpel please nurse

Uh-oh! You let a Polish girl near your German car....But wait, is it two door or four door?

Two door - is that significant? Should I be calling the cops?

Yes. If its a bigger car, then she might be smuggling more thieving Polaks into the country. If, and I do mean IF, you get your car back, make sure to check it for signs of illegal immigrants. Especially Polish ones that will abuse your health care system.

*Check your wine cellar*

It's all coming to me now. She's done it before. Brought loads of Polish people into the house claiming they're relatives.And one of them went to the hospital once too. I've been tricked for the entire length of my marriage. It wasn't me she wanted. The marriage was a front for a massive immigration ring. Oh my God I'm destroyed. It was the smile that fooled me. I'll teach her. How do I post a new thread on lonely underworked but overpaid British male seeks Ukranian Bride. Must not be able to drive and have no living relatives.

Yup. That sounds about right. Is it too late to take her immigration ring away?
When you find a new bride to replace the racist, thieving Polish one, make sure to keep her away from the telephone and any form of communication.


Hopefully, this will work to your advantage, Apple Pie. Good luck.

You're taking capellanna's words out of context, I am sure for a reason. Now, what is it that you are trying to say here?

Stupid provocation... ignore...

Hi! I'm Polish, too. But I will need to ask you to elaborate on your thought a little. What "steps" are you talking about, Jova? That's a little unclear to me. Thanx :)

For a nation that has been through so much throughout history, you would have thought that, white supremacy, racism against skin colour and religious groups etc etc would not be something to be worried about in Poland. However it seems there is a sleeping beast within Poland.

For example the 88 gang or 'Hile Hitler' as the 8=H in the alphabet. How backwards is that, the persicution and suffering of the Polish people throughout the occupation by both Germany and Russia, yet still there are polish using the Nazi salute and are proud to put up the symbol of the Nazi's in their houses or in their haircuts or on their clothes.

I have come accross Polish people in this country, the uk, who are openly racist and don't mind saying it. Seems pretty clear to me that the Polish want Poland for the Polish and them alone. I cannot begin to understand the racial problems in poland but i know one thing, it needs to be sorted out before the situation gets worse, its already spreading throughout the football in Poland, gangs of racist thugs who go to matches to give a kickin to any unsusecting foreigner who decides to take in a game!!!.

Finally i'd like to finish with something that even shocked me and kept me quite for five or ten minutes through dis-belief. A 'POLISH GUY' said 'I think what hitler did to the jews was good' Interviewer 'so your saying that the gasing of the jews was a good thing??' polish guy 'yes, i don't think he killed enough of them, it should be happening now'

that summed it up for me, don't know about you!!!

(LONDON be prepared for Kosovo in UK

ok mate, show all your scary videos etc etc, do you understand one thing about Islam?? i doubt it very much, a protest here and there, isn't going to do much believe me. We've been bombed, shaken and steered and we still stand strong.

Terrorism and Muslims who wish to cause harm to our nation in the UK are mislead and not a true representation of Islam at all.

my question to you Lukasz is this, 'what is the greatest Jihad??' any true Muslim will tell you the correct answer, any misled misguided Muslim will tell you another. So maybe you can tell me the correct answer :)