Oh really? You are right to some extent but the same came be said of the Hispanics (both legal and illegal) who are coming in by the thousands very regularly. The fact is most people in both USA and Canada speak English fairly well.
Originally Poles were seen as different because we werent from one of the more Western European English speaking countries.
Many ethnicity had trouble in the US. Italians, Poles, Jews, Irish, etc, etc. Today stereotypes hav drastically declined but still live in some areas.
Poles are/were seen as being from Eastern Europe and poorer, more behind folk from the "evil" commie Soviets. Some western Europeans think they are "superior" to Eastern Europeans and since we are coming to "their" land they feel safer with this idea. Some eastern Europeans think they are superior to western Europeans too.
Very simple answer, when they have to paint their flag they have to use a lot of effort to paint their flags (symbols and such on them) while Poland white&red and then TA DA DONE!
I'd rather say that polish people are disturbingly reluctant to joke about themselves, since that would require two things: 1) Sense of humour - which usually is tied to level of one's intelligence 2) Admitting that they actually DO have flaws - and most Poles will always claim otherwise.
Are you by any chance suggesting that Polish people, on the average, aren't exactly too bright?
Odd, because I personally met Poles who were highly intellectual, often accomplished in academia, and my bet is they'd make you look like a mental midget or a mildly retarded person if they so chose to over the course of a 5 minute conversation.
The other issue - admitting that they have flaws - is indeed a problem for most Polish people.
I'd rather say that polish people are disturbingly reluctant to joke about themselves, since that would require two things:1) Sense of humour - which usually is tied to level of one's intelligence2) Admitting that they actually DO have flaws - and most Poles will always claim otherwise.
Nonsense.
Polish people in the past have taken more abusive jokes then most other ethnic groups.
Usually the people who accuse Polish people of "not having a sense of humor" or "reluctant to joke about themselves", are much more sensitive and uptight about jokes against their ethnic background then Poles are.
Tell me, what TV show that reached tens of millions of people for a decade in the 1970's and repeated many times afterwards......day after day after day called Irish or Jewish people "dumb meathead micks/harps" or "dumb meathead kikes" on an on going basis that CONDITIONED/BRAINWASHED tens of millions of people to think of Irish people or Jewish people as "dumb meathead Mics/Harps" or "Dumb Meathead Kikes" on and on going basis?
If you're talking about Archie Bunker, spare me the whining - the joke was on his bigotry, as it was in the British show they bought the format of. Over there, some less intelligent people missed the point as well.
Americans hate their neighbours more than they hate Poles.
American friend of mine told me once that maps in their school picture Canada a bit smaller than it actually is. They (not all of them though) hate outsiders, despite the fact that American population actually does consist of various nationalities, including Polish nationality.
As far as I've noticed, Canadian jokes are somewhat similar to Polish jokes. Some of them may be funny, some are offensive and based on stereotypes, but honestly, there's no point in arguing over trifles.
There are plenty of jerks in every nation. There are also nice, educated people that surely won't make such nasty remarks. People are different.
Americans hate their neighbours more than they hate Poles.
I hate my neighbor cause they are crackheads and they hit the side of my car, whether they are polish or english or whatever nationality , they screwed up my day, because I was going to go into work early to make some extra money and now my car looks like shyt ,after having a 10 day hospital stay with my daughter this is just another burden on top of the doctors visits and my own appts!!
I dont hate canadians or anyone of any nationality as much as I hate my flippin neighbor right now!! Their country is crackhead country on the other side of the street!!
Canadian jokes
i have a joke, how many crackheads does it take to smash a car?? two! and neither one knows their arse from a hole in the ground!
staying on topic..I am american and I dont hate Polish or Canadians, its people as individuals, you meet some who are super sweet and then you meet crackheads who need a foot up their fanny.. just like my neighbors who could be polish, or canadaian I doubt it though,
What makes people think Americans dislike the Polish?I've never seen it.I'm sure there are some knucklehead bigots that do,but I assure you It's not mainstream.
its just a topic, people are running out of things to ask cause I think just about every question you can think of has been asked
at least twenty/thirty times or so! alot of merging going on :)
I am Canadian and every single Polish person I met I really liked. In my city a lot of people from Poland immigrated here. Lots of the people I went to school with have parents from Poland. I would say that some of the nicest people I met growing up in high school had a polish background...
If this one guy who says he is Canadian said he does not like Polish people, well I don't like him and I think he is a huge idiot and you can tell him so :p
I've also chat with some Canadian who was also superior towards me as a Pole
hmmm americans think they are superior to everyone so that isn't shocking but to be so broad as to say all americans and canadians hate poles? I strongly doubt that i can only speak from a canadian point of view but Canadians don't really hate much we may not particularly love something but we rarely hate anything except running out of beer and the nhl being on strike. I am a canadian and i am dating a polish man i certianly don't have him i don't even hate his mom and she's just not nice to me at all. you may have met with one canadian with an air of superiority but i can assure you among canadians that is a rare trait. and please stop with the americans ( and Canadians) in brackets stuff i see it all the time on here We are separate nations with very separate attitudes and beliefs and the one thing a canadian might hate (besides running out of beer and hockey on strike) is being lumped in with americans who might be the only nation we consider ourselves superior to... we're bigger and we're on top so in our minds that makes them our b****
What makes people think Americans dislike the Polish?I've never seen it.I'm sure there are some knucklehead bigots that do,but I assure you It's not mainstream.
You're right, I've never even heard people talking about them. Maybe the fact that people here don't talk about them, makes them believe that we hate them. As you say, you'll always find some moron who hates Poles but the same moron, most likely hates anyone who doesn't live in his direct neighborhood (actually, he might even hate his neighbors too) so I wouldn't pay attention to it at all.
some people hate everyone that is their own issue if you let it worry you you are making it your issue. I think it is a rare thing in Canada and the united states for someone to hate someone else simply becasue they are polish or russian or british or italian or whatever they are... they may hate a polish person for other qualities but becaue they are polish that is not so common these days. It does still happen although in Canada i see it more so towards native canadians than polish people and in the states more so towards mexicans than polish people... again it is their own person issue why make it your own.
This is the dumbest question I have ever heard. The US Americans and the Canadians do not hate Polish people. What leads to this question and the dumb ol' jokes about Polish people is that there may be a hint of jealousy to the Poles because after the 1600s, Poland as a country never rose as a strong nation again, yet many people from Poland remained great, intelligent, beneficial people. Does anyone know that the street lamp and the oil refinery were invented by a Pole? Does anyone know that vitamins were discovered by a Pole? In the US, does anyone know that many bridges in the American southwest were originally designed by a Polish-American? Of course not. Many people don't. This jealousy stems from the notion that Poles are a great people, yet they cannot seem to make their own country strong and rich (and they have had this problem, since the latter half of the 1700s). So, they flock elsewhere to make something for themselves in other countries, and many succeed. I'm from the US and I'm of partial Polish descent, and the Poles, among many other groups of people, helped ensure that the US could even exist as a country. There should be no reason why US Americans and Canadians or anyone else from any country should hate the Polish people at all. So, please put down the hate questions, and perhaps you all should realize what great contributions the Polish people have done for the world.
...but I don't hate polish people and I'm Canadian. I think Poland is a very beautiful country and the people are generally very nice friendly,funny,and outgoing :)
I never really noticed that Americans have any bad blood towards Poles. There are millions of Americans of Polish descent. But I am only speaking from my own personal experience. But I personally would say that most Americans don't care if someone is Polish or not.
I don't think Americans or Canadians dislike Polish people in particular, in most cases they may not notice us, generally they don't pay attention to us which is fine with me. I think we do not have to be the centre of attention, we are modest people and Americans would not understand our motives or certain concepts if we started talking about our history, for instance, and how we suffered and how courageously we defended our country and how we pride ourselves on that and how this is the number one aspect of our being, which for Americans is not, for Americans the expansive efforts of warfare and conquer are the themes which they try to incorporate in their society as the most significant - survival of the fittest, doesn't matter about the weak (not every American agrees with it though). We are different but we both get along well in most cases - from what I observed.
