Chicago's 1.1 million Polish Americans celebrated Constitution Day

CHICAGO, May 7 (Xinhua) -- A sea of red and white dominated Chicago's Grant Park Saturday as the city's large Polish American population celebrated Polish Constitution Day, attracting thousands of participants, spectators and top politicians.

news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2011-05/08/c_13864287.htm

Pick up a Bavarian-style beer stein at Frankenmuth (a German-style tourist attrarction in Michigan) or a totem-pole Indian souvenir in North Dakota and both may well have 'Made in China' on the bottom. If you open your fridge it too may be 'Made in China'.

But to find out what's happening in Polish Chicago from the Chinese News agency...??!!

I wonder how many of them acted in accordance with their obligations under article XI.

"Chicago's 1.1 million Polish Americans celebrated Constitution Day"

Just a point-of-order for those who are unaware of the Polish population count in Chicago. The estimated figures for Poles in Chicagoland run from 900,000 to 1.4 million. These figures are not for Chicago only but include the many surrounding suburbs.

The higher figure includes 3rd-4th generation Americans of Polish descent who consider themselves primarily of Polish ancestry.

Also, there are more illegal Poles than is commonly known.

I happen to live on the same block where the Polish Consulate is located: chicago.msz.gov.pl/en/

I was in Chicago once bout 5 years ago so i dunno. Is it true that the Polish areas have become multi-cultural there too? I know in Northern New Jersey in towns like Clifton, Garfield, and Passaic where there is a strong Polish presence Mexicans have become our neighbors in recent years. I like them far more than other people because they at least work hard and don't just sit on welfare. Here in Philly they're becoming numerous in the predominately Italian, South Philly section.

Yes, mostly Hispanic particularly Mexican. The Poles are more spread out and more live in the 'burbs than in Chicago proper. There are scattered Polish stores in the west and south burbs but as to an actual Pole-town, perhaps the closest to that would be some pockets on North Milwaukee area and on Belmont Ave. Many franchises like "Wendy's" etc are run by Poles so the ethnic stores aren't as pronounced as in the past. Having said that, there are still quite a few restaurants, bars and deli's which are totally Polish.


One of my daughters lived in Philly for 8 years (yea, I'm a young older guy) so I'm somewhat familiar with that city. She moved out west one year ago.

I remember smoking my cigars at Rittenhouse Square (Center City West) and listening to Gypsys playing music. By the way, did they ever fix that crack in the Liberty Bell?

A more interesting statistic would be - how many of them are actually Polish by citizenship?

Why would that statistic be more interesting?

By the way, what do you find unusual about Chicago's Irish St.Patrick's Day queen?

chicagostpatsparade.com/2011-queen.html


Who knows? However, I do hear lots of Polish spoken wherever I go in the city (not so much in the Black neighborhoods:))

You cannot be Polish if you don't have Polish citizenship. Pretty simple, really - any true patriot should hold citizenship of the country that they profess to represent. It's not like Polish citizenship is difficult to obtain.

I've just had a look on the PKW site - and about 20,000 people there voted in the Presidential election of 2010. That's a dreadful turnout if there really is anything like 900,000-1,400,000 Poles there. However, if you look at the citizenship number - then somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 Polish citizens would probably be correct.

Seeing as this thread is part of a forum section called "Polonia" it seems your definition of Polishness is too exclusive. According to you Poles did not exist during the time of the Partitions, because there was no Polish state to be a citizen of.

Not really. They're only Polish when they want to show off - otherwise, they're American.

As I said - how many Polish citizens are among the alleged 1.1 million Poles?

As for the argument about Poles during the partitions - there's no excuse now that there's a Poland to be a citizen of. Poland has been free and independent for nearly 20 years (it's arguable that the real date of independence should be 21st August) - what's stopping them getting Polish citizenship if they're so proud of the country?

The Polish Consulate is located on the block of buildings at 3:21 of this video (so is my condo). Listen to the whole thing and dig that piano riff as well as the super fiddle rift at the end.

youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bjNSmAl7hF0]

Some 250,000 in metro Chicago area speak Polish at home, so there's ur answer.


I have one, and most Poles who come here keep their citizenship.


I think ur guessing now.


1.1 million, if they know they're of Polish ancestry and are proud of it, point it out then they are.

So somewhere between 20,000 and 250,000 would be the answer, I guess :)


Yeah, you count :)


A simple test would be to name all the Presidents from 1989 to the current day ;)

LOL I doubt half of Americans can name the U.S presidents of that period.

Its reported there are 1.1 million people in Chicago who are of Polish ancestry (some say its more than that) who are celebrating their day. Most of them were born in America which makes me feel extra proud as somebody who is a Polish-American.

More Chicago Poles....

Maybe they don't need it. It really isn't too difficult to get a polish passport.


I'm interested in how many americans and canadians of scottish descent have british citizenship? There are many cultural event for these "scots" who call themselves scots and wear their kilts and tell everyone they're scottish every day......yet many are 3rd, 4th, 5th generation canadians of scottish descent. Many would have a hard time finding scotland on a map or even name a single scottish city.

Many people here acknowledge their roots, no one has a problem with that - except you, a grumpy brit living in Poland who has never crossed the pond.

Somebody stop me; Chi-town the beautiful:
youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bS5F66hgWxw
Poles helped build this city!

Polish born Ralph Modjeski built Philadelphia's main bridge, Ben Franklin Bridge
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin_Bridge

Chicago is a great city. I went there on a business trip some time ago and was pleasantly surprised.

Yea I definitely wouldn't mind living there total opposite from Detroit, thank god.

I have been to big cities like New York City and Los Angeles where I noticed Spanish being the main foreign language being spoken. I was pleasantly suprised that when I visited Chicago for the first time that the main foreign language being spoken, in the center of Chicago near the Sears Tower, was POLISH. I thought that was pretty cool. :) I also heard Polish being spoken at O'Hare airport more then any other language.

I like Los Angeles and New York City, but I have to say, the center of Chicago was noticeably cleaner then the other two big cities. It seemed safer then the centers of the other two cities.

Wouldn't it be better for them to come and help Poland rather than waving a flag once a year?

Nah. Too difficult.


If you can't be bothered to get the citizenship of Poland, you can't be Polish. It really is that simple - anyone who claims to be a proud Polish person would do anything to get the citizenship of their homeland. Heck, there are people in Belarus who are forcibly denied Polish citizenship - yet if they're willing to risk persecution just to hold the "Karta Polaka", what's stopping those Polish Americans?

Ah wait, it's just too damn difficult to get, isn't it?


Morons.


Never crossed the pond? Weird...could've sworn that I was at a Flames game once upon a time.


Incidentally, as you don't speak Polish - how do you know it was Polish? To the untrained ear, Polish is pretty much the same as other Slavic languages.

Who says they don't help Poland?

Do you always have to be a troll?

Will you be next telling all the Italian, Irish and German Americans to come and help Italy, Ireland and Germany?


You are a perpetual liar and you and I both know that I speak more Polish (among other languages) then you do.

Incidentally, when will you increase your Polish vocabulary past 20 words since you are the one who claims to live in Poland?

Better yet, for somebody who fights tooth and nail for his ancestral homeland of Russia, when will you move to Russia to learn some Russian? lol

The fact that only 20,000 of them could be bothered to vote for the head of state says it all.


Certainly, the Irish Americans could help Ireland right now - plenty of horses have been left to starve to death, the economic situation is dire and life generally sucks there for many Irish people. Then again, Irish America's biggest contribution to Ireland was providing money for terrorists - so I'm not surprised.


Riiiight. You couldn't even reply to several forum posters when they asked you questions in Polish ;)


Attacking me isn't going to change anything, Polack - you're still unable to speak the language despite claiming to be Polish.


Tinfoil hat - on!
Computer - on!

I dont believe that anyone who does not live in the country should not have a right to vote. If one chooses so it must be taken seriously and carefully. So Delph, maybe they just felt like they did not have a right to vote.

Good reply.

Delph's comment that they are morons is just his personal opinion. Obviously lots of other people feel differently. He still, evidently cannot tell the difference between ethnicity and nationality. These folks are celebrating their roots, not their citizenship. Anyway, who cares what he thinks. It is predictable that he will hop on a thread like this to pour cold water on something that makes a lot of other people smile.

Because he works hard in Poland, he beats that drum when it comes to anyone else who says they love the country. Maybe he just wants some kudos for what he does. Many misunderstand him and feel he hates Poland and Polish people. I've come to see that he evidently cares a lot for Poland. But not everyone cares in the same way. Thanks Delph for what you do for Poland. But, have a little respect for what others do even if you think they should be more like you.

LOL

But weren't you angry before that "too many" Poles in America were voting in the Polish elections? So now you're arguing both sides of the argument. LOL As far as Poles in the US voting in the Polish elections, they are damned if they do and damned if they don't from your point of view.


Now that's not a nice thing to say about the Irish. :( :( You should apologize to people of Irish ancestry on this forum.


Really, do you have examples? I admit I'm not fluent in Polish but I know much more then you.

Delphy I am afraid you are describing yourself. You are the one who can't answer basic questions in Polish let alone know about basic things happening in Poland. This coming from a guy who claims to live in Poland for years! LOL


We both know I speak more Polish than you.

So you think me pointing out that you only know 20 words in Polish is an "attack" on you?? After all the horrible things you have said about people of Polish ancestry inside and outside of Poland? Geez LOL

I think your Moscow temper is getting the best of you :(


delphy you are the one with the tinfoil hat. The volume of your messages on this forum in your quest to patrol it about things said about your beloved Russia, speaks for itself as to how paranoid you are. :(

Let's see. I have been on this forum since Aug 30, 2008 and have posted 925 messages and you have been on here for less time then me and have posted 6150 messages. You have posted about 7 times as much as me as of now, and most of the time you are attacking Poles especially after they have had some criticisms of your Russia.

conclusion: delphiadomine paranoia - on!