How would be a Polish immigrant seen by Americans?

27 comments

1. Like a person? Is he an asshole? He’ll blend right in! Does he speak English? We have some people who are big assholes about that.

2. I can’t speak for everyone but people I know wouldn’t care either way.

   Older people might try to make a polish joke in a hopefully friendly way.

3. Large Polish diaspora in the midwest.

4. I wouldn’t let them install screen doors in my submarine

5. We have 10 million polish-Americans

6. Like any other person.

7. Most Americans probably wouldn’t care. They might try to avoid talking to said person if they don’t speak English very well, but other than that there would likely be no drama or harsh judgement or anything like that.

8. No particular way. Most people don’t know much about Poland specifically, and would sort someone from there into a broad Central/Eastern European box (no offense intended).

   My hometown has a plurality of people with Polish heritage and a few new families moved here during the 90’s and 2000’s. Some older, Catholic Polish-Americans absolutely worship Poland, and it seemed like the people who moved here from Poland got established relatively quickly.

   Polish people working in tech is basically a stereotype, at least in metro Boston. Same applies to a lot of countries where the education is excellent but wages are lower.

9. We have no opinion negatively or positively towards Poles. There are millions of Americans with Polish heritage, especially in the Great Lakes region. You’ll be treated appropriately to how you behave. If you’re a good person, people will be good to you. If you’re an ass, you’ll be treated like one.

10. Fine? I think be prepared for lots of personal questions where you are from, but it would be out of benign curiosity, not malice.

11. We have many Polish immigrants here in NYC and even the [annual parade](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSOWfUhxNbs) in Manhattan.

    There are also [Polish restaurants](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CcAyTu0pWY) and neighborhoods in Brooklyn.

12. Come to Grand Rapids Michigan.

13. Two neighbors directly across from me, one next door and the two houses behind mine are all families from Poland, as long as they’re alright people no one cares.

14. Any sort of anti-Polish sentiment was seen as old fashioned/ridiculous even in the 70s when it was a punchline how stupid it was in *All In the Family* (a sitcom TV show, the son in law was Polish-American). It’s basically gone the same way as anti-Irish/Italian sentiments, more of a weird historical topic than something anyone actually believes.

    I have known a couple of Polish immigrants and they didn’t say anything about any particular issues. Other than getting a lot of questions about pierogies and sausages lol

15. My wife’s was born in Poland her dads been here 40 years speaks little English. Mom and dad came from Poland after the war as kids, moms parents spoke broken English, we brought all sorts of cousins over.

    In Chicago fhafs not rare

16. Loads of Polish immigrants in places I’ve lived (MA, NY).

17. Plenty of Americans with Polish ancestry here, and no shortage of Central/Eastern European immigrants either. Assuming the person in question isn’t an a-hole, they’ll be just fine.

    Some notes for Polish immigrants:

    – Many Polish names are difficult for Americans to pronounce, especially if they have one of the digraphs with a Z (cz, dz, etc). In the event you need to provide it, be prepared to spell it. You’ll also inevitably be asked how it’s pronounced, constantly.

    – Americans are a bit more secular than Poles, and those that aren’t secular are frequently non-Catholic. Although talking about religion isn’t taboo here, it’s often avoided outside of certain situations. You may also notice many more people with an overall apathy towards religion compared to Poland.

    – The politics of Poland are frequently more conservative than the US. For example, Poland’s recent nationwide abortion ban would cause riots if it happened in the US. I’d avoid politics altogether tbh lol.

    – Lastly, and I mean this seriously, don’t bring czernina to an American potluck. This advice is based on a true story. Golabki are the way.

18. There’s a metric ton of polish immigrants and decedents in the Midwest, especially around Chicago, so they’d be fine. As long as they can take the occasional good natured polish joke.

19. Don’t care

20. The same as any other immigrant.

21. Umm just like any other person?

22. Boy, we sure have to reassure Eastern Europeans that Americans generally don’t have a problem with Slavs a lot.

23. Neither favorably nor unfavorably, unless you run into someone who has a particular love or hatred for Polish people. I live very close to Chicago which has more Polish people than any other city on earth except Warsaw.

24. I think most people would have no opinion one way or the other of a Pole visiting the states, but there are veterans out there who spent some time training and visiting Poland who would have a very positive opinion. Some of us are aware of how hospitable and outgoing most Poles really are. Or, at the very least, much prefer Poland to west Europe due to both our governments acknowledging the threat Russia poses and our shared commitment to adequately protecting against them, unlike say Germany.

    I would absolutely buy a Pole a drink at the bar, probably, and would love to visit someday myself.

25. How’s your English?

26. As the Great-Grandson of a Polish immigrant, you are looked at as just another White person, for the most part.

27. People struggle pronouncing Polish last names, other than that we don’t care.