Looking at Polish people who live in Western Europe – especially the emigrant part of my family, I’ve noticed that Polish emigrants aren’t usually well integrated into their host countries’ culture. Is that the case with Polish Americans too?

34 comments

  1. That’s because Europe is worse at assimilating other cultures into theirs.

    In America, Polish people have assimilated well to our culture, but have also brought their culture here. I’m not typing out every example but the easy target is food. Polish restaurants and cuisine can be found all over. And everyone loves it. It’s delicious.

  2. Brit here. Huge Polish population and they are very well integrated into the UK, I work with first second and third generation Poles. Where in Western Europe are you posting from? The reason I ask is because we opened out labour markets (along with Sweden and I think one other) 7 years earlier than the rest of the EU, and so we’re that much further ahead in terms of social integration because we’ve had more time.

  3. My mom is a first gen Pole (her older sister was born in East Germany…yeah). Hardly any Polish (or Eastern European) immigrate to the US anymore. I imagine the cost is simply too high to immigrate vs Western Europe now.

  4. My aunt married a polish immigrant who moved here as a child. So many of my Christmas holiday traditions involve polish food and such.

    These days most are as American as apple pie and you’d never know they’re polish except for the last name. I’m not aware of any widespread anti-polish sentiment for more recent immigrants.

  6. Extremely well. The upper Midwest has a huge polish population that’s been around for a long time, in addition to more recent immigrants. I remember I had a friend in the apartment below whose family only spoke Polish, and we played together every day as kids (grew up in Chicago).

    Americans really love your food!

  7. I’ve known several Polish-Americans, especially in my Army years. They’re extremely assimilated. Also because the ones I know are usually a few generations in. Even those that seem a bit closer to being immigrants, with first names that sound Polish…extremely American lol.

  8. In Minnesota, we have people who immigrated from Poland. Many of them moved to the Iron Range. It’s been a few generations now, but they seem just like other Americans. Unless you are talking about recently immigrated from Poland.

  10. I’m 1/4 polish by heritage, and there are a lot of people who are similar in the area that I grew up. However, even my dad, who’s 1/2 Polish, has never spoken the language or really followed any of the cultural aspects.

    Once the immigrants moved to the US, they just blended in, or at a minimum their kids did. And once you get to second generation Americans, we’re all just random white people if your of European heritage.

  11. Hard to tell. My Polish ancestors moved here in the 1870s and the first 2 generations of children *did* marry other Poles. So maybe this was the case at one time but I don’t think it is anymore.

  14. I guess that depends on how recently they arrived. Assimilation degrees will vary based on how long a family has been here, generations etc. Generally, Poles integrate just as well as any other group. Their contributions are evident in food, religion, and architecture.

  15. Polish People are pretty well integrated into American Society, in fact a lot of last names in America have Polish origins, for example Kowalski is a common one we hear often!

    Down in Texas, a lot of Polish people have integrated very well!

  16. Illinois has Casimir Pulaski as a school holiday. (A polish general in the revolutionary war)That’s gotta count for something.

  17. My housekeeper is Polish. She came illegally about 30 years ago. Sent her child over with a coyote through Mexico some years after that. One of her clients helped her attain citizenship when her Polish employer threatened to have her deported if she quit her job (she was crying at work and it sort of came out). He got a local lawyer to pay a the Polish employer a visit and walked her through the steps to become legal- perhaps with a bit of pull and influence.

    They do seem to hang out at Polish places and have mostly Polish friends. When there are Polish events at night clubs they always go. They go to the Polish church and are very religious. Very conservative politically. They are very into Polish foods, the Polish market, etc.

    That is super common with immigrants. In a few generations, I am sure things will be a bit different. Usually if you are here a few generations, missing your old culture and family back home becomes a little less intense, but for now they must get some sort of comfort in Polish friends, community, and food. It’s hard sometimes being in a new country.

    ​

    [are you talking first, second, third generation? Or from like a 100-150 years ago which is when most of our Poles came. I think most posters think you mean from those days…]

  18. I’d say about the same level as Irish or Italians….which is really assimilated.

  19. Lots of Polish in Indiana too. 50 years ago there was more Polish language arepuela town, stores, churches, radio shows. As the first generation immigrants died it’s become less and less.

    Most middle class catered event are “Polish style dinner”. Fried chicken, green beans, sweet red cabbage, mashed potatoes and gravy, noodles, sausage, and maybe cole slaw.

    Other that that most of the Polish influence is hard to find. The part of town that was heavily Polish became Black, and is now Mexican and Central American.

  21. I worked with a couple of Poles one time and aside from their names (Piotr for instance) and an accent, I’d have never known they weren’t from around here and were actually Polish expats. We all jokes about things and had lunch at the same places and were just like everyone else.

  22. Pretty well. My mom’s side of the family are Polish-Lithuanian. One of my aunts volunteered with helping recent Polish immigrants. At least in New England and the Upper Midwest, it’s historically been pretty much okay.

  23. Pretty assimilated.

    Lets put it this way. About 3% of Americans are of Polish ancestry. About 19% are Hispanic. Yet a surname like “Kowalski” stands out as “less foreign” than say, “Rodriguez.”

  24. Chicago has the largest Polish population outside of Warsaw. They are very well integrated. They are some of the hardest working people I’ve ever met. End up being very successful much of the time.

  25. The 1st gen Polish?

    Nah, they don’t talk to anyone except other Polish people. (Or no, they’ll also hang out with some Estonians and Russians and the lady from Belarus)

    Like, one of the guys next door won’t even say hi to me but I still say what’s up 😂 (he’s old though, idk)

    Their kids do a lot better but they still clique together in the earlier years of school.. High school and beyond though, you probably won’t know they’re Polish unless they tell you.. you can definitely tell they were born here. They still stay together as adults but have outsider friends too.

    ——

    I should add though, there are Polish immigrants who come here and *Americanize* themselves right away.. They’re not shunned away or anything like that.

    That option is available but probably works best if you do it when you’re in your 20s.. come here by yourself or with a peer

  27. I was raised by a Polish woman, she was my nanny. I consider her sons my brothers and I called her mom, which pissed off my “real” mom. She was an amazing influence in my life. I grew up in an area with a very high level of Polish immigrants. Yay for the amazing perogies and kielbasa!!!

  28. Come to Cleveland and find out. We have a huuuuge population of poles and we even have a little Poland district in Parma where there’s a bunch of polish specialty delis and restaurants. We’re pierogi people here in Cleveland.

  29. It depends. I have several cousins who moved here with their kids in 80s and 90s. The younger ones who were school aged when they moved speak fluent English with an accent and are fully integrated, they’re kids are fully American. Their parents who moved here In their 40s speak broken English but mostly live like any other American. But they moved to the suburbs.

    My girlfriend who was 12 in 91 when she came speaks English with a slight accent, but is pretty much fully assimilated. However her dad who has spent 40 years in the US doesnt really understand english, but they lived in a Polish enclave in Chicago, so he really didn’t have the need

  30. There aren’t many 1st generation Polish Americans at this point. By now most people with Polish heritage have had family in the US for over a hundred years and you’d only know of their Polish heritage because they have a vaguely slavic sounding last name with a “W” where English would have a “V”. Even then a lot of Polish Immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries would change the spelling of their last name to how it would be spelled in English.

    I will say though that there is one Polish deli near my house which is nice because as a Slovak I can actually find ingredients to make Czech and Slovak dishes.

  31. I live in Toledo, Ohio. Which is a very unpopular random city.

    and we have TONS of people of polish decent. We have a whole polish fest. polish restaurant’s. people are very connected to their hesitate and culture. I even had a best friend growing up that was polish and spoke it

    if our small city has a lot. i bet there’s more cities with polish culture

  32. Well enough that, aside from the spelling of someone’s last name, you generally can’t tell who is Polish simply by looking at them, knowing what neighborhood they live in, etc.

    I remember hearing Polish jokes as a kid in the 80s and being extremely confused by it. Like… how would you even know if someone was Polish? And what would it matter?

    (That said, the fact that there used to be anti-Polish jokes should probably say something about how recent this acceptance actually is.)

  34. Polish Americans are basically just Americans at this point.

    Most European immigrants have almost completey integrated into American culture.

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