Stereotype: Polish Americans are overly religious
From WikEd
What evidence exists that this is a “common�? stereotype? Which surveys or other research methods suggest that this is an oft used, relevant stereotype.
As has been mentioned on the main page, Poland has had strong ties with Christianity for centuries. The importance is so strong that it is nearly impossible to separate the Catholic faith from the Polish identity. Saying this, it should be acknowledged that both Jews and Eastern Orthodox have also resided in Poland for centuries. Regardless, the power of the Catholic Church in Poland cannot be denied.
When the Polish community saw the invasion of communism in their society, it was predominantly their Catholic faith that bound them together. Catholicism has provided guidance for this group of people that has gone through incredible adversity (see main page) throughout their history. It makes sense then, that Polish immigrants would continue to highly value and practice Catholicism in America.
Indeed, one of the things that ties Polania (Polish America) together is their faith. As Polish Americans built these neighborhoods, they were more organized around religion and culture than that of politics Marzena Sambrorska. Polish Americans considered attending public schools a sin; perhaps because it did not school its' children Catholic values. From It seems that this "overly religious" stereotype might come from this self enforced segregation, at least in part.
Perhaps another source of perceived behavior that mutates to stereotype might be the strict adherence to the Catholic faith. A group of Polish Americans were finding that they did not agree with the manner in which the American Catholics practiced Catholicism. This group of Catholics broke off and formed The Polish National Church No doubt, American Catholics found this offensive, while it served to add again, a separation between the Polish American community and the other immigrants and settled Americans.
Polish Catholics engage in a number of rituals that blend Catholic ritual into their culture. Many Catholics may say that it takes Catholicism to an idolatry level. There are countless rituals, including blessing meals around special events, sharing blessed communion wafers, and pinning religious medallions on clothing From. Certainly, when others viewed these rituals, one of the main categories they would have come up with is "religious".
Even today, this stereotype pervades, though not as strongly as other stereotypes around Polish culture, perhaps. This might be due to the assimilation of all cultures, (not many people are "just German" or "just Polish" anymore) and to the fact that older, more culturally strict Poles still live in communities such as Greenpoint New York that engages deeply in a closed Polish culture From. Southern Chicago, and some northern areas of Illinois also still have communities steeped in Polish culture. It is likely in these areas, more incidents of religious prejudice are much more prominent.
Recent Examples of Stereotype
While there were not many articles reflecting religious intollerance against Poles, a few articles did pop up that it is not completely gone from the American Landscape:
Police Investigate Alleged Hate Crime in Shelton from Conneticut affiliate of NBC.
Chicago Murder Raises Hate Crime Questions from CNS News Website-A complex article about a homosexual youth who murdered a devout Polish Catholic judging his lifestyle.
"Another Global Kids participant, Eva Brzostowska, who's 16 and from Poland, describes rumbles between Poles and Puerto Ricans in her neighborhood, Greenpoint. "We get into fights all the time in the park," she says. "Once, when my girlfriend and I were with two Polish guys, two Puerto Rican guys looked at us with attitude. We got on our cell phones to call for more Polish guys. The Puerto Ricans saw us calling and came back with 30 people. Our side brought baseball bats. So did the Puerto Ricans. That time it was just bats. But lately, people are bringing shotguns." " from City Limits Monthy, May 2004
"ANN (S)LANDERS LASHES OUT AT POPE AND POLISH PEOPLE
In an interview with Christopher Buckley in the December 4 edition of the New Yorker, gossip columnist Ann Landers lashed out at Pope John Paul II and the Polish people. After first making a favorable comment about the Pope, Landers remarked, "Of course, he's a Polack. They're very antiwomen." In a carefully worded statement, Landers later apologized for the crack about the Pope, but made no direct apology for her snide comment about the Polish people.
The Catholic League sent its own comments to the New Yorker and further disseminated its views via a news release and radio interviews. The league said that "The irony is that by blaming all Polish people--including the Pope--for being misogynists, Ann Landers reveals herself as the true bigot."
The hypocrisy of the nation's elites to the Landers attack was also noted by the league: "If Landers were treated by the elites in our society the way people like Al Campanis, Jimmy the Greek or Marge Schott were, she would be subject to far more than `40 lashes with a wet noodle.' She would either be terminated or shipped off to some mind-control sensitivity training workshop."
It should be noted that in the wake of this controversy, at least one newspaper, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, has decided to drop Landers' column, beginning in 1996." Catalyst Journal of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.
Present analysis results that support or refute each of the several assertions in the stereotype.
While their seems to be little research geared towards Polish Americans as "overly religious", certainly, their is still ample evidence that religion is important to those who closely cling to the Polish culture. Certainly, from personal experience, not every person of Polish descent adheres to all the tenets of the old culture, though remnants may be evident in day to day life (Adrian, July 2005). Those who came in the second wave of immigration, for example, were intellectuals and disidents who strove to "fit in" with American culture. Many dropped their Polish names, and certainly their strict ties to the Polish practice of the Catholic faith From
Refuting the Stereotype
Evidence that religion is still important to the Polish community is evident on the Web:
Polish National Catholic Church website
Polish Church Directory for Chicago, Il.
The Polish National Union of the United States A group that works with the Catholic Church to provide assistance to new Polish immigrants.
Religious Articles from Sarmatian Review) A collection of articles from the Polish scholarly journal
However, it is important to remember that just because the Polish American tie to the Catholic Church remains strong, it is by no means a confirmation that ALL (or any) people of Polish descent are overly religious. The author, for example, does not practice religion, nor had the experience that the Polish part of her family were more steeped in religious practice than any of her other friends growing up.
For those aspects of the stereotype that are mostly true, or false, so what?
Certainly, stereotypes come from an observed behavior of a member or members of a group at some point in time. With many stereotypes, there is a "grain" of truth to that stereotype so that it prevails throughout time. There is no denying by anyone, especially Poles, that Polish people are a religious people of the Catholic faith, overall. However, other religions, including Eastern Orthodox and Jews have lived in Poland for years. Whether Polish people are more or less "religious" than any other culture is debatable. Surely, even the modern stereotyped ties to religion no longer immediately conjure the image of a Polish person, unless perhaps someone lives in close proximity to a Polish neighborhood (Polania).
Another factor watering down this prevalence of this Polish stereotype is the fact that over the years, many Polish Americans chose the path of assimilation, changing their names and distancing themselves somewhat from the culture. In addition, many Polish Americans have married accross cultures, and therefore have a blend of cultures in the household. For these families, remnants of the culture survive, but lose potency.
Finally, as with the Polish immigrants that came to America, new groups of immigrants have since come to America, bringing new stereotypes of other cultures that are more prevalent and widespread than the "overly religious" stereotype of Polish Americans.
Regardless, Polish Americans that do cling onto their old world culture do, for the most part, engage themselves deeply into the Catholic faith. Again, this is no reason to direct hatred towards this group; many groups have very religious beliefs that are practiced. In America, it should be up to the individual if and how they practice their faith. Polish Americans are no exception.
