Polish Americans

SIGNIFICANCE: Because of their large numbers and tendency to settle in culturally diverse areas, Polish Americans have figured prominently in interethnic relations. As they moved through the assimilation process, Polish Americans have been both victimized by prejudice and accused of discriminating against other ethnic and racial groups.

Polish Americans (White ethnics) are generally defined as those whose heritage was connected to the Polish language, culture, and Roman Catholicism. Polish Americans who arrived between 1608 and 1800 came for personal reasons, and those emigrating from 1800 to 1860 came to escape foreign control over their homeland. The third and largest wave of 2.5 million immigrants, between 1870 and 1924, sought to escape the economic hardships of their homeland. After World War II, a fourth wave of Polish people came to the United States as displaced persons or political refugees fleeing the communist government.

Intergroup Relations

The relatively small number of Poles arriving during the first two immigration periods meant that intergroup relations were rather limited. The settlers who arrived from 1608 to 1800 did not establish communities, and relations with others in the United States were almost exclusively on an individual basis. However, Polish Americans who served during the American Revolutionary War were regarded positively, and the political refugees, who made up the bulk of the next wave, gained the respect of Americans for their dedication to independence, nationalism, and liberalism. The large group of Poles arriving during the 1870-1924 wave interacted as a group with established American society, with earlier immigrants, and with other eastern and southern European immigrants.

Because most Polish immigrants came to the United States to work as unskilled laborers in urban-industrial areas, established Americans viewed them as essential but not necessarily welcome additions. The vast differences in language and customs and the formation of distinct ethnic communities caused many people to question whether Polish could ever adapt to American society. Established Americans also mistrusted the Polish because of their support of labor unions and their use of alcoholic beverages, which were contrary to Protestant ethics of individualism and sobriety.

Relations between Polish Americans and earlier immigrants were often strained. The Polish resented the English, Welsh, Scottish, and Irish immigrants who constituted the skilled laborers and bosses in the mines, mills, and factories. The Polish reacted against Irish American control of the Roman Catholic hierarchy by forming their own ethnic national parishes. This desire for a separate Polish Catholic identity became so strong that a schism with Roman Catholicism occurred when the Reverend Francis Hodur founded the Polish National Church in 1904.

Although this group of Poles faced circumstances similar to those faced by other immigrants from southern and eastern Europe, relations between these groups were not always the best. The Polish held stereotypical views of and harbored resentments against other Slavs, and many had come to the United States with a tradition of anti-Semitism. When the Polish and Lithuanians shared churches, the result was less than harmonious, and splits were usually the result. Although direct confrontations with Italians were not common, each group often accepted the prevalent stereotypes about the other.

However, Polish American businesspeople often had solid working relationships with people of various ethnic backgrounds. Many young Polish immigrant women served as domestics in the homes of Euro-Americans or Jewish Americans and built a warm relationship with their employers. Despite the remnants of Old World anti-Semitism, Polish laborers and Jewish shopkeepers developed respectful and trusting business dealings. The Polish cooperated with other immigrants from eastern and southern Europe to form labor unions. Their success in this venue played an important role in the establishment of unions as a powerful force in the United States.

Assimilation and Intergroup Relations

By the 1920s, the passage of time and restrictive immigration laws hastened the assimilation process. Although Polish Americans were becoming more Americanized, new social structures were being established, altering intergroup relations. During the latter part of the twentieth century, Polish American intergroup relations involved the relations of the older urban blue-collar workers, the white-collar professionals, and the new associations of refugees from Poland.

Many urban blue-collar workers came of age during the Great Depression and World War II. They endured a life of sacrifice and want but were able to gain social and economic mobility in the postwar boom years. However, by the 1970s, economic decline had hit the major employers of many Polish Americans, and an increasing number of African Americans and Hispanics had moved into traditionally Polish neighborhoods. Although most Polish Americans had adequate financial resources to sustain them into retirement, the combination of their weakened economic situation and the loss of their ethnic communities often resulted in resentment toward the newer residents. Although violent conflict was rare, tensions were high between urban Polish Americans and their new neighbors, the African Americans and Hispanics. Polish white-collar professionals, who often married non-Polish, tended to identify less with the ethnic group and more with the concerns of their socioeconomic class. At times, this caused them to become estranged from the older Polish Americans. The refugees from communism, relatively small in number, tended to affiliate with their socioeconomic and employment peers.

Despite the differences in class and status, Polish Americans still face a certain degree of discrimination. Stereotypes that depict Polish Americans as lacking intelligence have been especially hurtful. Polish American acceptance of such humor has perhaps contributed to this prejudice. Although Polish Americans increasingly identify with middle-class values, some of these traditional patterns of intergroup dynamics persist.

In the mid-2020s, over 8.4 million Americans self-described as being of at least partial Polish descent, and the states with the largest numbers of people who self-identified as of Polish descent included Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, and Connecticut.

In the 2024 US presidential elections, the Polish American vote gained prominence as many analysts suggested it could play a decisive role in the tightly contested race. Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party candidate, actively courted the Polish American vote in Pennsylvania, routinely categorized as a key "battleground state." In 2020, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden won Pennsylvania by a small margin of only 80,555 votes. Polish Americans in Pennsylvania comprised six percent of the state population, and thus demonstrated its importance, as over 30 Pennsylvania counties had significant percentages of this community. Harris' messages targeted historical Polish leeriness toward Russia in emphasizing the aggressive tendencies of Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Harris also highlighted Putin's implied threats against the Polish government, as it was a key supporter of Ukraine in its fight against Russian occupying forces.  

This message was also suggested to be effective in the state of Wisconsin. In 2020, Joe Biden won Wisconsin by the slim margin of 20,000 votes. Michigan was another 2024 battleground state where analysts projected the Polish American vote could be decisive. Other analysts suggested that while Polish Americans had an affinity for their historical homeland, they tended to vote as other native-born American groups. These individuals downplayed the decisive role of the Polish American electorate in battleground states. 

Bibliography

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Corkery, Michael, and Robert Gebeloff. "Harris Courts Polish American Votes in Pennsylvania." The New York Times, 12 Sept. 2024, www.nytimes.com/2024/09/12/us/kamala-harris-polish-americans-pennsylvania.html. Accessed 10 Jan. 2026.

Greene, Victor R. The Slavic Community on Strike; Immigrant Labor in Pennsylvania Anthracite. U of Notre Dame P, 1968.

Jackson, David J. "Could Polish American Voters Swing the Election?" US News and World Report, 17 Sept. 2024, www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2024-09-17/could-polish-american-voters-swing-the-election. Accessed 10 Jan. 2026.

Lopata, Helena Z. Polish Americans: Status Competition in an Ethnic Community. Prentice-Hall, 1976.

"Polish Population by State 2026." World Population Review, worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/polish-population-by-state. Accessed 10 Jan. 2026.

Thomas, William I., and Florian Znaniecki. The Polish Peasant in Europe and America. Dover, 1958.