grayman

I was just thinking the other day and I wondered why people always use those of Polish descent as the stupid person in jokes. Obviously, people use minorities as jokes because some people consider them inferior, but is there some historical bias against the Poles? Not trying to piss anyone off, I just wondered if anyone had any ideas.

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StormBerlin

I don't think it's anything specifically against Poles. I grew up with French and Italian Jokes. and those were funny as hell. Would it be appropriate to post some? I dunno...

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fulkramick

edit

pocon1

It's spelled polacks. DUH!

You're too dumb to even spell polack.

How do you get a one-armed polack out of a tree? Wave.

apeman

lol

yeah, any convenient minority that's just too small to have any real power and big enough that you meet em occasionally

it used to be Irish people over here, however we are more PC these days

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bermuDa

yeah... pollock was a painter, polacks are from poland!!

I have nothing against them, although I don't really know anyone from poland... sounds like just another stereotype to me.

Although, having read The Jungle... I have a theory. Back when there was a huge influx of european immigrants coming to america, it was important for the more established groups to generate stereotypes and animosity towards the other. I think this is the origin of a lot of those stereotypes and derogatory attitudes towards foreigners and immigrants. Poles fresh off the boat had a hard time with english, so I'm sure it was easy to label them as stupid. Why it's still considered true by anyone shows just how strong a meme like stereotypes can be.

and I wouldn't be too smug about military failures if i were french

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apeman

lol - "did you mean french military defeats?" (google search on "french military victories")

to be fair, they've got one of the strangest languages going, and I've tried welsh, german, french, portuguese and american. That can't have helped when switching to another damn weird language (i.e. English)

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la petite moi

I think it's about where you live. In California it's the Mexicans and French...sigh.

ARTelevision

"You're too dumb to even spell polack" is not an appropriate way to address another member.

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Latch

I have always seen that theory as why there are polish jokes.. before them, I'm sure most of the same jokes were Irish jokes (I rememeber the "INNA" signs in the early 1900s.. well.. don't remember.. but remember reading about them in history class)... before the Irish, I'm not sure. I haven't had a US history class in 6 years. But I'm guessing the jokes would be about whatever "wave" of immigrants came before the irish.

I am pretty sure a similar thing happened when the Asians came over to the west coast (a lot worked on the railroads)... the newest immigration wave cops the most abuse.

Now, the US is so big (population-wise.. there is no "wild west") and people come from so many areas that there isn't just "one certain group" that has jokes made about them. The Mexicans, Cubans, Polish, and some others I can't think of right now all have a large amount of jokes about them (some overlapping).

Oh, btw.. INNA = Irish Need Not Apply. They'd put them in store windows when advertising for jobs. It doesn't relate to the "joke" subject exactly, but I think it speaks volumes for the attitude in America (New York) at the time.

pocon1

Hi art, that was a little sarcasm based on the subject matter of discussion. I was going to make a joke about how to get a one-armed grayman out of a tree, but I thought it would be too much.

As far as other talking about waves of immigrants, and previous generations of immigrants insulting them as they got off the boat, I heard this was true. For instance, one book claimed that the term honkie was derived from the blacks complaing about the hungarians, ie the hungies, ie the honkies taking black jobs for lower wages. This might have also been a racist joke from years ago about one group who cannot speak english complaining about another group.

BTW, if anyone missed my joke about the mispelling of polack and thought it was real, I apologize and I will tell the joke really slow next time. Ha Ha. that was another joke. I got a million of them. Sometimes I slay myself.
(No members were intentionally harmed during this piece of dialogue)

ARTelevision

understood - sarcasm is often mistaken for the truth.

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pocon1

Well, I try to be humorous, and the easiest and laziest way to be funny is to insult and attack other people. It doesn't take any effort to insult and degrade others, and it creates a laugh from others who share your limited viewpoint. That is why comedians like Andrew Dice Clay can have an act. Since I am lazy, I look to that route for a sure route to success, fame and fortune.
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losthellhound

Its the case of the majority making fun of the minority.. Here in Canada it's usually "newfie" jokes.. (people from Newfoundland) I have a friend in Newfoundland and he says all the good jokes are about people from Ontario..

I've never found them funny

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pocon1

When I visited Canada with my family 20 years ago (I was 10), we stopped on a roadside store which had a newfie cup, with the handle on the inside. My mom had to explain the joke to me.