Ethnic Groups and Discrimination

2.         Assignment: Ethnic Groups and Discrimination

• Resources: Racial and Ethnic Groups, the Internet, and the University Library

• Due Date: Day 7 [Individual] forum

• Choose an ethnic group to which you personally belong. If you identify with more than one group, choose the group with which you most identify or about which you would like to learn more.

• Write a 700- to 1,050-word, APA-formatted essay, answering the following questions:

o Using any of the resources identified above, research to determine if the group colonized or if it immigrated to the United States. Did the group face prejudice, segregation, racism or any combination of the three? If so, how and why? Include your research findings in your essay. You may search through chapters of the text as part of your research.

o Was this group effected by or did it participate in any of the following forms of discrimination? If so, describe:

• Dual labor market

• Environmental justice issues

• Affirmative action

• Redlining

• Double jeopardy

• Institutional discrimination

• Reverse discrimination

• Glass ceiling, glass walls, or glass escalator

o Do you culturally identify more with the ethnic group you examined,    with United States mainstream culture, or with both equally?

• Format your essay according to APA requirements.

                                • Post your essay as an attachment(220).

            I do not have one particular ethnic group that I identify with more so than others.  My family’s country of birth has been the United States for several generations.  I do have a few researched and recorded family members born outside the US starting with my great grandparents.  One set of grandparents were born in Switzerland were themselves German, along with another branch that is German also.  Only one other branch is identifiable as country of origin.  My maiden name is Polish.  My grandfather’s grandfather immigrated in 1890 with his family.  His ancestors back several generations up to around early 1700s were records go cold again.  They were all from the same small town in Poland.

            Because Poland is the only country I can verify I am descended from, I have chosen the Polish people to make my report about.  My family does not celebrate any Polish customs, and does not identify themselves as Polish. 

            Polish immigrants first came to North America in the 1600s and settled in Virginia Colony even before Pilgrims arrived.  They were brought as skilled artisans by Captain John Smith, who was an English solider. (Wikipedia, 2009) The skills were vital to the settlement but were excluded by the House and their rights were threatened.  Because of that they launched the first recorded strike against the New World.  The House relented because of the needed skills of the Polish immigrants and extended the “rights of Englishmen” to include the Polish people.  They were then able to establish the first bilingual schools which taught Polish and English.  The powers of the Polish community were eventually overshadowed by the increased warfare with Native Americans. 

            The Polish fought for the Continental Army alongside General George Washington and one Polish man, Kazimierz Pulaski is credited as saving Washington’s army at the Battle of Brandywine, he died leading a cavalry charge at the Battle of Savannah. He is now called the “Father of American Cavalry” and is commemorated in Casimir Pulaski day and the Pulaski Day Parade.  Another Polish man credited for his service in the Continental Army is Kosciuszko.  He was instrumental in the victories at the Battle of Saratoga.  Both Pulaski and Kosciuszko have statues in Washington D.C. (Wikipedia, 2009)

            During the Partition of Poland, the Polish nation forced into three sub groupings; Russian, Prussian and Austrian Polish.    This is most prominent when researching Polish records, in ancestry records you can often find those labels affixed to polish immigrants.  It was mostly done because the Polish country did not truly exist at the time.  It was divided by Russia, Prussia and Austria.  The largest amount of polish immigrants arrived in America during the early 1900s.  A lot of Polish arrivals were not labeled as Polish due to the occupation of Poland by neighboring states and its international status.  According to the 2000 United States Census 667,414 Americans reported Polish as the language spoken at home. 

            Most Polish immigrants did not intend to stay in America.  They wanted to earn money and ensure themselves a desirable social status in the Old World.  (Wikipedia, 2009) After WWI, and the reborn Polish state, around thirty percent of Polish emigrants returned to the home country.   Polish immigrants did migrate towards specific job types.  American employers considered Polish immigrants better suited than Italians for arduous manual labor.  They took jobs in coal-mines, slaughterhouses and steel mills.

            Most Polish people are Roman Catholic, and responsible for the building of the Polish Cathedrals found around the Great Lakes and New England regions. Chicago has the most notable urban Polish American communities and is called the largest Polish city outside of Poland with approximately 185,000 polish speaking Americans.  Many large Polish communities are in Chicago and two of the biggest Polish-Catholic churches featured on the Polish Genealogical Society of America’s website are based in Chicago.(PGSA, 2008)  There are numerous Polish-American organizations located in Chicago, the Polish Museum of America, Polish American Association, Polish American Congress, Polish National Alliance, Polish Falcons and the Polish Highlanders Alliance of North America.  Poles are the third largest ethnic group, after German and Irish, located in Illinois.  Chicago is where my family settled after their move to America and three generations were birthed and lived there until my parents moved us away.  Chicago holds my heart for that reason and even though I never spent much time there I still root for the Cubs and Bears at every game. 

           

           

 Ancestry.com (2009) http:// www.ancestry.com Retrieved Dec 2009

PGSA (2008) Polish Genealogical Society of America http://www.pgsa.org Retrieved Dec 2009

Wikipedia (2009) Polish American http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_American Retrieved Dec 2009