Polish-Americans free essay sample

Discrimination and Ethnic Groups: Polish-Americans Understanding Polish Immigration Poland’s unique past is littered with oppression, servitude, and foreign rule over and over again. The land was fought over by many countries during the 1800’s and subsequently was annexed and divided. The primary conquerors included Russia, Austria, Prussia, and later Germany. (Buffalo Department of Education,). There were many smaller country’s nationals who descended upon Poland and mixed with the nationals, seizing land and jobs.This included The Ukraine, Lithuania, Belorussia, Latvia, not to mention Jews, Tartars, and small groups of gypsies. At the end of the 18th century Poland basically no longer existed as the rival surrounding countries split this land and claimed it as a part of their domain. Finally in 1918 Poland achieved independence and re-emerged as a country under Communist rule (Jones, n. d. ). These events led the Eastern Europeans to view the Poles as low-class, bohemian, even non-whites, who were beneath them in education, social status, and economics. We will write a custom essay sample on Polish-Americans or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page It is understandable that this sentiment stigmatized the immigrating Poles as they arrived on America’s shores, seeking political democracy, good jobs, and a piece a land. Expecting a better life they often faced prejudice and problems in America. Assimilation According to (),â€Å"Many of their neighbors viewed Poles as rowdy, disorganized, ignorant, filthy, and prone to drunkenness and sloth. Polish immigrants were subjected to spitting, name-calling, physical violence and the other abuses† (Jones, n. d. , para. 15). Despite these setbacks, Polish patriots had an easier time assimilating than other non-European groups, such as Asians.This assimilation was only surface due to their strong cultural, ethnic, and religious ties to Poland isolating them from mainstream America. Often the brunt of ethnic jokes, this practice has only died down in the entertainment arena since the late 1980’s. America was predominantly Protestant and the strongly Catholic Poles were looked down upon and church construction blocked. Faced with these issues the self-reliant Polish-Americans created small, self-supporting ethnic communities (Polonia) remaining isolated from the rest of the local community (Znaniecka, 1994).According to Jones, â€Å"It has been at times a country within a country, Poland in the new world† (Znaniecka, 1994, para. 3). Dual Labor Market / Industrial Discrimination Hoping to find jobs in agriculture and woodworking and a small piece of land to farm was not a reality for hard working Poles. Instead, shunned by Americans and Eastern Europeans they were sent to larger developed areas and offered laborious jobs working in mills, refineries, industrial plants, and the garment industry. They were strong and hard working and were often given the hardest tasks; working is extreme heat of factories or damp, bleak conditions in underground mines for 10-hour days, six or seven days a week. The Poles, with a strong history of agriculture, farming, and woodworking experience, somehow managed to adapt to these unsatisfactory conditions. The were ridiculed for their broken English and further segregated from native-born Americans ( ). Redlining Shopkeepers would often overcharge the Poles for goods and services, or supply them with inferior products.It was a common practice for employers to withhold wages. Newcomers were often paid less than they deserved. Landlord rentals were often unclean and uncomfortable. This simply strengthened the growing Polish communities (Polonia) that funded and constructed banks, churches, schools, retail stores and shops, all owned and operated by fellow Polish-Americans ( ). Glass Ceilings, Walls, and Escalators Polish-Americans were discriminated against on the workforce. There was never a chance for upward mobility and career advancement. Poles were viewed as strong workhorses without many brains.Eastern Europeans and native-born Americans were granted the better lateral jobs and there was no inside secret or fraternization that could help a Polish-American obtain a raise or a better company position quickly (Lutenski, 1994). Reverse Discrimination Poles assimilated easily and became â€Å"more-white† (J. Giordano, Personal communication, April 30, 2011) once they became naturalized. They slowly shed the stigma of being non-white by shunning blacks so they could emphasize the difference. They felt this would add assurance to the native-born Americans of how white they really were.They even enacted strict segregation for black housing to minimize any association. Even the poorest Polish-Americans thanked God they were not black. Job competition also clouded the Poles reason and tolerance (Lutenski, 1994 ). Sadly, a normally rational immigrant group forced the same isolation they had fought against onto another minority group. Affirmative Action Poles cried reverse discrimination when they were denied any rights under Affirmative Action. They cried ethnic discrimination for all the long years that they withstood discrimination. Ironically, now that the U.S. government accepted them as fully assimilated as the majority class of white Americans, they felt ignored (Lutenski, 1994). Polish-Americans Today I am an American first and foremost and a third generation Polish-American. I grew up in an ethnically diverse community with a strong sense of family, church, patriotism, and allegiance to the United States. My mother grew up in Brooklyn in a predominantly Polish neighborhood and even attended the Polish National Catholic Church. I am proud of my heritage and my family’s personal stories of courage, faith, and endurance.I continue to observe several religious holiday customs and have passed them down to my children, grandchildren, and now my great-grandchildren. There are still large pockets of Polish-American communities across the U. S. today. The fourth and fifth generation Poles are more Americanized but still have a deep respect and connection to their ancestral roots, customs, and beliefs. More young single Poles immigrate to the U. S. hoping for better career opportunities. Poland today is a free republic, no longer a Communist state. The economy is stable and there has been no recent political unrest.The new generation is more tolerant with respect for all races and ethnicities. The first non-Italian, Catholic pope was the pride of Poles and is one step away from sainthood since his beatification today. Polish Americans are proud, patriotic, and respectful. They participate in government, finance, education, business, aviation, the arts, and the medical field. There are no longer the prejudices or injustices of yesteryear. The glass ceilings and walls are gone and they have taken their rightful place on the glass escalator. May they lead the way for others who are still oppressed and repressed.

Free Essays on Descartes Existence Of The Perfect Being

In his meditations, Descartes points out that there are three types of ideas; they can be innate, adventitious, caused by things outside of one’s self, and others that can be invented by us, such as ideas of mermaids or unicorns. After he concludes that God must necessarily exist, which will be discussed in more detail later on in this paper, he closes in to the fact that his idea of the Perfect Being cannot be adventitious, coming from without, nor can it be invented by him. Thus, this idea must be innate since he has a clear and distinct perception of God’s existence, and that Descartes must have been created by God with such an idea already in him. The idea of a Perfect Being in Descartes’ mind consists of an infinite, eternal, immutable, independent, supremely intelligent as well as a powerful substance, which created him and everything else. Thus he realizes that the idea of God must have far more objective reality than he has formal reality because God is an infinite substance where as he himself is only a finite substance. Having explained the idea of Descartes’ perfect being lets go into more detail on the process he uses to prove that such being actually exists. Descartes’ proof of the existence of God occurs in the Third Meditation. He builds his entire argument upon his proof in the previous meditation that in order for him to think, he must exist. From this single observation, Descartes notices that the idea of his existence is very clear and distinct in his mind; based upon this clarity and the fact that he has just determined his own existence, he deduces a rule such that the things that he sees as very clear and very distinct are all true. Descartes starts his proof by dividing â€Å"thought† into four categories; ideas (concepts), volitions (choices), emotions (desires), and judgments (beliefs). He then breaks down these categories to discover which types of thoughts can yield error. The first thing to ... Free Essays on Descartes Existence Of The Perfect Being Free Essays on Descartes Existence Of The Perfect Being In his meditations, Descartes points out that there are three types of ideas; they can be innate, adventitious, caused by things outside of one’s self, and others that can be invented by us, such as ideas of mermaids or unicorns. After he concludes that God must necessarily exist, which will be discussed in more detail later on in this paper, he closes in to the fact that his idea of the Perfect Being cannot be adventitious, coming from without, nor can it be invented by him. Thus, this idea must be innate since he has a clear and distinct perception of God’s existence, and that Descartes must have been created by God with such an idea already in him. The idea of a Perfect Being in Descartes’ mind consists of an infinite, eternal, immutable, independent, supremely intelligent as well as a powerful substance, which created him and everything else. Thus he realizes that the idea of God must have far more objective reality than he has formal reality because God is an infinite substance where as he himself is only a finite substance. Having explained the idea of Descartes’ perfect being lets go into more detail on the process he uses to prove that such being actually exists. Descartes’ proof of the existence of God occurs in the Third Meditation. He builds his entire argument upon his proof in the previous meditation that in order for him to think, he must exist. From this single observation, Descartes notices that the idea of his existence is very clear and distinct in his mind; based upon this clarity and the fact that he has just determined his own existence, he deduces a rule such that the things that he sees as very clear and very distinct are all true. Descartes starts his proof by dividing â€Å"thought† into four categories; ideas (concepts), volitions (choices), emotions (desires), and judgments (beliefs). He then breaks down these categories to discover which types of thoughts can yield error. The first thing to ...

Suicide and Pesticide Use among Pesticide Applicators and Their Essay

Suicide and Pesticide Use among Pesticide Applicators and Their Spouses in the Agricultural Health Study - Essay Example is associated with the exposure to the "organophosphate pesticides." Even with the many deaths associated with the use of pesticides such as OP and the chlorpyrifos, the articles sole purpose focuses centrally on how the organophosphate pesticides(OP) results to suicide among the users and their spouses in the agricultural health study (Beard, et al., 2011). As per the methodology, the article focuses on the agricultural health studys cohort (1993-1997) who provided data on the lifestyle and the demographic factors, and pesticide use and exposure at the beginning of enrollment (1993). Most of these applicators were men with women forming the most spouses. The information was recorded systematically according to the age, the location, the sex, and the health diagnostic of the cohort. The authors also assessed the rate of exposure of each individual, the statistical methods used was the "COX proportional regression model." The main reason for choosing the model was that it would show the estimated hazard ratios, another model used in the article includes the stratifying models. In the stratifying model, the categorization was in terms of using protective gear (chemical resistant gears), the number of children, and the location (Beard, et al., 2011). Under the Cox model, the researchers investigated both the applicators and their spouses combined, this is because the data gathered relating to the spouses was too little, hence could not be analyzed alone. Later the covariates associated with suicides in both age-adjusted and age-adjusted models and the unadjusted models, under this they used the "Schwarz Bayesian and the Akaike information criterions." Under the stratifying models the researchers compares the HRs using the two strata, these models included the race and the marital status. The marital status and the race categories include the individuals that had ever used pesticides and those diagnosed with diabetes. The authors results collected showed that the