It is a difficult social and cultural problem: what to do when tens of thousands of immigrants from an almost wholly white country arrive in a nation that has a fierce pride in its multicultural mix?

 

It is an issue affecting the many Poles coming to Britain, who are being warned to be ready for a country where being black or Asian is not unusual and it is wrong to react 'negatively' to people of different races. The message has been spread through Catholic priests in Poland and is aimed at families moving to the UK from all-white towns and villages. The Polish Educational Society of London approached the priests following claims of racist behaviour among Polish children and their parents. Headteachers reported that pupils were moving their desks away from Asian and black children in fear and saying that white people were superior.

 

In one case Polish children drew pictures of apes sitting in palm trees and claimed this was what their black classmates looked like, while in a school in Acton, west London, a group of teenagers hurled daily abuse at non-white staff and pupils. According to headteachers, some parents asked whether their children would be taught by 'darkies'.

 

Aleksandra Podhorodecka, president of the society, which runs Saturday schools for Polish children, said she hoped that the priests would 'pass on a simple forewarning that it will be a multicultural society and they need to behave appropriately'. She said: 'It is difficult to blame the children, because a lot come from rural societies in eastern Poland where there are very few immigrants and some children have never seen West Indians or Asians in the flesh. So to suddenly be thrown into a school with 100 different languages, cultures and religions is a cultural shock.' In a minority of cases, she said, children would react aggressively, but she insisted that most Polish families were very tolerant.

 

Ania Heasley, who runs a recruitment and employment agency for Polish people, said there were parents whose main criterion when moving to the UK was to find a place to live and a school for their children where there were fewer black people. 'I try to argue and say, if you do not like the racial makeup, why do you come here?' said Heasley, whose company is called Ania's Poland. 'Everybody is white in Poland, apart from a few students. If you see a black person in the street everybody turns their head because they look out of place.'

 

Jan Mokrzycki, chairman of the Federation of Poles in Great Britain, said people were reacting to something they did not understand: 'It was the same when the first West Indian community came to this country. I am not sure it really needs tackling; it will sort itself out in time.'

 

On Friday, outside a Polish cultural centre in west London, there were mixed opinions. Tomas, 31, a builder who has lived in the UK for three years, said: 'It's true, most Polish people don't like Indians and black people. People don't understand how different things are when they first come here, but after a while you adjust to the system. In the beginning I was the same. But now my best customer is Indian.'

 

Aleksandra Watorska, a graphic designer living in Gloucester, said she had come to the UK because she wanted her three-year-old daughter Zuzanna to grow up in a multicultural society, while Basia Paczesna-Vercueil, a mother in London, said none of her friends made racist comments. Marta Rabikowska, a senior lecturer at the University of East London, who has researched Polish immigration, argued it was difficult to call the problem racism: 'It is an intolerance of something different, that they have not experienced before.'

 

this will be interesting when scott sees it!! ...lol.

this will be interesting when scott sees it!! ...lol.

 

 

I only quoted the article from the Observer I think, but I presume it could stand for all the former east block countries, not just Poland.

^^ agreed :lol:

 

it's blatantly wrong ... but i'm interested to see how people intend to police anything to do with stopping this

Loads and loads of them have moved to where I live and they've filled quite a few council flat buildings, there's even Polish-only food shops that's opened but for a northern town 99% of us are white, no clue as to why though, especially when Preston/Manchester down the road have big Asian/Black communities

Edited April 15, 200718 yr by blade699

there's even Polish-only food shops that's opened but for a northern town 99% of us are white, no clue as to why though, especially when Preston/Manchester down the road have big Asian/Black communities

So, you're being stopped from entering this shop then yeah...? There's a big sign outside saying "Polish People Only".. Perhaps if you actually put aside your silliness and actually went IN to the place you'd actually find that there's a lot of really nice things to buy - Polish sausage for a start is miles better than most of the rubbish you get here... There's nice meats, chocolate (Wedel chocolate is lovely...), bread, juices.... Kubus and Tymbark juices are really nice... Polish vodka rocks, try the Zubrovka bison grass vodka with some apple juice.... Polish food aint just for Polish people you nutter.... :lol: :lol: I suppose you dont go to any Chinese, French, Italian or Indian restaurants then, yeah....?

So, the basic thrust of this article is - "Some Polish People are racist"..... Well, stop the fukkin' presses, we have a real exclusive here.... :lol: :lol: Like we dont have racists over here anyway...? Come on....

 

Guess what - some French people are racist, so are some German people, so are some Dutch people, so are some Scandinavian people..... JEEEEEEEZ, why is it a fukkin' big thing when it's folks from Eastern Europe...? This is a non-story as far as I'm concerned - you get racists everywhere in every culture...

Cardiff is literally swamped with Polish immigrants at the moment... and whilst they may or may not be racist.... what worries me is their homophobia. I think coming from a Catholic country, they tend to bring some of their prejudices with them.

 

Whilst I have no problem with Poles here (although there does seem to be a ridiculously large amount in Cardiff these days), I have a serious problem with their Catholicism.

Whilst I have no problem with Poles here (although there does seem to be a ridiculously large amount in Cardiff these days), I have a serious problem with their Catholicism.

 

 

Yeah, that's probably the one thing that I dont particularly like either.. But I suppose, given the decades of Stalinist repression it's kind of an explanation as to why Catholicism kicked off again in Poland and other places... A lot of the younger generation of Poles back in Poland dont really like Catholicism either to be fair, especially in the Metal circles. The Catholic church in Poland has tried to get Metal music banned... Hopefully this might precipitate a rebellion amongst younger Poles against Catholicism and Catholic values....

 

I'm totally mystified as to why so many Polish people gravitate towards Cardiff though..... :lol: :lol: :P

Cardiff is literally swamped with Polish immigrants at the moment... and whilst they may or may not be racist.... what worries me is their homophobia. I think coming from a Catholic country, they tend to bring some of their prejudices with them.

 

Whilst I have no problem with Poles here (although there does seem to be a ridiculously large amount in Cardiff these days), I have a serious problem with their Catholicism.

 

what a freaking demonstration of ignorance

what a freaking demonstration of ignorance

 

 

Not nearly as big a demonstration of ignorance as the Catholic Church displays generally....

Not nearly as big a demonstration of ignorance as the Catholic Church displays generally....

 

WELL SAID!

 

My viewpoint on this, to be fair, is the less religious people - ESPECIALLY Catholics... there are in the UK... the better I think.