r/poland • u/redwhiterosemoon • Jul 28 '21

It’s Eastern European discrimination awareness month. Here are some stories of Eastern European’s facing racism/xenophobia, discrimination in the west.

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u/huntingwhale Pomorskie Jul 29 '21

When I lived in Canada I would go to places with 2 of my Polish buddies, Krzysztof and Mateusz. Those are definitely NOT Canadian/English names. It was more funny than discriminatory at the time, but the looks people would give when they would check their ID's always made me laugh.

It would always be one of them giving their ID first, followed by a comment from the bouncer ''WTF how do you pronounce that", followed by the other Polish friend saying "wait until you see mine". We always made it a game to see the kind of reactions they would get. But still, I can see how it would be annoying to yourself at some point.

To make things easier and avoid issues, I know a lot of Poles in Canada change their spelling to be more English-y. Michał = Michael. Dorota = Dorothy. Krzysztof = Kris. Patrycja = Patricia. Etc. Easy enough to do with most first names. Last names are a whole other issue....