Presistent Struggle of Polish-Americans to Gain Acceptance in the Political World of Buffalo and Erie County

Abstract

The article constitutes a part of a doctor’s thesis of the University of Warsaw (1976). It is published here because of two reasons:

1) The author presents in detail the mechanism of the Amercian local election.

2) The article touches upon the problem of political organization of the Polish-Americans, their need to participate in the social and political life equally to other ethnic groups.

The author presents the Polish community of Buffalo and Erie Country. She describes the Polish-American leaders and their private careers stressing that they frequently disobey the needs and interests of the Polish community as a whole. The author points to the lack of ethnic solidarity of the Polish-American politicians. The article clearly shows that a group makes ..a lonely, disorganized crowd” unless it becomes a group of pressure fighting for its own social interests.