Polish Journalist: There Is No Bieganski Stereotype, And No, I Have Not Read Your Book

I received an email yesterday from a  young man asking for an interview. He identified himself as a journalist working for a Polish news magazine. 

He said he wanted answers by today. 

Huh? He asked me a series of questions yesterday and wants answers by today? Usually journalists give me more time. 

I wanted to accommodate him so I rushed to type up some answers this morning before breakfast. 

He asked quite a few questions. When I looked at them, I realized they were all the same. 

His questions, paraphrased: "You are wrong. There is no stereotype of Poles. I know this is true because I talked to Polish people living in Silicon Valley, Manhattan, and Chicago. All are successful and none have experienced any stereotyping." 

His questions are hopelessly naive. 

I wrote back, "Oprah Winfrey, Drake, and Barack Obama are some of the most successful Americans. Does this prove that there is no stereotyping of blacks? Steve Mnuchin, Chuck Schumer, and Jon Stewart are all Jews. Does this prove that there is no stereotyping of Jews?" 

He wrote back, "It was written 8 years ago. World changed [sic]." 

He acknowledged that he had never read Bieganski the Brute Polak Stereotype, and yet he was certain, based on his conversations with Poles in Silicon Valley, Manhattan, and Chicago, that there are no stereotypes of Poles in the world today. 

So, Poles and Polonians, fold your tents and move on. No one is stereotyping you. 

***

Update. I just received another email from the self-described journalist. He said that he posted "many announcements" on Facebook groups for Poles living in the US and none of them said anything negative about living in America. Thus, Bieganski is false. 

Note. This journalist took the time to communicate on Facebook, but he devoted less than a day to contacting the author of the only scholarly book dedicated to stereotypes of Poles, and he did that only to tell that author that she is wrong. And to inform her that he hadn't read the book, because "World changed" [sic.]

Mind. This blog is several years old. It is constantly updated with new material from me, from Polish Media Issues, and from blog readers.

The problem is not that the book was published in 2011. No serious journalist would dismiss a book about stereotyping because it was published in 2011. No serious journalist would dismiss a book without reading it, and insist that he doesn't have to read it because it was published in 2011. And no serious journalist would be unaware that the book's contents are constantly reaffirmed by ongoing events.

Denying a stereotype is an act of hate or ignorance combined with arrogance. Who would deny that Jews are stereotyped? Only an anti-Semite, or someone who simply isn't very bright.