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T.E.D.
T.E.D.
7:21 PM
Since people continue to be nice enough to bestow me with upvotes for this answer...
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A: What is the origin of the American stereotype that Polish people lack intelligence?

T.E.D.Personally, I suspect this is mostly an American (USA) stereotype, which chiefly originates from a couple of factors. We had a couple of large waves of East European immigration in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which brought large numbers of Poles who knew little or no English. ...

I have a bit of a confession to make. I actually was a proud and very happy owner of Larrry Wilde's official Polish/Italian Joke Book back in 1973.
In my defense, I was in first grade, so not exactly "woke" yet. And a comedy nut.
It was an unusual book, in that the Polish jokes were in the front half, and then you flipped the book over, and the Italian jokes were in the second half. You knew you were finished with one half if you got to the part with upside-down writing.
Not all the jokes were denigrating either. There was at least one about having immense sexual stamina, which I wouldn't complain about being ascribed to me. But pretty much all the rest of them were based on being dumb or sloppy/dirty. Ugh.
 
 
1 hour later…
T.E.D.
T.E.D.
8:57 PM
Did a bit more research, and there's actually a pretty interesting history of Polish jokes in the USA, including a historical debate about what the source of them was.
In fact, there's a documentary about the subject; Polack
 

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