Czechmatediary

Damian subscribed to this blog for two reasons: 1/ he has a Czech heritage and 2/ he received an assignment at school to write en essay about ethnic group discrimination. Hence his decision on what particular topic to write about couldn’t be easier: discrimination (or no discrimination?) of Czechs. Enjoy.

Ethnic Groups and Discrimination: Czechs

My family’s origin is the region of Central Europe now known as The Czech Republic and Slovakia; however, from 1920 to 1992 these two countries were joined together as one nation called Czechoslovakia. Before then, the region underwent several changes in name as the result of wars and empirical conquests left the region under the rule of Austria, Hungary and the Holy Roman Empire, to name a few. However the main regions historically are Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia (Czechoslovak, 2008 p.1.) To avoid confusion, most individuals with genealogical ties to the region can claim Czech heritage, but might chose to further identify with any of the three regions for more clarification, with the best way to do this by finding out what town or geographical part of the region ancestors come from.
In terms of people from this region immigrating to America, it is difficult to finalize a total as census records before 1920 when census and government records of Czech immigrant origins and birth places included Austria, Austria-Hungary or Bohemia, with Slovakia and Moravia rarely found on such records (Kukral, 2004.)
According to Kovton (2008), the first Czech to immigrate to America was Augustine Herrman (Augustin Herman), in 1633. Until the 19th century, immigration of Czechs was not considered heavy, and details are imprecise due to this. The first wave of Czechs was in1848, when Czechs were escaping persecution of the Hapsburgs (Moinari, 2000.) The next wave of immigration occurred prior to World War II when Czechs were escaping persecution from the Nazis. And finally the last major influx of Czechs occurred in 1948 due to a communist takeover of Czechoslovakia.

Racism and discrimination towards Czechs moving to America can be generalized to the same hardships facing many different immigrant groups, in the last few hundred years. It is difficult to pinpoint specific forms of racism towards Czechs due to several reasons, mostly because of lack of documentation, but it is clear that institutional discrimination similar to what the Chinese, and later, Irish immigrants felt was not as prolific with Czechs. While not as socially debilitating as the Chinese and Irish experience was, prejudice was experienced and one of the main reasons was economic. Czech immigrants were very willing to take on low paying jobs. Goska (2006) states this is because of specific policies towards immigrants that defined racial categories identifying them for such work. In this case, “dirty and dangerous industrial work” that often paid less than other workers native born in the states, white or black. These forms of dual labor wage policies enacted by employers were often a situation many immigrants that were uneducated or had a difficult time learning English found themselves in.
The reason that Czechs escaped prolonged or institutionalized prejudice is mainly because of their quick assimilation in to their host society. Why Czechs did this at the risk of disinheriting their culture and traditions are not documented, yet a look at the history of the homeland leads to clues that Czechs have had to deal with outside influences long before coming to America and were adept at surviving under the pressure of discrimination (Czechoslovak, 2008 pp.1-2.) Further, by having to deal with wages that kept them in poverty, there was often little time to teach traditions, simply getting by was difficult enough (Goska, 2006.)
Before researching my heritage I would have immediately claimed very little association to my Czech bloodline. But after reading how the Czechs were industrious and self sufficient (Goska, 2006), I realized that I had been demonstrating traits and characteristics of being a Czech all along. As discussed earlier, the ease as which Czechs assimilated into American society did create the risk that traditions and other hallmarks of Czech culture would be abandoned are evident in the fairly rapid loss of accents and cultural knowledge. I myself can only demonstrate “traditional” Czech cooking and other associated traditions by performing research. This is not to say that all Czech Americans are as distant from their heritage as me, there are several Czech organizations providing support and cultural identity for Czech Americans, such as the Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Society Association and the American Sokol Organization. Sadly, even though I can somewhat relate to my heritage, I cannot say that I truly identify with my Czech ancestors the same way those other individuals who, at the least, can speak in both their native tongue and English. Amazingly, I am not distressed by this. Simply making that comment proves to me that I have a lot more in common with my Czech heritage that I even realized.

Resources
Czechoslovak region, history of. (2008). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved April 11, 2008, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online: http://www.search.eb.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/eb/article-42090
Goska, D. V. (2006.) “‘No opportunity for song:’ a Slovak immigrant’s silencing analyzed through her pronoun choice.(Essay).” Ethnic Studies Review 29.1 (Summer 2006): 49(27). General OneFile. Gale. Apollo Library. Retrieved 04/10/2008 from
http://find.galegroup.com/ips/start.do?prodId=IPS.
Kovton G. (2008.) The Czechs in America. Retrieved April 10, 2008 from Library of Congress research centers European Reading Room web site: http://www.loc.gov/rr/european/imcz/ndl.html
Kukral, M. A. (2004.) “Czech settlements in 19th century Cleveland, Ohio.” East European Quarterly 38.4 (Winter 2004): 473(12). General OneFile. Gale. Apollo Library. Retrieved 04/10/2008 from http://find.galegroup.com/ips/start.do?prodId=IPS.
Molinari, C. (2000.) “Czech Americans.” Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America. Ed. Jeffrey Lehman. Vol. 1. 2nd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2000. 14 pp. 3 vols. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. Apollo Library. Retrieved April 10, 2008 from
http://find.galegroup.com/ips/start.do?prodId=IPS.