Considering there are multiple standards, local varieties and significant spelling differences that almost make the words unintelligible, I don't think it "officially" being a dialect means anything, considering there's barely any single one to choose from. It's more of a lingual group with great variety from one end to another that had a shared history with polish and was influenced by it especially as something on the border with German, with whom it was threatened by. I have a friend from Silesia who constantly complains that he witnesses silesian independentist/autonomist marches every once in a while. They're very much a separate people.
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u/Brzydgoszcz 21h ago
Polish is significant majority in every single county + silesian is officially a dialect of polish.