美国国家公共电台 NPR--As hate crimes against Asian Americans rise, a California neighborhood takes action

As hate crimes against Asian Americans rise, a California neighborhood takes action

Transcript¹

In Oakland, Calif., Chinatown residents have been targeted with robberies and anti-Asian abuse. They decided² to fight back with volunteer patrols, and their presence is helping³ to deter⁴ crime.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

A 64-year-old grandmother assaulted and robbed. A 52-year-old woman shot in the head with a flare⁵ gun. Researchers say hate crimes targeting Asian Americans have soared. Business and civil rights groups have been demanding that something change. And in one California neighborhood, it did. NPR's Eric Westervelt reports from Oakland.

ERIC WESTERVELT, BYLINE⁶: This time last year, Oakland's Chinatown seemed like a ghost town as the latest COVID variant⁷ combined with a wave of thefts and brutal⁸ attacks against Asian Americans to unnerve the community. Many customers and tourists stayed away, and business owners, like insurance broker⁹ Jennifer Gee¹⁰, would close up early.

JENNIFER GEE: Our elderly are being hurt. People are getting robbed on the street. There's even, like, carjacking or car windows being broken into. So it really affects the safety of Chinatown, and that's why they don't want to stay here late.

WESTERVELT: But today, things are better. People are staying out a little later. Businesses have bounced back. That's due in part to an all-volunteer Chinatown citizen patrol Gee helps organize called the Blue Angels. Victor Kuang has run a Chinese herbal medicine store here for 30 years. He got involved in the patrol effort early on.

VICTOR KUANG: (Through interpreter) Chinatown is like a big family. And during the attacks and the news, my young son asked me, Dad, will there be a Chinatown in the future? Will it exist for us?

WESTERVELT: The volunteer patrol looks more like a glee club that's been to a home security superstore than menacing crime fighters - young and old, teens to retirees, are dressed in bright blue vests, with black baseball caps that say security. They walk the neighborhood three days a week, equipped with cameras, walkie-talkies, air horns and powder-blue umbrellas.

GEE: Just to kind of deter any crime - for self-defense, if anything happens.

WESTERVELT: Gee says if patrol members see crime, they turn on their body cameras, maybe sound their air horn, and dial a direct line to a local Oakland police liaison¹¹ officer. Important, too, she says - the patrols act as a kind of bridge to the police for community members who may not speak English well and are often wary¹² of police.

GEE: And they don't necessarily know how to report crime when it happens to them. So that presence - so they know there's someone local that will care about what happened to them and be able to relay that to police.

WESTERVELT: Businesswoman Eva Liu says she's grateful for the patrols. She's eight months pregnant and runs a small import/export business here. When a thief recently tried to steal goods off her shelf, she says, she was petrified¹³. But she sounded her air horn, and the loud blast got the attention of the volunteers, and the thief took off - but not before he shouted an anti-Asian slur¹⁴, she says, and hurled¹⁵ a bottle at her.

EVA LIU: (Through interpreter) He threw the bottle at me. I turned to protect the baby, and the bottle hit my back. He's yelling at me, calling me names. It was scary, but the air horn and patrols helped scare him for sure.

WESTERVELT: Most of the patrol members are Asian Americans who work or live in the neighborhood, but not all.

BOB BATTINICH: I was an ex-boxer. My main thing is I don't like bullies¹⁶. You see an old person, they need to be honored.

WESTERVELT: Seventy-one-year-old retiree Bob Battinich (ph) shows up for most every patrol with his umbrella, pepper spray, and his head on a swivel. Battinich says he's built relationships here over years, coming to Chinatown for traditional medicine, food and friendships.

BATTINICH: I love the culture. I love the street sales here. Look at - you see an - here's an old man right here. He's out with his daughter. This is beautiful. It's family.

Ni hao.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Ni hao, ni hao.

WESTERVELT: This citizen effort is only part of the solution. Oakland Police have also increased foot and car patrols in Chinatown and appointed a new liaison officer who the volunteer patrol members say speaks some Cantonese. The combined efforts have helped drive down property crime and assaults - in this part of Oakland, at least. LeRonne Armstrong is the city's police chief.

LERONNE ARMSTRONG: Whether that group is going to blow whistles, like some of them do, or have their body-worn cameras on and going to record an event, it makes it a hard place to commit crime when the criminal sees multiple people watching.

WESTERVELT: But you have to wonder - are citizen patrols really a viable¹⁷ long-term solution, and are they doing anything to address the deeper anti-Asian sentiment underlying¹⁸ some of the attacks? On a walk here with Carl Chan, head of the Chinatown Chamber¹⁹ of Commerce, I ask him if he's at all concerned about the patrols backfiring.

CARL CHAN: This is not about, like, being a hero. It's a group effort, and they are trained to make phone calls immediately and contact the necessary authorities.

WESTERVELT: So you would rather they deter and report. They're not out there to try to intervene.

CHAN: Absolutely. We don't want to intervene because, you know, this is not their job.

WESTERVELT: Chan says the patrols have been instrumental in bringing back not only people and customers, but rebuilding the confidence of the businesses and their employees. People here, he says, now just feel safer. Eric Westervelt, NPR News, Oakland.

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1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

5 flare   

v.闪耀，闪烁；n.潮红；突发

参考例句：

• The match gave a flare.火柴发出闪光。
• You need not flare up merely because I mentioned your work.你大可不必因为我提到你的工作就动怒。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

8 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

9 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

10 gee   

n.马；int.向右！前进！，惊讶时所发声音；v.向右转

参考例句：

• Their success last week will gee the team up.上星期的胜利将激励这支队伍继续前进。
• Gee,We're going to make a lot of money.哇！我们会赚好多钱啦！

11 liaison   

n.联系，（未婚男女间的）暖昧关系，私通

参考例句：

• She acts as a liaison between patients and staff.她在病人与医护人员间充当沟通的桥梁。
• She is responsible for liaison with researchers at other universities.她负责与其他大学的研究人员联系。

12 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

13 petrified   

adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• I'm petrified of snakes. 我特别怕蛇。
• The poor child was petrified with fear. 这可怜的孩子被吓呆了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 slur   

v.含糊地说；诋毁；连唱；n.诋毁；含糊的发音

参考例句：

• He took the remarks as a slur on his reputation.他把这些话当作是对他的名誉的中伤。
• The drug made her speak with a slur.药物使她口齿不清。

15 hurled   

v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• He hurled a brick through the window. 他往窗户里扔了块砖。
• The strong wind hurled down bits of the roof. 大风把屋顶的瓦片刮了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 bullies   

n.欺凌弱小者, 开球 vt.恐吓, 威胁, 欺负

参考例句：

• Standing up to bullies takes plenty of backbone. 勇敢地对付暴徒需有大无畏精神。
• Bullies can make your life hell. 恃强欺弱者能让你的日子像活地狱。

17 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

18 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

19 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。