PBS高端访谈:黑人女权主义者的超级权利

JUDY WOODRUFF: Questions of race and power are obviously not limited to the movies. In tonight's Brief But Spectacular, we hear from cultural theorist, author and professor Brittney Cooper. She calls on us to look at the past during this Black History Month and recognize change shouldn't always be gradual. Cooper recently came out with a new book, Eloquent¹ Rage: A Black Feminist² Discovers Her Superpower.

BRITTNEY COOPER, Author, Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower: I'm a black feminist, capital B, capital F. I'm unapologetically black, and I'm unapologetically a feminist. And, look, depending on what circles you're in, it's hard to be both those things at the same time. But I think that being both those things is the thing that will save us. If time had a race, it would be white. White people feel like they own time and control history. And there's a way that, even if you go back to the early Western philosophers that everybody loved, my least favorite is Georg Hegel, who said, you know, Africa is no historic part of the world. So, in the 1700s and 1800s, various groups of white European men got together and just decided³ that Africa didn't matter in the span of world history. I mean, talk about having some cojones. Time has a history, and so do black people. And part of the reason that we have, for instance, Black History Month in this country is because we literally⁴ have to make the argument that black people have actually done things that are significant to the creation of the nation-state. And it turns out if we didn't have things like Black History Month, apparently⁵, people wouldn't believe that black people were actually significant historical actors. We keep on relitigating basically the 1860s in this country.

We have racial animus⁶ the likes of which we have not seen in my lifetime, a resurgence⁷ of law enforcement engaging black folks in ways that are often deadly and often with impunity⁸. White people dictate⁹ the pace of social inclusion. And they do so by saying, we will get there. Why are you trying to push us so fast? That kind of pushing back the clock, which is a phrase that we use all the time, is a way in which those in power like to say to those of us who don't have power, we're going to determine not only what you get, but when you get it. And that is the critical difference between young activists¹⁰ who are in the streets saying, change it now, change it today, we don't want your gradualism. They remind me of the debates over slavery in this country and ending slavery. In the 1800s, there were gradualists who said, we want to end slavery, but we want to do it in steps. So, we will free you, but, you know, can you work 10 years? Can we sort of gradually phase you out of slavery? And there were others who said, we're going to pass this amendment¹¹ and, at that moment, you will be free. And for those of us who continue to struggle with a white supremacist, capitalist, patriarchal power structure, immediate¹² freedom is what we want. Gradualism doesn't serve us. There is a truth-telling that happens at that nexus¹³ of blackness and feminism, at that space of having to work twice as hard to get half as far, which is a black proverb, and at that space of knowing that, so often, you can be the dopest chick in the room, and they will give it to the mediocre¹⁴ white man in the room. Putting those things together gives you a clarity and a vision about where we can go if we stop oppressing black folks and women and gender¹⁵ non-conforming folk. And, so, black feminism taught me that, and I think it can teach you that, too. I'm Brittney Cooper, and this is my Brief But Spectacular take on my eloquent rage.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And you can watch additional Brief But Spectacular episodes on our Web site, PBS.org/NewsHour/Brief.

朱迪·伍德拉夫：显然，关于种族和权力的问题不只存在于电影之中。在今晚的《简短而精彩》中，我们邀请到了文化理论学家和教授布里特妮·库珀。她呼吁我们值此黑人历史月之际审视过去，呼吁我们认识到改变不应该总是缓缓而来的。库珀最近出了一本新书《雄辩愤怒：黑人女权主义者的超级权利》。

布里特妮·库珀，《雄辩愤怒：黑人女权主义者的超级权利》作者：我是一名黑人女性，真真正正的黑人女性。但我不为自己是黑人感到抱歉，也不为自己是女性感到抱歉。大家所处的圈子与我不同，一定很难理解既是黑人又是女性是怎样的处境。但我认为黑人女性的身份拯救了我们。如果时间一定要选出一个种族的话，那一定是白人。白人会觉得世界是他们的天下，他们控制着历史。也有可能即便是早期人人爱戴的西方哲学家中，我最不喜欢的格奥尔格·黑格尔，因为大家都知道，他曾说过，非洲不属于世界历史的一部分。因此，在18世纪和19世纪的时候，许多欧洲白人团体涌现，而非洲在世界历史上也无足轻重。但我觉得，各种种族毕竟已经存在。时间造就了历史，那黑人也是有历史的。例如，美国之所有黑人历史月，其部分原因是：无可否认，黑人做了很多对创建美国有重大作用的事情。最后我们发现，如果没有黑人历史月这样的活动，显然很多人都认为黑人对历史有重大的作用。19世纪60年代的时候，黑人持续提起抗议。这个国家的种族仇视达到了史上的最高点，执法人员可以以致命的方式对待黑人，而不受法律责罚。白人号称要秉持社会融入。而他们实现社会融入的方式就是动动嘴皮子而已。为什么大家要将黑人推得这么远？这是在倒退，这个词汇我们已经司空见惯，这是权贵对我们这些没权没势的人的惯用伎俩——我们不仅要决定你能得到什么，还要决定你什么时候才能得到。这跟街头上的年轻活动家有着关键区别，因为后者会高呼立刻就改变，现在就改变，我们不想要所谓的循序渐进。他们让我想起美国关于奴隶制以及取缔奴隶制的争论。19世纪的时候，有一些渐进主义者说：我们想取缔奴隶制，但我们要循序渐进地取缔。所以，我们会给你们自由的，不过你们可以先工作10年再说吗？我们就不能让你们慢慢地摆脱奴隶制吗？还有一些人说：到时候，我们会通过一个修正案，你们就自由了。对于我们之中那些依然在跟白人至上主义者抗争的人，跟资本家和父权权力结构抗争的人来说，立刻得到自由才是我们想要的。我们不吃渐进主义这套。在黑人和女性抗争这件事上有一个真理——事倍功半。这是一句黑人的谚语。等一个黑人明白这一点的时候，他/她才知道自己是这里最傻的人，然后才会去与白人抗争。将这些事情联系在一起，我们就会清楚地看到未来将走向灭亡，除非黑人和女性能得到平等的对待。作为一名黑人女性，我明白了这一点，我希望大家也能从中受益。我是布里特妮·库珀，这是我本期带来的与我新书有关的《简短而精彩》。

朱迪·伍德拉夫：要观看其他期的《简短而精彩》，大家可以登录我们的网站PBS.org/NewsHour/Brief。

1 eloquent   

adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的

参考例句：

• He was so eloquent that he cut down the finest orator.他能言善辩，胜过最好的演说家。
• These ruins are an eloquent reminder of the horrors of war.这些废墟形象地提醒人们不要忘记战争的恐怖。

2 feminist   

adj.主张男女平等的，女权主义的

参考例句：

• She followed the feminist movement.她支持女权运动。
• From then on,feminist studies on literature boomed.从那时起，男女平等受教育的现象开始迅速兴起。

3 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。

4 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

5 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

6 animus   

n.恶意；意图

参考例句：

• They are full of animus towords us.他们对我们怀有敌意。
• When you have an animus against a person,you should give it up.当你对别人怀有敌意时，你应当放弃这种想法。

7 resurgence   

n.再起，复活，再现

参考例句：

• A resurgence of his grief swept over Nim.悲痛又涌上了尼姆的心头。
• Police say drugs traffickers are behind the resurgence of violence.警方说毒贩是暴力活动重新抬头的罪魁祸首。

8 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

9 dictate   

v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令

参考例句：

• It took him a long time to dictate this letter.口述这封信花了他很长时间。
• What right have you to dictate to others?你有什么资格向别人发号施令？

10 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

12 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

13 nexus   

n.联系；关系

参考例句：

• Shared ambition is the vital nexus between them.共同的志向是把他们联结在一起的重要纽带。
• Either way,the nexus between the consumer and consumer prices is important.无论那个方面，消费者与消费价格之间的关系是至关重要的。

14 mediocre   

adj.平常的，普通的

参考例句：

• The student tried hard,but his work is mediocre. 该生学习刻苦，但学业平庸。
• Only lazybones and mediocre persons could hanker after the days of messing together.只有懒汉庸才才会留恋那大锅饭的年代。

15 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。