时代周刊:美国种族问题"光说没有用"(1)

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AMERICANS ARE REPEATING AN OLD PATTERN—TALKING ABOUT RACIAL INEQUALITY BUT DOING LITTLE TO SOLVE IT

美国人正在重复一种旧模式——谈论种族不平等，却不采取行动解决它

BY JANELL ROSS

作者：贾内尔·罗斯

IN 1937, THE CARNEGIE CORPORATION hired a Swedish man to unravel¹ an American quandary².

1937年，卡耐基基金会雇佣了一个瑞典人来解决美国人的一个困境。

The foundation had a history of funding initiatives to help the disadvantaged; in the U.S., where enslavement was only 72 years gone, the disadvantaged were disproportionately Black.

该基金会曾资助过旨在帮助弱势群体的举措，在奴隶制度刚刚结束72年后的美国，处于不利地位的黑人比例尤其庞大。

The issue was often described as, simply, "the Negro Problem."

这个问题通常被简单地描述为“黑人问题”。

But while it was clear that the problem existed, it was also obvious how difficult it was to solve.

但是，问题虽然明显存在，但解决它的难度也很明显。

And so the foundation brought in economist³, sociologist⁴ and future Nobel Prize winner Gunnar Myrdal to gather information to guide its programs.

因此，基金会请来了经济学家、社会学家和未来的诺贝尔奖得主贡纳·米达尔来收集信息指导其项目。

Myrdal did much more. Almost seven years later, he produced a twovolume study he dubbed⁵ An American Dilemma⁶, exploring, in statistical⁷ detail, the evidence of the great American lie—the gap between the nation's ideals and its racial reality.

米达尔做得更多。将近七年后，他出版了一份名为《美国困境》的两卷研究，从统计的细节中探索了伟大的美国人的谎言——国家理想和种族现实之间的差距。

Myrdal was far from the first to try to illuminate⁸ the effects of ongoing⁹ institutional racism¹⁰, the frequent and extreme way it pushed the U.S. away from its core ideals and constitutional promises.

默达尔并不是第一个试图阐明现行制度性种族主义影响的人，这种现象频繁而极端地将美国推向背离其核心理想和宪法承诺的境地。

And he certainly would not be the last.

他肯定不会是最后一个。

Alexis de Tocqueville in 1835, W.E.B. Du Bois in 1900 and again in 1935 and the Kerner Commission in 1968, among others, enriched our national understanding of troubles we still face today.

1835年的亚历克西斯·德·托克维尔、1900年的杜波依斯、1935年的杜波依斯以及1968年的克纳委员会等，丰富了我们对我们国家今天仍然面临的问题的理解。

But Myrdal and his army of social scientists seemed, for at least a time, to cut through America's fairy-tale understanding of itself.

但默达尔和他的社会科学家大军似乎至少在一段时间内打破了美国对自身童话般的理解。

The study was one of just a few credited with prompting the Supreme¹¹ Court to put a legal end to school segregation¹². And yet, once again, Myrdal's subject looms¹³ large.

这项研究是促使最高法院从法律上结束学校种族隔离的少数研究之一。然而，默达尔的主题又一次凸显出来。

The profoundly inadequate¹⁴ question of whether America is a racist¹⁵ country has caused a wave in many elected officials' deep-as-a-puddle meditations¹⁶ on the nation's history.

关于美国是否是一个种族主义国家的根本问题引发了许多民选官员对国家历史的深思。

Many Americans remain ill informed about race and near delusional¹⁷ in their description of its reach.

许多美国人仍然不了解种族问题，他们对种族影响的描述几乎就是妄想。

The evidence is clear—and was, in a way that all but only the most recalcitrant¹⁸ can deny, made plain again in the extended endurance test that began in March 2020.

证据很清楚，而且在2020年3月开始的延长耐力测试中，只有最顽固的人才能否认这一点。

If the past year has been, as is so often claimed, the one in which the ugly scar of American inequality ripped open so wide that few could deny it,

如果过去的一年真如人们常说的那样，是美国不平等的丑陋伤疤撕裂得相当之大(无人能否认)的一年，

it should also be known as the year when a bold and opportunistic set learned to better talk the talk of needed change.

那么它也应该是大胆的机会主义者学会更好地谈论必要的变革的一年。

Still, even in a country that prides itself on allowing citizens to speak freely and then act to change public policy accordingly, the renewed attention given to racial injustice¹⁹ has scarcely been matched with parallel action.

然而，即使是在一个以允许公民自由发言并据此采取行动改变公共政策而自豪的国家，但对种族不公正的重新关注并没有和相应的行动匹配起来。

The problem is as clear as ever. What America is going to do about it is not.

这个问题和以前一样清晰可见，但美国对此要采取什么措施却如同雾里看花。

1 unravel   

v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开

参考例句：

• He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧，其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线，他都能解开。
• This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。

2 quandary   

n.困惑，进迟两难之境

参考例句：

• I was in a quandary about whether to go.我当时正犹豫到底去不去。
• I was put in a great quandary.我陷于进退两难的窘境。

3 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

4 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

5 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

7 statistical   

adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table.他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• They're making detailed statistical analysis.他们正在做具体的统计分析。

8 illuminate   

vt.照亮，照明；用灯光装饰；说明，阐释

参考例句：

• Dreams kindle a flame to illuminate our dark roads.梦想点燃火炬照亮我们黑暗的道路。
• They use games and drawings to illuminate their subject.他们用游戏和图画来阐明他们的主题。

9 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

10 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

11 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

12 segregation   

n.隔离，种族隔离

参考例句：

• Many school boards found segregation a hot potato in the early 1960s.在60年代初，许多学校部门都觉得按水平分班是一个棘手的问题。
• They were tired to death of segregation and of being kicked around.他们十分厌恶种族隔离和总是被人踢来踢去。

13 looms   

n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• All were busily engaged,men at their ploughs,women at their looms. 大家都很忙，男的耕田，女的织布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The factory has twenty-five looms. 那家工厂有25台织布机。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

15 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

16 meditations   

默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想

参考例句：

• Each sentence seems a quarry of rich meditations. 每一句话似乎都给人以许多冥思默想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditations. 我很抱歉，打断你思考问题了。

17 delusional   

妄想的

参考例句：

• You became delusional and attacked several people trying to escape. 你产生了错觉并攻击了许多人还试图逃走。 来自电影对白
• He is incoherent, delusional, suffering auditory hallucinations. 他出现无逻辑的，妄想的，幻听的症状。 来自电影对白

18 recalcitrant   

adj.倔强的

参考例句：

• The University suspended the most recalcitrant demonstraters.这所大学把几个反抗性最强的示威者开除了。
• Donkeys are reputed to be the most recalcitrant animals.驴被认为是最倔强的牲畜。

19 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。