时代周刊:美国种族问题"光说没有用"(5)（在线收听）

I'm told that those of us who aren't white—a growing share of Americans— can take heart in knowing that our maltreatment is being discussed at all. This is akin to a cruel warden demanding extra pay for services rendered.

我被告知，我们这些非白人——越来越多的美国人——在知道我们的虐待被讨论后可以振作起来。就像一个残忍的监狱长要求为其提供的服务支付额外的报酬。

Those who live with the myriad consequences of inequality are, at this point, unlikely to be impressed by mildly uncomfortable chatter about race in America.

在这一点上，那些生活在无数不平等后果之中的人，不太可能对美国有关种族的略微令人不安的讨论留下深刻印象。

Many are, quite frankly, already busy finding meaning in the American creed, creating new possibilities and erecting work-arounds with the ingenuity and grit that have sustained them thus far.

坦率地说，许多人已经忙着在美国信条中寻找意义，创造新的可能性，用迄今支撑他们的独创性和毅力建立变通办法。

And as was evident in last summer's protests and the fall's election returns, Americans, but particularly Black Americans, have and will put in work to make a democracy of equals real.

从去年夏天的抗议活动和今年秋天的选举结果中可以明显看出，美国人，尤其是美国黑人，已经并将致力于实现平等的民主。

The situation reminds me of the first time I was called the N word to my face—far from the worst moment that being Black in America has brought me, but an instructive one.

这种情况让我想起了我第一次被人当面称为“黑鬼”的时候——这并不是美国黑人给我带来的最糟糕的时刻，但却是很有教育意义的时刻。

A few months before I began kindergarten, my parents emerged triumphant from their battle with banks, real estate agents and the opportunities available to Black people in the U.S. labor market.

在我上幼儿园前的几个月，我的父母在与银行、房地产中介以及美国劳动力市场上黑人所能获得的机会的斗争中取得了胜利。

They bought their first home in a North Texas suburb so new that a wrong turn meant driving on a dirt road.

他们在北德克萨斯郊区买了第一套房子，房子太新了，一个错误的转弯意味着在一条土路上开车。

My parents grew up in the Jim Crow South. They knew how scary socalled economic anxiety can get when one group's stranglehold on privilege ends.

我的父母在南方的种族隔离地区长大。他们知道，当一个群体对特权的束缚结束时，所谓的经济焦虑会变得多么可怕。

So they didn't expect things to be easy in the new neighborhood. What mattered to me at the time: my sister and I quickly found friends.

所以他们不认为在新社区生活会很容易。当时对我来说最重要的是：我和姐姐很快找到了朋友。

There were three white girls next door and a Black and white biracial brother and sister opposite us in the cul-de-sac.

隔壁住着三个白人女孩，对面的死胡同里住着一对黑白混血的兄妹。

When a new boy showed up—Chad, towheaded and in tube socks—we were glad to include him.

当一个新来的男孩出现的时候——查德，沙洲头，穿着短袜——我们很高兴让他加入进来。

He was one more person to make the day's checkers tournament interesting and one more contender in our bike races to the end of the street and back.

他又多了一个人，使那天的跳棋比赛变得有趣，也多了一个骑自行车比赛的竞争者，往返于街道的尽头。

But when Chad lost, Chad got mad. Standing near the curb outside our house, he leaped off his bike after a race and said it: He was sick of playing with "stupid niggers."

但查德输了，他很生气。站在我家门外的路边，他在一场比赛后跳下自行车，说：他厌倦了和“愚蠢的黑鬼”一起玩。