美国国家公共电台 NPR--Clint Smith of 'The Atlantic' on 'What we ask of Black American athletes'

Clint Smith of 'The Atlantic' on 'What we ask of Black American athletes'

Transcript¹

NPR's A Martinez talks to Clint Smith about the captain of the U.S. national soccer team, who was pointedly² asked about racism³ in America this week at a news conference in Doha.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

At the World Cup, the U.S. next plays the Netherlands tomorrow in Qatar. The team beat Iran in a dramatic match to make it to the round of 16. And at a press conference this week, U.S. team Captain Tyler Adams came under the spotlight⁴ when an Iranian journalist chastised⁵ him for mispronouncing Iran. Adams apologized. The journalist also asked Adams if, quote, "he was OK in representing a country that has so much discrimination against Black people." The response given by Tyler Adams was widely celebrated⁶ for its thoughtfulness. And due to broadcast rights, we cannot play the audio, but he said there is discrimination everywhere and that the U.S. is making progress. We decided⁷ to ask Clint Smith of The Atlantic for his reaction. He's a poet, a bestselling author and a soccer fan. Smith has written a piece for The Atlantic titled "What We Ask Of Black American Athletes."

CLINT SMITH: First and foremost, I was really impressed that a 23-year-old who is playing in his first World Cup, who was 15 years old the last time the U.S. played in the World Cup - he's the captain of his team selected by his teammates and was asked this question sort of out of nowhere. I was impressed by how thoughtful, how measured, how nuanced and respectful his response was. And I think it's also important to note that he was asked specifically about his own experience and his own idea and his own feelings about what it meant to represent this country. And those feelings are inevitably⁸ animated⁹ by his own life experience. As Tyler said, he has a unique experience and that he was a young Black man who was raised by a white family and felt like that gave him an ability to move across different racial lines in ways that afforded him certain opportunities and afforded him a way of thinking about the world that might be different than somebody else. And, you know, there are 11 Black players on this U.S. team. And each of them, based on their own lived experience, may have given a different response than Tyler. But that doesn't make his response any less legitimate¹⁰ because Blackness is and always has been a diverse, pluralistic, heterogeneous¹¹ entity¹².

MART?NEZ: And then you've got to factor into the U.S.'s history of, in some cases, either not recognizing the accomplishments¹³ of Black athletes going back decades or in other situations not recognizing or understanding the message behind their protests, especially when they do them either on the Olympic stage or on the professional level.

SMITH: Absolutely. And one of the things that I was wondering, too, was, you know, Tyler was asked this question by this Iranian journalist, and I couldn't help but wonder if a white teammate of his would be asked the same question. Like, why is it that Black athletes are always in the position where they are made to publicly wrestle¹⁴ with an answer for the sins of this country and ask what it means to represent a country that's engaged in anti-Black racism or xenophobia or any manner of state-sanctioned oppression and violence. But it is very rarely the case that white American athletes who represent the same country, who are teammates with many of the people who are subjected to so much of this history of violence and second-class citizenship¹⁵ - what would it look like for them to be asked that question? What would it look like for Walker Zimmerman or Christian¹⁶ Pulisic or Josh Sargent?

MART?NEZ: But why do you think specifically Black American athletes are asked to explain their stances, their positions on things, say, related to social justice or any time they have a protest against something? Why do you think it seems to be more of something that America wants to hear? Like, explain yourself to us now.

SMITH: Yeah, you know, it's tricky¹⁷ because I think we also have to disentangle questions of good faith and questions of bad faith. And I'm not clear that the question that was asked of Tyler Adams was necessarily asked in good faith by this journalist. And I think it was an effort to undermine America more broadly than it was a genuine interest in what Tyler's response to that question might be. It is true that Black American athletes from the beginning of Black American athletes being able to represent this country in the first place have had to wrestle both within themselves, within their communities and very publicly to the world about what it means to put on a jersey¹⁸, to have the words USA emblazoned across your shirt, to have a flag on your chest, to carry that flag on your back, representing a country that for so long throughout the history of this country prevented those very people from having the opportunities to exist simply as citizens.

You know, I think of Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals in the Olympics in Germany in 1936 and who came back and had to ride in the back of the bus the same as every other Black person, who wasn't invited to the White House alongside the other white Olympians who were invited to the White House by FDR because FDR wanted to maintain his fragile New Deal coalition¹⁹, and that included Southern Democrats²⁰, who - and to invite a black athlete in 1936 to the White House was a nonstarter. And so, you know, he's having to publicly wrestle with the idea that he was the most accomplished²¹ Black American, the most accomplished American athlete of those games and yet was not invited to the White House to celebrate alongside other Olympians. And there are various iterations of that across American history.

MART?NEZ: You mentioned Jesse Owens at the Olympics in 1936. Then I think Muhammad Ali won a gold medal in the 1960 Olympics for the United States - John Carlos, Tommie Smith raising their fists against racism, wearing black gloves in Mexico City. What would you say, Clint, is the common thread between those three and even others that have dared to protest wearing Team USA's colors?

SMITH: I think that each of them recognized that they were in a unique position to bring attention to issues in their community, to history and policies of racial injustice²² that for so long in our country's history have been swept under the rug. And John Carlos, Tommie Smith, Muhammad Ali, Jesse Owens, and so many others and, you know, so many Black American athletes in the last few years, especially after the murder of George Floyd, have used their platforms in all sorts of ways to make a point about where our country is versus²³ where it needs to be. And again, they recognize that there is a unique opportunity to represent a country and to get up and say, we love this country. And because we love this country, we want it to be the best version of itself. And the version of itself that it is now is not that version, and it has a long way to go. And we need to hold this country accountable in getting where it needs to go.

MART?NEZ: Clint Smith is a staff writer at The Atlantic. Clint, thanks a lot.

SMITH: Thanks so much.

(SOUNDBITE OF GIANNI BREZZO AND SIMONE ALESSANDRINI'S "ALL THE PAST")

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 pointedly   

adv.尖地，明显地

参考例句：

• She yawned and looked pointedly at her watch. 她打了个哈欠，又刻意地看了看手表。
• The demand for an apology was pointedly refused. 让对方道歉的要求遭到了断然拒绝。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

5 chastised   

v.严惩（某人）（尤指责打）( chastise的过去式 )

参考例句：

• He chastised the team for their lack of commitment. 他指责队伍未竭尽全力。
• The Securities Commission chastised the firm but imposed no fine. 证券委员会严厉批评了那家公司，不过没有处以罚款。 来自辞典例句

6 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

7 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。

8 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

9 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

10 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

11 heterogeneous   

adj.庞杂的；异类的

参考例句：

• There is a heterogeneous mass of papers in the teacher's office.老师的办公室里堆满了大批不同的论文。
• America has a very heterogeneous population.美国人口是由不同种族组成的。

12 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

13 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

14 wrestle   

vi.摔跤，角力；搏斗；全力对付

参考例句：

• He taught his little brother how to wrestle.他教他小弟弟如何摔跤。
• We have to wrestle with difficulties.我们必须同困难作斗争。

15 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

16 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

17 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

18 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

19 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

20 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

22 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。

23 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。