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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
A Washington Post-ABC News poll shows the majority of Americans think race relations are getting worse. Concern about race relations spiked1 shortly after the reports of white police officers killing2 black men. Since the poll, two black men have targeted and killed police.
If you're white, you might be surprised by increased racial tensions. If you're black, you know there's been tension all along.
"Prior to the video phones and video taping of police murder, it had been happening continuously from one generation to the next," noted3 Kwasi Akwamu, a small business owner in Detroit.
He says the only difference is technology and the internet.
"There has never been a period when we've never been lynched, we've never been slain4 in the streets for the suspicion of an act. I mean, those things—it's part of our history. It hasn't changed. It's just changed form," Akwamu said.
Police data bear that out. Police are not killing any more or any fewer black people than they have in the past. Cell phone video and the internet have just made us all more aware with sometimes-gruesome scenes.
"For people of color, we always knew that happened," said Lauren Hood5 of Detroit. Companies hire her for diversity training.
"I've been stopped by the police for no reason. My mom referred to it as 'Driving While Black,' DWB. The media attention to those stories just brought it out to everyone who wasn't a person of color. Like, welcome to our world. We've always known that that was a problem. Now, everybody else knows," Hood said.
She says that for many white people, race is a very difficult thing to discuss. That's true even if you think of yourself as enlightened, progressive, or liberal.
"It's a place most people aren't willing to go, particularly people that are liberal and think they're doing the right thing all the time. So, if you think you've already arrived at some point of consciousness and someone tells you you're not quite there yet, you're not ready for it. You get defensive," she explained.
One of the tools to avoid that defensiveness6 is an online test. The Harvard implicit7 bias8 test takes about ten minutes and helps determine if you are subconsciously9 biased10.
"When you present the data to people that way, it absolves11 them from responsibility. So, you say, 'Ah, see what the data have shown: that you have an unconscious bias. It's not you; you're not choosing this way of thinking. It's something unconscious that existed, operating in the background, that you might not be paying attention to when you're making decisions. And it shapes how you see the world, but you're not conscious of it all the time,'" Hood said.
But, only a fraction of the population is going to take that test. Others hold racial animosity and are not going to change. But for those interested in improving relationships between whites and people of color, a key is getting white people to better understand the plight12 of others.
"Especially right now with so much national news and conversation happening around these topics too, you'd think more people would be plugged in. But personally, my experience is that some of my closest friends, who I think are progressive, don't necessarily spend a lot of time thinking about these issues," said Claire Nelson.
Nelson runs an organization called Urban Consulate13. It's housed in a historic house in Midtown Detroit, and brings together economic developers and investors14 with people who want to start new small businesses in Detroit.
Recently, it also began to invite the people who live in those neighborhoods to sit down and talk. Nelson calls the discussions "parlors15."
"Often times when you're talking about development and investment, the people speaking about that are the people who are representing the banks or commercial interests," Nelson explained.
Most of those voices are white.
"And so, we're trying to flip16 that a little bit and have the voices leading conversations be more community based, or who are creative artists, or who've been around a little longer, can share some history and context," Nelson said.
Nelson says hearing more diverse voices—people of color who live in the neighborhoods, and their concerns about economic development- has been an eye-opener for some people, including her.
She says in the past, she saw segregation17 as a matter of the white suburbs versus18 the black city.
Now she says she can see segregation up close, at the neighborhood level, because of those talks.
Supporting new stores and other developments in this fast-changing area of Detroit has been her work for several years. She says she'd been blind to some of the issues that could cause the neighborhood problems, such as rising rents.
"I think it's been a growing awareness19 and an ongoing20 conversation that's helped me see things that I didn't see five years ago. Examples, I guess, would be sources for stories or speakers that we've had, who've for whatever reason had a lot of courage in order to call out some stuff...some BS, and some hypocrisy21 that I think I've been immune to, perhaps, before this," Nelson said.
Nelson says being closer to people of color, having private conversations about race, and noting their observations have helped her grow.
Longtime Detroit residents such as Kwasi Akwamu want to know whether the new white residents and business owners truly are going to be invested in the city.
"How many people are living in the neighborhoods where black people are going through it. I mean, are their children going to the schools, the same challenged schools that we are going to? Are they really experiencing what we experience, and ready to mobilize for real change because of that experience?" Akwamu asked.
He wants the new white population to recognize the struggles of the current residents.
"It's a frustration22 which sees the disparities, but doesn't fully23 understand them," he added.
Racism24 is about white attitudes toward people of color. It's about bigotry25, and it's about unconscious bias.
Lauren Hood says the only way to fix any of that is to talk to people who are subject to it:
"In order to move forward, we just have to be fearless in having these conversations."
Support for the Detroit Journalism26 Cooperative on Michigan Radio comes from the John S. and James L. Knight27 Foundation, Renaissance28 Journalism's Michigan Reporting Initiative, the Ford29 Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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1
spiked
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| adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的 | |
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killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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defensiveness
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| 防御性 | |
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implicit
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| a.暗示的，含蓄的，不明晰的，绝对的 | |
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bias
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| n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见 | |
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subconsciously
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| ad.下意识地，潜意识地 | |
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biased
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| a.有偏见的 | |
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absolves
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| 宣告…无罪，赦免…的罪行，宽恕…的罪行( absolve的第三人称单数 )； 不受责难，免除责任 [义务] ,开脱（罪责） | |
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12
plight
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| n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定 | |
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consulate
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| n.领事馆 | |
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investors
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| n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 ) | |
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parlors
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| 客厅( parlor的名词复数 )； 起居室； （旅馆中的）休息室； （通常用来构成合成词）店 | |
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flip
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| vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的 | |
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segregation
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| n.隔离，种族隔离 | |
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versus
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| prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下 | |
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awareness
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| n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智 | |
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ongoing
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| adj.进行中的，前进的 | |
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hypocrisy
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| n.伪善，虚伪 | |
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frustration
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| n.挫折，失败，失效，落空 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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24
racism
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| n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识) | |
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bigotry
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| n.偏见，偏执，持偏见的行为[态度]等 | |
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journalism
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| n.新闻工作，报业 | |
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knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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renaissance
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| n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴 | |
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Ford
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| n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过 | |
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