美国国家公共电台 NPR Money May Not Shield Prosperous Blacks From Bigotry, Survey Says

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This next story suggests how hard it can be to avoid racial discrimination. The story comes from a new survey of Americans of all races and ethnicities. It's being released this morning by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and it finds that a majority of people of all races, including white people, report that their group is discriminated¹ against. This morning we focus on one particular finding, money may not shield people from bigotry². The survey included African-Americans, and it found that more prosperous black Americans, those making more than $75,000 a year, report more negative experiences than people who make less. NPR's Brakkton Booker reports.

BRAKKTON BOOKER, BYLINE³: Phillip Thompson is 55 years old and lives in an exclusive gated community with a golf course in one of the wealthiest excerpts⁴ of Washington, D.C.

How you doing?

PHILLIP THOMPSON: I'm all right, bro. How you doing?

(SOUNDBITE OF KEY TURNING IN DOOR)

THOMPSON: Come on in.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOOR SHUTTING)

BOOKER: Once inside, he gives me a tour of his home. African art decorates the walls. Framed pictures of his kids hang in the entrance. And...

THOMPSON: Of course, an American flag. My wife and I both are military. This is my wife's, what they call a shadowbox. When you retire from the Air Force, they made her a nice shadowbox with all her medals and ribbons and ranks.

BOOKER: Thompson is a retired⁵ lieutenant⁶ colonel in the Marine⁷ Corps⁸, a Gulf⁹ War veteran and a lawyer with his own practice. He's also the president of his local NAACP chapter. But when Thompson moved to this Leesburg, Va., neighborhood 12 years ago, he says many of his mostly white neighbors made assumptions about how he could afford this house.

THOMPSON: You couldn't have gotten here on your guile¹⁰, on your knowledge, on being capable. Had to be a football player.

BOOKER: Well, he found that assumption deeply offensive.

THOMPSON: So I just played to it and said, nah, I'm a rapper. Or, I'm a pimp. I'm a retired pimp. I'm a play to your stereotypes¹¹ because then it makes you look even stupider.

BOOKER: Thompson's wife, Tanja, is a former senior master sergeant¹² in the Air Force and now works as a mediator¹³ for the federal government. She says discrimination plays out in subtle ways.

TANJA: Even living here in a gated community, there's definitely racism¹⁴. And you see it walking down the street. You see people, and you see them maybe in a professional setting, but when you see them out on the street, they turn the other direction. And then, too, they wonder, why are you here? Or, how did you get here?

BOOKER: A new NPR poll finds a little more than half of all black respondents say they have been on the receiving end of negative comments. But that figure jumps to 73 percent for African-Americans making $75,000 and up. Tanja has her theories about why.

TANJA: When you make 75 or more, 100,000, you're dealing¹⁵ with more educated individuals and probably more so people who don't look like you.

BOOKER: Algernon Austin is the author of "America Is Not Post-Racial."

ALGERNON AUSTIN: I think what sometimes people miss is, what are the comparisons?

BOOKER: Austin, who is an economist¹⁶, points out that, yes, college-educated and high-earning black folks are in many ways more likely to be better off than black people who earn less. But, Austin, who did not work on NPR's poll, says there is overwhelming data showing that when comparing educated and high-earning blacks to their white counterparts...

AUSTIN: The college-educated whites are going to have significantly more wealth, they're much less likely to be unemployed¹⁷, they're moving further in terms of their careers. So in that comparison, African-Americans see, you know, that reinforces the sense of inequality in American society.

BOOKER: It's a sense shared by Phillip Thompson.

THOMPSON: I probably should be in a better position.

BOOKER: Thompson believes if he were a white man, he'd be wealthier and more successful. Brakkton Booker, NPR News.

1 discriminated   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• His great size discriminated him from his followers. 他的宽广身材使他不同于他的部下。
• Should be a person that has second liver virus discriminated against? 一个患有乙肝病毒的人是不是就应该被人歧视？

2 bigotry   

n.偏见，偏执，持偏见的行为[态度]等

参考例句：

• She tried to dissociate herself from the bigotry in her past.她力图使自己摆脱她以前的偏见。
• At least we can proceed in this matter without bigotry.目前这件事咱们至少可以毫无偏见地进行下去。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 excerpts   

n.摘录，摘要( excerpt的名词复数 )；节选（音乐，电影）片段

参考例句：

• Some excerpts from a Renaissance mass are spatchcocked into Gluck's pallid Don Juan music. 一些文艺复光时期的弥撒的选节被不适当地加入到了格鲁克平淡无味的唐璜音乐中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is editing together excerpts of some of his films. 他正在将自己制作的一些电影的片断进行剪辑合成。 来自辞典例句

5 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

6 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

7 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

8 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

9 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

10 guile   

n.诈术

参考例句：

• He is full of guile.他非常狡诈。
• A swindler uses guile;a robber uses force.骗子用诈术；强盗用武力。

11 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

13 mediator   

n.调解人，中介人

参考例句：

• He always takes the role of a mediator in any dispute.他总是在争论中充当调停人的角色。
• He will appear in the role of mediator.他将出演调停者。

14 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。

15 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

16 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。

17 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。