时代周刊:一所特许学校的种族争议（3）

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The Teaching of race in American schools has become a front-burner political issue.

美国学校的种族教育已经成为一个迫在眉睫的政治问题。

New laws regulating curricula have passed from coast to coast, and education was a dominant¹ topic in Virginia's recent gubernatorial election,

全美各地都通过了规范课程的新法律，教育成为最近弗吉尼亚州州长选举中的一个主要话题。

which saw Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin ride a critique of state policy to an upset.

在选举中，共和党候选人格伦·杨金(Glenn Youngkin)对该州政策的批判引发了不安。

Yet the debate has generated more heat than light, with conservatives charging that students are being brain washed with "critical race theory” while liberals insist they merely want the teaching of history to better reflect the country's complicated past.

然而，这场辩论徒有热度，却没有带来什么希望，保守派指责学生被“批判性种族理论”洗脑，而自由派坚称，他们只是希望历史教学能更好地反映该国复杂的过去。

The Mystic Valley controversy² helps illustrate³ that both arguments are misleading, or at least incomplete.

神秘谷的争议有助于说明这两种观点都具有误导性，或者至少是不完整的。

What's really at issue is not the past but the future: how the next generation of Americans are taught to regard their own identities in relation to society and their peers.

真正有争议的不是过去，而是未来：教育下一代美国人如何在社会和同龄人中看待自己的身份。

In Virginia, political attention focused on a white mother upset that her high schooler was assigned Toni Morrison and a sexual-assault case apparently⁴ unrelated to bathroom- gender⁵ policies.

在弗吉尼亚州，政治关注的焦点集中在一位白人母亲身上，她上高中的孩子被安排的任务涉及托尼·莫里森(Toni Morrison)的小说和一起显然与厕所性别政策无关的性侵案，这让她感到不安。

But parents in the state have also protested the reorienting of the state's social-studies curriculum to focus on "antiracism”;

但是该州的家长们也反对该州将社会研究课程的重点调整为“反种族主义”;

an attempt to eliminate advanced math classes in the name of equity⁶; new "social emotional learning” standards that ask children to contemplate⁷ their racial and gender identity beginning in elementary school;

反对试图以公平的名义取消高等数学课; 反对要求孩子们从小学开始思考他们的种族和性别认同的新“社会情绪学习”标准;

and the elimination⁸ of admissions testing at Thomas Jefferson, an Alexandria high school ranked No. 1 in the nation.

反对取消托马斯·杰斐逊高中的入学考试，这所亚历山大高中在全国排名第一。

Elsewhere in Massachusetts, Boston's prestigious⁹ public "exam schools” have sought to eliminate admissions tests as discriminatory,

在马萨诸塞州的其他地方，波士顿著名的公立“考试学校”试图取消招生考试，认为这是一种歧视

a move also under way in liberal cities like New York and San Francisco.

，纽约和旧金山等自由城市也在实施这一举措。

These are potentially seismic¹⁰ shifts to the public educational system. None was put to a public vote.

这可能是公共教育系统的巨大转变。没有一项是由公众投票决定的。

As in Mystic Valley's case, the push for change has as often come from activists¹¹ and bureaucrats¹² as from parents or politicians.

与神秘谷的案例一样，推动变革的努力往往来自活动家和官僚，也来自父母或政治家。

Whether critical race theory is the source of the changes is a red herring.

批判的种族理论是这些变化的根源，还是一种转移注意力的说法。

"Call it whatever you want, it's just bad ideas,” says Asra Nomani of the anti-CRT group Parents Defending Education.

“随便你怎么说，这都是坏主意，”反CRT组织——“家长捍卫教育”的阿斯拉·诺马尼（Asra Nomani）说。

An Indian American liberal who grew up in West Virginia, Nomani founded a parents' group to protest the changes at Thomas Jefferson, from which her son graduated this year.

作为一名在西弗吉尼亚州长大的印第安裔美国自由主义者，诺马尼成立了一个家长团体，抗议托马斯·杰斐逊大学的改革，她的儿子今年毕业于该大学。

"We're all in agreement as a nation that we have to dismantle¹³ the old hierarchy¹⁴ of human value that perpetuated¹⁵ discrimination and racism,” she says.

她说:“作为一个国家，我们所有人都同意，我们必须打破长期存在歧视和种族主义的旧人类价值等级制度。”

"But these ideologues want to replace it with a new hierarchy of human value that's racist¹⁶, intolerant, shaming and bigoted¹⁷.

"但这些理论家希望用一种新的人类价值等级取而代之，这种等级制度是种族主义的，不宽容的，羞辱的和偏执的。

What they are doing is messing at the earliest age with a child's sense of self.”

他们所做的是在孩子很小的时候就扰乱他们的自我意识。”

What Mystic Valley's proponents¹⁸ and critics agree on is that its colorblind approach is at the heart of the controversy.

神秘谷的支持者和批评者一致认为，其不分肤色的做法是争议的核心。

"Their view is, we're a melting pot, there are no racial differences, no cultural differences—essentially, as long as you accept white culture, you're fine,” says Greg Bartlett, secretary of the local NAACP branch.

“他们的观点是，我们是一个大熔炉，没有种族差异，没有文化差异——说到底，只要你接受白人文化就没问题，”全国有色人种协进会当地分会秘书格雷格·巴特利特(Greg Bartlett)说。

Students of color may be getting good test scores, but they are not safe, he says.

他说，有色人种学生可能会在考试中取得好成绩，但他们并不安全。“

"In my judgment¹⁹, the school isn't overtly²⁰ racist, but it's clear there's a lot of hurt going on.”

在我看来，这所学校并没有公然地进行种族歧视，但很明显，有很多伤害正在发生。”

1 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

2 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

3 illustrate   

v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图

参考例句：

• The company's bank statements illustrate its success.这家公司的银行报表说明了它的成功。
• This diagram will illustrate what I mean.这个图表可说明我的意思。

4 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

5 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

6 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

7 contemplate   

vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视

参考例句：

• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate.战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。
• The consequences would be too ghastly to contemplate.后果不堪设想。

8 elimination   

n.排除，消除，消灭

参考例句：

• Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
• I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。

9 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

10 seismic   

a.地震的，地震强度的

参考例句：

• Earthquakes produce two types of seismic waves.地震产生两种地震波。
• The latest seismic activity was also felt in northern Kenya.肯尼亚北部也感觉到了最近的地震活动。

11 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 bureaucrats   

n.官僚( bureaucrat的名词复数 )；官僚主义；官僚主义者；官僚语言

参考例句：

• That is the fate of the bureaucrats, not the inspiration of statesmen. 那是官僚主义者的命运，而不是政治家的灵感。 来自辞典例句
• Big business and dozens of anonymous bureaucrats have as much power as Japan's top elected leaders. 大企业和许多不知名的官僚同日本选举出来的最高层领导者们的权力一样大。 来自辞典例句

13 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。

14 hierarchy   

n.等级制度；统治集团，领导层

参考例句：

• There is a rigid hierarchy of power in that country.那个国家有一套严密的权力等级制度。
• She's high up in the management hierarchy.她在管理阶层中地位很高。

15 perpetuated   

vt.使永存（perpetuate的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• This system perpetuated itself for several centuries. 这一制度维持了几个世纪。
• I never before saw smile caught like that, and perpetuated. 我从来没有看见过谁的笑容陷入这样的窘况，而且持续不变。 来自辞典例句

16 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。

17 bigoted   

adj.固执己见的，心胸狭窄的

参考例句：

• He is so bigoted that it is impossible to argue with him.他固执得不可理喻。
• I'll concede you are not as bigoted as some.我承认你不象有些人那么顽固。

18 proponents   

n.（某事业、理论等的）支持者，拥护者( proponent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Reviewing courts were among the most active proponents of hybrid rulemaking procedures. 复审法院是最积极的混合型规则制定程序的建议者。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Proponents of such opinions were arrested as 'traitors. ' 提倡这种主张的人马上作为“卖国贼”逮捕起来。 来自辞典例句

19 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

20 overtly   

ad.公开地

参考例句：

• There were some overtly erotic scenes in the film. 影片中有一些公开色情场面。
• Nietzsche rejected God's law and wrote some overtly blasphemous things. 尼采拒绝上帝的律法，并且写了一些渎神的作品。