3分钟打破种族神话：英语精读讲义

You may think you know exactly what race you are, 語法

你也许以为自己很清楚自己属于什么种族，

but how would you prove it if someone disagreed with you? 語法

但如果有人不认同，你要怎么证明？

The fact is, even though race drives a lot of social and political outcomes, 講解

事实上，尽管种族会左右许多社会和政治结果，

race isn't real.

种族却并非真实存在。

One of the first people to attempt to categorize humans according to race 語法

最早尝试按种族给人类分类的人之一

was a German scientist around 1776.

是1776年前后的一位德国科学家。

He came up with five different groups 短語動詞

他划分出了五个不同群体，

according to physical appearance

依据的是外貌

and geographic origin of their ancestors.

以及祖先的地理来源。

Americans of European descent 用詞

欧洲裔美国人

eagerly bought into this type of thinking 短語動詞

很快就欣然接受了这种思维方式，

around the same time.

这也发生在差不多同一时期。

Some historians have said the idea that there were different races

一些历史学家认为，“人类分属不同种族”的观念

helped them resolve the contradiction 短語搭配

帮助他们化解了这样一个矛盾：

between a natural right to freedom

人天生拥有自由的权利，

and the fact of slavery.

现实中却存在奴隶制。

If whites were their own distinct category, 語法

如果白人本身就是一个截然不同的类别，

then they could feel a lot better 短語搭配

那么他们心里就会好受得多，

about denying freedom to people 用詞

因为那些被他们剥夺自由的人

who they labeled black

被贴上了“黑人”的标签，

and decided were fundamentally different.

并被认定从根本上就与他们不同。

But, as political priorities change,

但随着政治优先事项改变，

definitions of race in America

美国对种族的定义

adjust right along with them. 短語搭配

也会随之调整。

For example, if you were of Mexican birth

例如，如果你出生于墨西哥，

or ancestry in the United States in 1929,

或拥有墨西哥血统，那么在1929年的美国，

you were considered white.

你会被视为白人。

Then the 1930 census changed that 文化背景

后来，1930年人口普查改变了这一分类，

to non-white to limit immigration.

为限制移民，把他们列为非白人。

Later, when the US needed to increase its labor force

再后来，当美国需要增加劳动力时，

during World War II,

当时正值第二次世界大战，

these people were switched back to white. 短語動詞

这些人又被改列为白人。

And what it took to be black 語法

而判定一个人是黑人的标准

once varied so wildly throughout the country,

一度在全美各地大相径庭，

from 1/4 to 1/16

从四分之一到十六分之一的非洲血统，

to the infamous one drop of African ancestry, 文化背景

再到臭名昭著的“一滴血原则”，

that people could actually change races

以至于人们真的可能改变种族身份，

just by crossing state lines. 語法

只需要跨过州界。

Then suddenly in 2000,

接着，到了2000年，

the government decided that Americans

政府突然决定，美国人

could be more than one race

可以属于不止一个种族，

and added a multi-racial category

并增设了“多种族”类别，

to the census.

将其加入人口普查。

This has left many Americans 語法

这让许多美国人

scratching their heads when it comes 講解

一到要选择自己的身份时，

to selecting who they are.

就感到一头雾水。

As many as 6.2% of census respondents 短語搭配

多达6.2%的人口普查受访者

selected some other race

选择了“其他种族”，

in the 2010 survey.

这是2010年调查的结果。

The idea that someone might look one way 表達脈絡

有人可能看起来属于某个种族，

and identify another way,

却认同自己属于另一个种族；

or that they might be really hard

又或者，这个人可能很难

to place in a racial category, 用詞

被归入某一种族类别——

is not new.

这种情况并不新鲜。

This is why there was a public debate

正因如此，公众曾展开讨论：

about whether MSNBC's Karen Finney

MSNBC的Karen Finney

could say she was black,

能否说自己是黑人；

or how we can't even agree 短語搭配

我们甚至也无法达成一致，

on the racial label assigned

不知道该用怎样的种族标签

to the president of the United States.

来界定美国总统。

Of course, many people feel their racial

当然，很多人觉得自己的种族

identity is very clear and very permanent.

身份非常明确，而且永远不会改变。

But the fact that some people have changed theirs

但有些人确实改变了自己的种族身份，

and that no one can really argue with them

而且谁也无法真正反驳他们，

shows how shaky the very idea of race is. 語法

这表明“种族”这一观念本身多么站不住脚。

This is all because there isn't a race

原因在于，根本没有所谓的“种族染色体”

chromosome in our DNA that people

藏在我们的DNA里，

can point to. 短語動詞

可供人们指认。

It simply doesn't exist.

它压根儿不存在。

When the medical community links race 短語搭配

当医学界把种族

to health outcomes,

与健康结果联系起来时，

it's really just using race as a 短語搭配

其实只是把种族当作

substitute for other factors,

其他因素的替代指标，

such as where your ancestors came

例如你的祖先来自哪里，

from or the experiences of people

或者某些人的经历；

who may have been put in the 語法

这些人可能曾被归入

same racial group as you.

与你相同的种族群体。

Dorothy Roberts explains that sickle

Dorothy Roberts解释说，镰状细胞贫血症

cell anemia is a prime example of this. 短語搭配

正是这方面的典型例子。

The disease is linked to areas

这种疾病与某些地区有关，

with high rates of malaria,

那里的疟疾发病率很高，

which includes some parts of Europe

除了非洲，其中还包括欧洲

and Asia in addition to Africa.

和亚洲的部分地区。

It's not actually about race at all. 語法

其实，这根本与种族无关。

This, of course, does not mean 語法

当然，这并不是说

that the concept of race

“种族”这一概念

isn't hugely important in our lives.

在我们的生活中无关紧要。

The racial categories to which we're assigned 語法

我们被划入的种族类别

can determine real life experiences.

会决定现实生活中的经历。

They can drive political outcomes

它们会左右政治结果，

and they can even make the 短語搭配

甚至可能造成

difference between life and death.

生与死的差别。

But understanding that racial categories

但明白种族类别

are made up can give us 講解

是人为建构的，能让我们

an important perspective on where racism

获得一个重要视角，去理解种族主义

came from in the first place. 短語搭配

最初究竟从何而来。