What is McCarthyism? And how did it happen? - Ellen Schrecker

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

Imagine that one day, you're summoned before a government panel.

想像有一天，你被一個 政府專門小組傳喚。

Even though you haven't committed any crime,

雖然你沒有犯下任何罪，

or been formally charged with one,

也未被正式起訴某項罪名，

you are repeatedly questioned about your political views,

你卻被反覆詢問你的政治觀點，

被指控不忠誠，

accused of disloyalty,

還被要求要歸罪於你的朋友跟同事。

and asked to incriminate your friends and associates.

If you don't cooperate, you risk jail or losing your job.

若不合作，你要冒入獄或 失去工作的風險。

This is exactly what happened in the United States in the 1950s

五○年代的美國就是這個樣子，

這是讓疑似共產黨員 曝光的政治活動。

as part of a campaign to expose suspected communists.

Named after its most notorious practitioner,

這個現象叫做麥卡錫主義， 名稱來自它最惡名昭彰的實踐者，

the phenomenon known as McCarthyism destroyed thousands of lives and careers.

它摧毀了數以千計的人和職涯。

For over a decade, American political leaders trampled democratic freedoms

美國政治領袖以捍衛民主自由之名

蹂躪民主自由至少十年。

in the name of protecting them.

During the 1930s and 1940s,

在三○和四○年代，

there had been an active but small communist party in the United States.

美國有一個活躍的小型共產黨。

Its record was mixed.

其相關記錄很雜。

雖然它扮演了一個 重要角色，影響為了爭取

While it played crucial roles in wider progressive struggles

勞工及公民權而 更廣泛去做的革新努力，

for labor and civil rights,

it also supported the Soviet Union.

但它也支持蘇聯。

From the start, the American Communist Party faced attacks

一開始，美國共產黨面對

來自保守派及企業領導人的攻擊，

from conservatives and business leaders,

as well as from liberals who criticized its ties to the oppressive Soviet regime.

還要面對自由派批評它 和壓迫人民的蘇聯政權有聯繫。

During World War II, when the USA and USSR were allied against Hitler,

第二次世界大戰時， 美國與蘇聯結盟對抗希特勒，

some American communists actually spied for the Russians.

有些美國共產黨員 其實是俄國的間諜。

When the Cold War escalated and this espionage became known,

當冷戰逐漸加劇， 這間諜活動開始被揭露出來，

domestic communism came to be seen as a threat to national security.

國內的共產主義開始被視為是 對國家安全的威脅。

But the attempt to eliminate that threat

但想要消滅那威脅的嘗試

soon turned into the longest lasting and most widespread episode

很快就變成了美國史上最長

of political repression in American history.

且範圍最廣的政治迫害。

Spurred on by a network of bureaucrats,

由官僚、政治人物、記者，

politicians,

和生意人所形成的網路，

journalists,

and businessmen,

鞭策這個活動繼續下去，

the campaign wildly exaggerated the danger of communist subversion.

而這活動嚴重誇大了

共產主義顛覆的危險性。

The people behind it harassed anyone

這活動背後的人會去騷擾

suspected of holding left-of-center political views

被懷疑抱持中間偏左 政治觀點的任何人，

or associating with those who did.

或是和他們有關的人。

If you hung modern art on your walls,

若你把現代藝術掛在你的牆上、

had a multiracial social circle,

你有一個社交圈是多民族的，

or signed petitions against nuclear weapons,

或是你簽訂了反核武的請願，

you might just have been a communist.

你就有可能是共產黨。

Starting in the late 1940s,

從四○年代後期開始，

FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover

聯邦調查局局長胡佛

used the resources of his agency to hunt down such supposed communists

就利用他局內的資源， 追捕這些可能是共產黨的人，

and eliminate them from any position of influence

不讓他們在美國社會中

within American society.

發揮任何影響。

And the narrow criteria that Hoover and his allies used

胡佛及他的盟友使用狹隘的標準，

to screen federal employees

來篩選聯邦員工，

spread to the rest of the country.

這標準散播到美國其他地方。

Soon, Hollywood studios,

很快，好萊塢的電影公司、

universities,

大學、汽車製造商，

car manufacturers,

and thousands of other public and private employers

和數以千計的國營、民營企業主

were imposing the same political tests on the men and women who worked for them.

對他們僱用的男男女女 實施同樣的政治測試。

Meanwhile, Congress conducted its own witchhunt

同時，國會也開始進行 它自己的政治迫害。

subpoenaing hundreds of people to testify before investigative bodies

傳喚了數百個人 在調查單位面前作證，

like the House Un-American Activities Committee.

如眾議院非美活動 調查委員會這類調查單位。

If they refused to cooperate, they could be jailed for contempt,

如果他們拒絕合作， 就可能會因藐視的罪名而坐牢，

or more commonly, fired and blacklisted.

或，更常見的情況 是被解僱並列入黑名單。

Ambitious politicians, like Richard Nixon

有野心的政客，如理查尼克森

and Joseph McCarthy,

和喬瑟夫麥卡錫，

used such hearings as a partisan weapon

會把這種聽證會 當作擁護黨派的武器，

accusing democrats of being soft on communism

指控民主黨對共產主義不夠強硬，

and deliberately losing China to the Communist Bloc.

並蓄意讓中國落入共產集團.

McCarthy, a Republican senator from Wisconsin

麥卡錫是來自威斯康辛的 共和黨參議員 ，

became notorious by flaunting ever-changing lists of alleged communists

因誇耀國務院內 結盟之共產黨員的名單

within the State Department.

不斷更新而惡名昭彰。

Egged on by other politicians,

在其他政客慫恿之下，

他持續扭曲或捏造證據，

he continued to make outrageous accusations

while distorting or fabricating evidence.

做出無法無天的指控。

Many citizens reviled McCarthy while others praised him.

許多公民斥責麥卡錫， 但其他人則稱讚他。

And when the Korean War broke out, McCarthy seemed vindicated.

韓戰爆發使麥卡錫看似正確。

Once he became chair

1953 年，他成為

of the Senate's permanent subcommittee on investigations in 1953,

參議院常設調查委員會主席，

McCarthy recklessness increased.

此後他更肆無忌憚。

It was his investigation of the army that finally turned public opinion against him

他對軍隊做的調查，

終於使得公眾輿論的矛頭轉向他，

and diminished his power.

削減了他的權力。

McCarthy's colleagues in the Senate censured him

麥卡錫在參議院的同事譴責他，

and he died less than three years later, probably from alcoholism.

此後不到三年他便過世了， 死因可能是酗酒。

McCarthyism ended as well.

麥卡錫主義也到此為止。

It had ruined hundreds, if not thousands, of lives

被它毀掉的人， 若沒有數千個也有數百個，

and drastically narrowed the American political spectrum.

並大大地縮減了美國的政治光譜。

它對於民主制度的傷害 是很長久的。

Its damage to democratic institutions would be long lasting.

In all likelihood, there were both Democrats and Republicans

很可能，在民主黨 和共和黨內都有人

who knew that the anti-communist purges were deeply unjust

知道反共產主義的肅清 有很深的不公平性，

but feared that directly opposing them would hurt their careers.

但害怕直接反對肅清 會影響到自己的職涯。

Even the Supreme Court failed to stop the witchhunt,

即便是最高法院 也沒能阻止政治迫害，

condoning serious violations of constitutional rights

以國家安全之名，

赦免了嚴重違反憲法權利的行為。

in the name of national security.

Was domestic communism an actual threat to the American government?

美國國內的共產主義 真的會威脅到美國政府嗎？

Perhaps, though a small one.

也許吧，但這威脅實在不大。

But the reaction to it was so extreme that it caused far more damage

但，對共產主義的反應 卻如此極端，

其所造成的損害遠超過威脅本身。

than the threat itself.

And if new demagogues appeared in uncertain times

如果在不確定的時代， 又有新的煽動者出現，

to attack unpopular minorities in the name of patriotism,

以愛國主義之名去攻擊 不受歡迎的少數族群，

could it all happen again?

這一切會再重演嗎？