Candis Watts Smith: 3 myths about racism that keep the US from progress | TED

Transcriber:

翻译人员: Ingrid Xu 校对人员: Yan Li Xiao

每当我在超市里，或者一个餐厅里,

或是跟我的儿子在公园里时 -- 他今年六岁半 --

很多人会停下来， 并说他们觉得他好英俊。

When I’m out at the grocery store or maybe a restaurant

我也同意。

or the park with my son -- he’s six and a half --

他们会用这个机会跟他交谈，

people will stop us and mention that they think that he’s handsome.

然后通常当他们讲完话后，

他们会提起他是一个 聪明而迷人的小家伙。

I agree.

They'll use that opportunity to chop it up with him,

每当这些人离开的时候， 一个在我脑海中浮现的想法

and often when they're done talking with him,

就是我希望当他们再见到 他长大的样子的时候，

they’ll mention that they think he’s a smart and engaging little guy.

会记得小时候遇见过他。

When those people walk away, the thought that comes to my mind

这个想法到了我脑子里

is that I hope they remember meeting him as a child

因为我写了两本关于美国的种族 和种族歧视，

when they see him again as a grown man.

而这样的工作会常常引发悲观情绪。

This thought comes to my mind

because I’ve written two books about race and racism in the United States,

我学到的一件事情是

美国人倾向于进步。

and this kind of work can produce feelings of pessimism.

在这种情况下，

它的意思就是我们会经常庆祝

One of the things that I’ve learned

is that Americans have an orientation toward progress.

我们之前与现在的距离。

但同样的取向可让我们对我们的现在，

In this context,

what that means is that we often celebrate the distance between where we were

和我们应当在哪里的距离视而不见。

and where we are now.

But that same orientation can blind us from the gap between where we are

另外我学到关于美国人的事

就是我们对于种族歧视 有一个非常局限性的理解，

and where we could or should be.

大多数是在人里的头脑和心里，

The other thing I’ve learned about Americans

is that we have a very, very narrow understanding of racism,

通常老年人 --

来自南方的老年人。

mostly in the minds and hearts of people,

这种狭隘的定义会限制我们

usually old people --

old people from the South.

创造一个更加种族平等的社会的机会。

And this really narrow definition can constrain our opportunities

我们喜欢寻找种族，

并且远离那些 对整个群体说刻薄话的人，

to produce a more racially egalitarian society.

或会把 1950 年代理想化。

We like to hunt for races

and distance ourselves from people who say mean things about whole groups of people

但事实是，我们可能只需要照照镜子。

我并不是说所有在场的人 都是个种族主义者，

or who idealize the 1950s.

But the fact of the matter is that we might just need to look in the mirror.

我说的是这里的每个人都有能力，

甚至可能是倾向

Now, I'm not saying that everyone here is a racist,

一种方式生活，

but what I am saying is that everyone here has the capacity

去做选择，

去依赖生产

种族不平等的偏见。

and perhaps even the propensity

to live their life in a way,

有些人说，“你做了这么多关于种族歧视的 工作。那么答案是什么呢？”

to make decisions,

to rely on biases

that reproduce racial inequality.

我会回答说第一件我们该做的事

是达成关于种族歧视

Some people say, “Well, you do all this work about racism. What’s the answer?”

到底是什么的共识。

And I say that the first thing we might need to do

历史已告诉我们是种族主义者在决定

is to come to a shared understanding

谁是种族主义者以及种族主义是什么，

about what racism is in the first place.

并且从不是他们和他们所做的事。

History shows that racists have had the upper hand

但如果我们可以共同

in deciding who the racists are and what racism is,

来到一个统一，甚至一个精确 描述种族歧视的定义的话，

and it’s never them or the things that they do.

我们可以努力创造一个社会,

But maybe if we come together

让像我这样的母亲不用 一直担心孩子的生命。

and come to a shared and perhaps a precise definition of what racism is,

我想要在这个走向 我们向相互理解的路上

we can work toward creating a society

where mothers like me aren’t in constant fear of their children’s lives.

打消三条关于种族歧视的观念。

I'd like to dispel three myths about racism

第一：

的确，美国南方的确为了得到种族歧视

on our trek toward mutual understanding.

最严重区的声誉做出了很多。

First:

但也有很多其他的州和地区 跟它竞争这个名称。

it’s true that the South has done its work to earn its reputation

打个比方，

as the most racist region.

如果我们看一下黑人孩子上学 最种族隔离的学校的话，

But there are other states and regions that are competing for the title.

我们会看到有一些在南部。

For example,

if we look at the most segregated states in terms of where Black kids go to school,

有些在美国西边，

在中西部，

和在东北地区。

它们是在我们住的地方。

we'll see, sure, some are in the South.

或者，如果看一下哪些州 在它们的监狱人口方面

There are some out west,

in the Midwest

and in the Northeast.

有最大的种族差异的话，

They're where we live.

我们会看出没有一个在南部。

Or if we look at states with the biggest racial disparities

它们是在我们生活的地区。

我的同事丽贝卡·克莱泽 （Rebecca Kreitzer）和我

in terms of prison populations,

we see that none of them are in the South.

观察了一系列标准的种族偏见态度，

They're where we live.

My colleague Rebecca Kreitzer and I

而我们发现了在 1990 年代，

looked at a standard battery of racial attitudes of prejudice,

南部的州是最明显用有 种族最消极的态度的州。

and we found that in the 1990s,

但这个地理已经改变了， 事情已经发生了变化。

states in the South dominated the most racially negative attitudes.

到了 2016 年，我们发现北和南达科他州，内布拉斯加州，

But this geography has evolved, and things have changed.

在中西部，东北部的州，

都在为 “最有偏见的人口” 的称号而争夺。

By 2016, we found that the Dakotas, Nebraska,

现在，我并不是说一个州 比另一个州更种族主义，

states in the Midwest, in the Northeast,

were competing for the "most prejudiced population" titles.

而是每一个州

都会有它们自己种族歧视的版本。

Now, I'm not saying that one state is more racist than another,

它不必是这样的。

but what I am saying is that every state

在我们日常生活里，大多数的不平等

might have its own special brand of racism.

是发生在州和当地层面的。

And it doesn't have to be like this.

这就意思我们不需要去到国会

Most of the inequalities that we see in our day-to-day lives

来为我们的社区做出改变。

happen at the state and local level.

我们可以让我们的城市、 我们的县、我们的州立法者

What that means is that we don't have to go all the way to Congress

to make change in our communities.

去负责产生更公平的结果。

We can simply hold our city, our county, our state legislators to task

第二个错误的观念：

我们不擅长追捕种族主义者。

to produce more equitable outcomes.

记得那次弗吉尼亚州州长 做了黑脸的时候，

Myth two:

人们在说，“哦，这可不行。 我需要让那个种族主义者离开”。

we're not that good at hunting for racists.

Remember that time when the governor of Virginia did blackface,

我在斜着眼睛看着你们， 而这是为什么。

and people were like, "Oh, that's bad. I need to get that racist out of here"?

虽然人们返回翻看年鉴

去找明显带有种族主义的东西，

I was giving y'all the side-eye, and here's why.

很少人在关注当前政策立场的立法者，

While people were going back to yearbooks

他们可能做了黑脸，但从未被抓住。

to look for things that were obviously racist,

fewer people were looking into the current-day policy stances

那么，我们中有多少人 可能支持过某个候选人，

of legislators who probably did blackface but didn't get caught.

有让过他们的地区退出他们的区域，

So, how many of us might have supported a candidate

只为了让孩子只去上全白人的学校 --

在 21 世纪？

who is willing to let neighborhoods secede from their district

或者，我们中有多少人可能支持过一项

so that kids could go to all-white schools --

减少某些群体投票机会 的投票措施呢？

in the 21st century?

当我们学习关于孕产妇 和婴儿死亡率

Or how many of us might have supported a ballot measure

that systematically reduced some groups' chances of voting?

巨大的种族差异的时候，

Or how many of us might have focused on the behavior of Black mothers

我们中有多少人 只注意到黑人母亲的行为，

而不是医生或者医疗系统和政策呢？

rather than doctors or health care systems and policies

它不必是这样的。

when we learn about the huge racial disparities

我们可以做不同的事。

我们可以仔细审查 规则制定者的行为。

in maternal and infant mortality?

It doesn't have to be like this.

我们可以将自己定位 于一个更公正的社会，

We could do something different.

We could scrutinize the behaviors of the rule makers.

并且在那个过程中，

我们不能神秘化 实际的政策解决方案。

We could orient ourselves toward a more just society,

第三个错误观念：

and on our way there,

we can't mystify practical policy solutions.

如果你相信当密西西比州 的所有祖母都死了，

那么那些族歧视会跟她们离开的话，

Myth three:

那你将会非常的失望。

If you believe that when all the grandmas in Mississippi die

我们比较喜欢认为年轻人

会做很多关于消灭种族歧视的工作，

that racism is going to go with them,

you are in for a big disappointment.

但是我们也需要记得一些事情。

We like to think that young people

我们知道年轻人， 特别是年轻的白人，喜欢多样性，

are going to do the hard work of eradicating racism,

but there are some things that we should note.

他们很欣赏它， 他们正在寻找它。

但我们也懂得， 他们的生活并不多样化。

We know that young folks, young white folks especially, like diversity,

研究调查告诉我们一个普通的 美国白人只有一个黑人朋友。

they appreciate it, they're looking for it.

But we also know that they don't live diverse lives.

这也就是说，大部分的连一个都没有。

Research shows that the average white American literally has one black friend.

莎拉·马约加 （Sarah Mayorga）等社会学家表明，即使善良白人

And what that means is that most don't have any at all.

搬到更多元化的社区，

他们不一定会有正的积极的互动，

Sociologists like Sarah Mayorga show that even when well-meaning white folks

更别说跟非白人的邻居。

move to diverse neighborhoods,

我与克里斯托弗·德桑特 （Christopher DeSante）教授的研究显示

they don't necessarily have positive interactions,

no less any with their neighbors who aren't white.

当我们向来自于千禧世代的白人问 关于他们的种族态度

和政策倾向时，

My research with Professor Christopher DeSante shows

他们有时候，就像其他的年代，

that when we ask white millennials their racial attitudes

会甚至比婴儿潮一代在种族上更保守。

and policy preferences,

每当我们问起来 对他们来说重要的事情的时候，

that they're sometimes, just as in other times,

他们对于种族不平等的问题

even more racially conservative than boomers.

没有任何特别的紧迫感。

When we ask them about the things that are important to them,

我们是怎么变成这样的？

they don't have any particular sense of urgency

我们会思考的一件事就是我们 该怎么抚养我们的孩子，

around questions of racial inequality.

并且给他们他们需要的东西来解决 我们希望他们解决的问题。

How did we get like this?

Well, one of the things we might think about is how we raise our kids

研究显示了，特别是白人家长，

and equip them to solve the problems that we want them to solve.

会要么选择不对孩子 谈论种族主义问题，

Research shows that white parents in particular

因为想保护他们， 不想让他们知道严酷的种族现实，

will either choose to not talk about issues of racism to their kids

或者他们会灌输种族色盲的课程，

in order to protect them from a harsh racial reality

但那其实是会加强消极的种族态度。

所以这有点像

or they instill colorblind lessons,

小时候你的家长 可能给过你关于青春期的书，

and that can actually reinforce negative racial attitudes.

所以他们就不用跟你讲 关于性的基本知识，

So it's kind of like

但是你自己又试着图连接所有的点， 而然后你做错了。

how some of your parents might have given you books about puberty

它是这样的。

so they didn't have to talk about the birds and the bees,

但它不需要是这样的。

我们可以做到更好。

and then you tried to connect all the dots and then you did it all wrong.

我们可以跟孩子们讲起困难的话题，

It's like that.

所以他们长大后 就不会像我们大多数的人一样，

It doesn't have to be like this.

认为谈论种族主义会让你成为 种族主义者 -- 它不会 --

We can do better.

We can have hard conversations with our kids

so that they don't grow up like many of us did,

也为了防止他们做我们

thinking that talking about racism makes you a racist -- it doesn't --

过去做过的错误。

and so that we can prevent them from making the same mistakes

记得很久很久以前，在 2008 年，

that we've seen in the past.

我们正在渴望生活在 后种族世界的时候吗？

Remember a long, long time ago in 2008,

好，我说是时候我们 该想的更大，更远了，

when we were all pining to live in a post-racial world?

并想一下生活在后种族主义 世界会是什么感觉。

Well, I say that it's time for us to think bigger and dream bigger

但为了做到这一点，我们必须一起

接受一份对种族 主歧视同样的定义 --

and think about what it would be like to live in a post-racist world.

不仅在心灵和思想上，

But in order to do that, we'd have to come together

还要在系统，政策，规则，

to have a shared definition of racism --

和一次又一次做出将 某些人边缘化的决定里 --

not just in the matter of hearts and minds,

but in systems, policies, rules,

及共同答应变成反对种族歧视的 -- 那些学得更多，做得更好的人。

decisions made over and over again to marginalize some people --

所以我们可以在我们 全力支持他们之前，

and agree to become anti-racists -- people who learn more and do better.

我们可以问候选人更难的问题，

关于他们对于种族不平等的观念，

So we could ask harder questions of candidates

我们可以选择拒绝购买

about their stances on racial inequality

与我们的价值观不一致的商业机构。

before we throw our full weight behind them.

我们可以跟我们的孩子谈论种族歧视。

We could buycott or boycott businesses

我们可以弄清楚我们的州 特别版本的种族主义，

whose practices don't align with our values.

We could talk to our kids about racism.

并且努力根除它。

We could figure out our state's special brand of racism

人类做了种族不平等， 所以人类也可以消除它。

and work to eradicate it.

当然，这会很难，

但事实是，

People made racial disparities, and people can unmake them.

有人想要我们什么都不做。

And sure, it'll be hard,

but the fact of the matter is,

谢谢。

someone is depending on us to do nothing at all.

（鼓掌）

Thank you.

(Applause)