Racism has a cost for everyone | Heather C. McGhee

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

I am a public policy wonk.

我是個公共政策狂熱者。

I investigate data that points to problems in the American economy --

我研究的是美國 經濟問題背後的資料——

problems like rising household debt,

這些問題包括 越來越高的家庭債務、

declining wages and benefits,

越來越少的薪水和福利、

shortfalls in public revenue.

國家財政收入的赤字。

And I try to pinpoint solutions

我會試圖精準找出解決方案，

to make our economy more prosperous for more people.

為更多人創造更繁榮的經濟。

I geek out about tax policy

我很熱衷於多數人感到冷感的

and infrastructure investments,

財稅政策和基礎建設投資，

and I get really excited

且設計得體的管理制度 會讓我很興奮。

by a gracefully designed regulatory regime.

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

These are the kinds of topics that I was talking about

在 2016 年 8 月的 公開電視叩應直播節目中，

on a public television live call-in show in August of 2016.

我談的就是這些主題。

I was about halfway through the program

節目進行到大約一半， 有名男子打電話進來，

when a man called in,

identified as Gary from North Carolina

自稱是來自北卡羅萊納的葛瑞，

and he said ...

他說：

"I'm a white male, and I'm prejudiced."

「我是白人，男性，心懷偏見。」

He then went on to detail his prejudice,

接著他開始詳細說明他的偏見，

talking about black men and gangs

談到黑人和幫派、

and drugs and crime.

毒品和犯罪。

But then he said something that I'll never forget.

但，他接下來所說的， 讓我永生難忘。

He said, "But I want to change.

他說：「但我想要改變。

And I want to know what I can do to become a better American."

我想要知道我能怎麼做，

才能變成更好的美國人。」

Now remember, my career is about economic policy,

別忘了，我的職業是經濟政策，

as translated into dollars and cents

白話來說，就是和金錢有關，

not personal thoughts and feelings.

而不是和個人想法及感受。

But when I opened my mouth to respond to this man on live television,

但，當我在電視直播上 開口回應這名男子時，

the most surprising words came out.

驚人至極的話從我口中脫出。

I said ...

我說：

"Thank you."

「謝謝你。」

I thanked him for admitting his prejudice,

我謝謝他承認他的偏見，

for wanting to change and for knowing, somehow,

謝謝他想要改變，且在某種層面上

that that would make him a better American.

知道那會讓他成為更好的美國人。

The exchange between Gary and me went viral.

葛瑞和我之間的交流被瘋傳。

It's been viewed over eight million times

才過一個晚上， 點閱率就超過八百萬次，

and inspired waves of social media commentary

後續還引發一波一波的 社群媒體評論和新聞報導。

and news coverage.

And I think people were surprised

我想，大家很意外

that a black woman would show such compassion

黑人女性竟然會對有偏見的 白人男性展現這樣的同理心，

for a prejudiced white man,

and they were surprised that a white man would admit his bias

且白種男性竟然在全國電視網上 承認他自己的偏見。

on national television.

Not long after Gary and my viral moment,

葛瑞和我的互動被瘋傳後沒多久，

we met in person.

我們就見面了。

He said that he had taken my advice.

他說，他採納了我的建議。

He said that my words had been like someone wiped the dust from a window

他說，我說的話就像是 有人把窗戶上的塵土擦掉，

and let the light in.

讓光照進來。

Over the years, Gary and I have become friends.

這些年來，葛瑞和我成了朋友。

And Gary would tell you that I've taught him a lot

葛瑞會告訴大家我教了他很多

about systemic racism in America and public policy.

關於美國和公共政策中的 制度性種族主義。

But I've learned a lot from Gary, too.

但我也從葛瑞身上學到很多。

And the biggest lesson for me

對我來說，最重要的一課是

has been that Gary's prejudice has caused him to suffer.

葛瑞的偏見使他自己很痛苦。

Fear, anxiety, isolation.

恐懼、焦慮、孤立。

And it's made me rethink

那讓我重新思考

many of the economic problems I've been focusing on

我在整個職涯中曾經關注過的

my entire career.

許多經濟問題。

I wondered,

我很納悶，

is it possible that our society's racism

有沒有可能，

我們社會的種族主義

has likewise been backfiring on the very same people

也曾經同樣對於從特權中

受惠的那些人反撲？

set up to benefit from privilege?

Driven by this question,

被這個問題趨使，過去幾年 我造訪了美國各地，

I've spent the past few years traveling the country,

researching and writing a book.

做研究及寫書。

My conclusion?

我的結論？

Racism leads to bad policymaking.

種族主義會導致很糟糕的政策制定。

It's making our economy worse.

種族主義會讓我們的經濟更差。

And not just in ways that disadvantage people of color.

且不僅是不利於有色人種。

It turns out it's not a zero sum.

結果發現，這並不是零和遊戲。

Racism is bad for white people, too.

種族主義對白人也很不好。

Take, for example,

舉例來說，

America's underinvestment in our public goods,

美國對公共財的投資不足，

the things that we all need, that we share in common --

即大家都需要、大家共有的東西——

our schools and roads and bridges.

我們的學校、道路、橋樑。

Our infrastructure gets a D plus

美國土木工程師學會

from the American Society of Civil Engineers,

把我們的基礎建評分為 D+，

and we invest less per capita than almost every other advanced nation.

我們的人均投資 幾乎低於所有先進國家。

But it wasn't always this way.

但並非一直都是如此。

I traveled to Montgomery, Alabama,

我到過阿拉巴馬的蒙哥馬利，

and there, I saw how racism can destroy a public good

在那裡，我看到種族主義如何毀滅

公共財以及支持它的公意。

and the public will to support it.

In the 1930s and '40s,

在 1930 和 40 年代，

the United States went on a nationwide building boom of public amenities

美國全國興起了 公共市容設施的建設，

funded by tax dollars,

資金來自稅收，

which in Montgomery, Alabama, included the Oak Park pool,

在阿拉巴馬的蒙哥馬利， 這類設施包括橡樹公園的水池，

which was the grandest one for miles.

是數英里範圍內最雄偉的水池。

You know, back then, people didn't have air conditioners,

在當時，大家沒有冷氣空調，

and so they spent their hot summer days

所以他們會在炎炎夏日

in a steady rotation of sunning and splashing

輪流做日光浴和玩水，

and then cooling off under a ring of nearby trees.

接著再到附近的樹蔭下乘涼。

It was the meeting place for the town.

那水池是小鎮居民會面的地方。

Except the Oak Park pool,

除了一點，雖然橡樹公園的水池

though it was funded by all of Montgomery citizens,

資金來自全蒙哥馬利的市民，

was for whites only.

卻僅供白人使用。

When a federal court finally deemed this unconstitutional,

等到聯邦法庭終於 判定這個規定違憲，

the reaction of the town council was swift.

鎮議會的反應非常快。

Effective January 1, 1959,

1959 年 1 月 1 日開始生效，

they decided they would drain the public pool

他們決定他們寧可 將這個公共水池的水放光，

rather than let black families swim, too.

也不要讓黑人家庭來一起游泳。

This destruction of public goods

這種對公共財的損毀

was replicated across the country

在全國各地都可以看到，

in towns not just in the South.

不光是在南方的小鎮。

Towns closed their public parks, pools and schools,

許多小鎮因應廢除 種族隔離命令的方式

all in response to desegregation orders,

是關閉它們的公園、水池、學校，

all throughout the 1960s.

在 1960 年代期間屢屢可見。

In Montgomery, they shut down the entire Parks Department

在蒙哥馬利，他們將整個公園部門

for a decade.

關閉了十年。

They closed the recreation centers,

他們關閉了休閒中心，

they even sold off the animals in the zoo.

他們甚至把動物園裡的動物賣掉。

Today, you can walk the grounds of Oak Park, as I did,

現今，你們可以跟我一樣 走在橡樹公園裡，

but very few people do.

但很少人會這麼做。

They never rebuilt the pool.

他們始終沒有重建那個水池。

Racism has a cost for everyone.

種族主義讓每個人都付出代價。

I remember having that same thought on September 15, 2008,

我還記得，我在 2008 年 9 月 15 日也有同樣的想法，

when I learned the breaking news that Lehman Brothers was collapsing.

當時我聽到了雷曼兄弟 垮掉的新聞快報。

Now Lehman was,

雷曼兄弟和在接下來幾天

like the other financial firms that would go under in the coming days,

破產的其他金融公司一樣，

done in by overexposure to a toxic financial instrument

因為過度接觸有害的 金融工具而被拖垮，

based on something that used to be simple and safe --

在過去，這背後的根基 是很簡單且安全的——

a 30-year fixed-rate home loan.

三十年的固定利率住房貸款。

But the mortgages at the center and the root of the financial crisis

但，若去看這次 金融危機的核心和根源，

抵押貸款有著很奇怪的新條件。

had strange new terms.

And they were developed and aggressively marketed for years

多年來，在黑人 和褐色皮膚人種的社區，

in black and brown middle-class communities,

都一直在發展 和積極行銷這些貸款，

like the one that I visited when I met a homeowner named Glenn.

我去會見了一位屋主葛倫， 他住的社區就如此。

Glenn had owned a home

葛倫擁有一間房子，

on a leafy street in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of Cleveland

在克里夫蘭的蒙特普萊森特 街坊中一條很多樹的街道上，

for over a decade.

擁有了至少十年。

But when I met him, he was near foreclosure.

但，當我見到他時， 他的房子幾乎要被徵收了。

Like nearly all of his neighbors,

和幾乎所有的鄰居一樣， 曾有仲介來敲他家的門，

he'd received a knock on the door

from a broker promising to refinance his mortgage.

保證會再用他的抵押來重新貸款。

But what the broker didn't tell him was that this was a new kind of mortgage.

但仲介並沒有告訴他， 這是種新型的抵押貸款。

A mortgage with an inflated interest rate,

抵押貸款的利率過高，付款大筆，

and a balloon payment

and a prepayment penalty if he tried to get out of it.

如果他想解約，還有預付的罰款。

Now, the common misperception,

有個常見的誤解，

then and still today,

在當時和現在都一樣，

is that people like Glenn were buying properties they couldn't afford.

那就是，像葛倫這樣的人 是去買他們負擔不起的房地產。

That they themselves were risky borrowers.

認為他們自己本身 就是高風險的借貸者。

I saw how this stereotype made it harder for policymakers

我看到了這種刻板印象 如何導致政策制訂者很難

to see the crisis for what it was

在當時還來得及阻止這個危機時

back when we still had time to stop it.

就看見這個危機的真實本質。

But that's all it was.

但那就只是個刻板印象而已。

A stereotype.

The majority of subprime mortgages went to people who had good credit,

大部分的次級抵押貸款的客戶

都是信用良好的人，像葛倫。

like Glenn.

And African Americans and Latinos were three times as likely --

非裔和拉丁裔美國人 有三倍的機率——

even if they had good credit --

即使他們的信用很好——

than white people, to get sold these toxic loans.

比白人更可能被人推銷毒貸款。

The problem wasn't the borrower --

問題不在借款的人——

the problem was the loan.

問題在貸款本身。

After the crash,

在崩垮之後，

most of the nation's big lenders, from Wells Fargo to Countrywide,

美國部分的大型借方，

從富國銀行集團到 Countrywide，

would go on to be fined for racial discrimination.

接著都因為種族歧視而被判罰。

But that realization came too late.

但了解這些都太遲了。

These loans, superprofitable for the lenders

這些貸款對借方超級有利，

but designed to fail for the borrowers,

卻是設計來讓借方支付不起的，

spread out past the confines

這些貸款散播到了葛倫住的那種 黑人和褐色人種街坊以外的地方，

of black and brown neighborhoods like Glenn's

and into the wider, whiter mortgage market.

進入了更多白人客戶 且更廣的抵押貸款市場。

All of the nation's big Wall Street firms bet on these loans.

全國的大型華爾街公司 都把賭注押在這些貸款上。

At its peak,

在高峰時，

one out of every five mortgages in the country was in this mold,

全國有五分之一的 抵押貸款是這種貸款，

and the crisis,

而這個危機，

the crisis that my colleagues and I saw coming ...

我和我的同事都預見的危機……

would go on to cost us all.

繼續讓所有人付出代價。

Nineteen trillion in lost wealth.

財富損失高達十九兆美元。

Pensions, home equity, savings.

退休金、房子淨值、存款。

Eight million jobs vanished.

八百萬個工作消失了。

A home-ownership rate that has never recovered.

自有房子的比率從此沒有再回復。

My years of advocating in vain for homeowners like Glenn

我花了數年為葛倫 這種屋主徒勞地發聲，

left me convinced:

讓我深信：

we would not have had a financial crisis if it weren't for racism.

如果不是因為種族主義， 就不會發生那次金融危機。

In 2017, I traveled to Mississippi,

2017 年，我到密西西比去，

where a group of auto-factory workers was trying to organize into a union.

在那裡，一群自動工廠的工人 想要組織一個工會。

Now the benefits they were fighting for --

他們在爭取的福利——

higher pay, better health care coverage,

更高的薪資、更廣的健康照顧、 真正的退休金——

a real pension --

they would have helped everybody at the plant.

這些能夠幫助工廠所有人。

But in person after person that I talked to --

但我和一個又一個工人談過——

white, black, for the union, against the union --

白人、黑人、支持或反對工會的——

race kept coming up.

都一直提到種族。

A white man named Joey put it this way.

有位白人叫做喬伊，他這麼說：

He said,

"White workers think I ain't voting yes if the blacks are voting yes.

「白人工人認為，如果黑人 投『要』，我就不會投『要』。

If the blacks are for it, I'm against it."

如果黑人支持，我就會反對。」

A white man named Chip told me,

一位叫做奇普的白人告訴我：

"The idea is that if you uplift black people,

「大家的觀念是， 如果你提升黑人地位，

you're downing white people."

就等於貶低白人。」

It's like the world's got this crab-in-a-barrel mentality.

彷彿全世界都有種桶中蟹的心態 （想爬出去就會被拉回來）。

Now, the union vote failed.

工會投票沒有過。

Wages at the plant are still lower than their unionized peers',

工廠工人的薪資仍然比 其他有工會的同業還低，

and people there still worry about their health care.

還仍然要擔心健保。

You know, it's tempting, perhaps,

我們可能都會很想

to focus on the prejudiced attitudes

把焦點放在我在密西西比 見到的人和工人

of the men and the workers that I heard in Mississippi.

在態度上很有偏見。

But I'm more interested in holding accountable

但我更感興趣的是把責任追究到

the people who are selling racist ideas for their profit

為了利益而推銷種族主義想法的人，

than those who are desperate enough to buy it.

而不是絕望到非買帳不可的人。

My travels also took me to places

我的旅程也帶我到其他地方，

where I saw, however, that it doesn't have to be this way.

看見現實未必得要如此。

I went to Maine, the whitest state in the nation,

我去了緬因州，美國最白的州，

the oldest,

人口最老的州，

where there are more deaths every year than births,

該州每年死亡的人數多於出生的；

and I went to this dying mill town called Lewiston

我前往路易斯頓， 一個衰落的工業鎮，

that is being revitalized by new people --

新住民正在讓小鎮復甦——

mostly African, mostly Muslim,

大部分是非裔，大部分是穆斯林、

immigrants and refugees.

移民，和難民。

There, I met a woman named Cecile,

在那裡，我見到一名女子西席爾，

whose parents had been part of the last wave of new people

她的父母跟著最近一批新住民

to come to Lewiston.

來到路易斯頓。

These are French-Canadian millworkers at the turn of the century.

這些人是在世紀初過來的 法語加拿大裔工廠工人。

Cecile is retired, but she had found a new purpose in life,

西席爾退休了， 但她找到了人生的新方向，

by organizing Congolese refugees

將剛果難民組織起來，

to join with the white retirees at the Franco Heritage Center.

與法蘭科傳承中心的退休白人合作。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

These men and women from the Congo

這些來自剛果的男男女女

were helping these retirees remember the French

去協助這些從兒時之後就沒有再

that they hadn't spoken since their childhoods.

說法語的退休人員回顧法語。

And together, these two communities helped each other feel at home.

這兩個族群結合在一起， 讓彼此感到有家的歸屬。

You know, for all the political talk

雖然有各種政治談話

about the newcomers being a drain on the town,

說新住民會耗盡小鎮的資源，

a bipartisan think tank found that the local refugee community there

但有個兩黨支持的智囊團 發現當地的的難民社區

created 40 million dollars in tax revenue,

創造出了四千萬美金的稅收，

and 130 million in income.

及一億三千萬美金的收入。

And I talked to the town administrator,

我和小鎮行政官員談時，

who was boasting about the fact that Lewiston was building a new school,

他誇耀說路易斯頓 正在建立一所新學校，

when all the rest of towns like theirs in Maine

而緬因州其他像他們 這樣的小鎮卻是在關閉學校。

was closing them.

You know, it costs us so much to remain divided.

我們要維持分裂的成本相當高。

This zero-sum thinking,

這種零和的思想，

that's what's good for one group has to come at the expense of another,

認為一定是有個族群付出代價， 另一個族群才得到好處，

it's what's gotten us into this mess.

這種想法讓我們陷入這泥沼。

I believe it's time to reject that old paradigm

我相信，該是排拒這範式

and realize that our fates are linked.

並了解到我們的命運 緊緊相連的時候了。

An injury to one is an injury to all.

對一個人的傷害就是對全體的傷害。

You know, we have a choice.

要知道，我們有選擇。

Our nation was founded on a belief in a hierarchy of human value.

我國立國時認為

人類的價值有階級高下。

But we are about to be a country with no racial majority.

但我們即將成為 不再有種族多數的國家。

So we can keep pretending like we're not all on the same team.

我們可以繼續假裝 我們不是同一隊的。

We can keep sabotaging our success

我們可以繼續破壞我們的成功，

and hamstringing our own players.

切斷我們自己球員的腳筋。

Or we can let the proximity of so much difference

或者，我們可以讓 這麼多差異的相近之處

reveal our common humanity.

展現出我們共有的人性。

And we can finally invest in our greatest asset.

那麼我們終將可以投資在 我們最偉大的資產上——

Our people.

我們的人民，

All of our people.

我們所有的人民。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）