Brittney Cooper: The racial politics of time | TED

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Yuchen Lu

What if I told you that time has a race,

如果我說時間也有「種族」之分，

a race in the contemporary way that we understand race

這裡的種族是指 當代美國人所了解的種族，

in the United States?

你覺得如何？

Typically, we talk about race in terms of black and white issues.

一般來說，我們會用 黑白問題來談種族。

In the African-American communities from which I come,

在我所居住的非裔美國人社區中，

we have a long-standing multi-generational joke

有一個流傳了數個世代的笑話，

about what we call "CP time,"

說的是我們所謂的「CP 時間」，

or "colored people's time."

即「有色人種的時間」。

Now, we no longer refer to African-Americans as "colored,"

我們已不再將非裔美國人 稱為「有色」的，

but this long-standing joke

但這個流傳已久的笑話

about our perpetual lateness to church,

講的是我們永遠會遲到， 不論是上教堂、

to cookouts, to family events

去野炊、去家庭活動，

and even to our own funerals, remains.

連去遺體我們自己的 葬禮都會遲到。

I personally am a stickler for time.

我個人對時間很固執。

It's almost as if my mother, when I was growing up, said,

幾乎就像是我媽媽 在我成長過程中說的：

"We will not be those black people."

「我們不要成為那種黑人。」

So we typically arrive to events 30 minutes early.

所以通常我們去哪裡 都會早到三十分鐘。

But today, I want to talk to you more about the political nature of time,

但今天我想和各位談 比較多的是時間的政治本質，

for if time had a race,

因為如果時間也有 種族之分的話，它會是白人。

it would be white.

White people own time.

白人擁有時間。

I know, I know.

我知道，我知道。

Making such "incendiary statements" makes us uncomfortable:

做出這種「煽風點火的陳述」 讓我們感到不舒服：

Haven't we moved past the point where race really matters?

種族具有影響的時候 不是已經過去了嗎？

Isn't race a heavy-handed concept?

種族不是一種強制打壓的觀念嗎？

Shouldn't we go ahead with our enlightened, progressive selves

我們不是應該帶著 開明進步的自我向前走，

and relegate useless concepts like race to the dustbins of history?

把像種族意識這類無用的觀念 丟到歷史的垃圾桶嗎？

How will we ever get over racism if we keep on talking about race?

如果我們不斷談種族， 我們怎麼可能會忘懷它？

Perhaps we should lock up our concepts of race in a time capsule,

也許我們應該把種族觀念 鎖入一個時間膠囊裡，

bury them and dig them up in a thousand years,

把它埋起來，一千年後再挖出來，

peer at them with the clearly more enlightened,

讓未來很明顯更開明 更沒有種族意識的我們

raceless versions of ourselves that belong to the future.

來凝視這些觀念。

But you see there,

但你們要知道，

that desire to mitigate the impact of race and racism shows up

想要緩和種族和種族主義造 成之影響的慾望卻跑出來了，

in how we attempt to manage time,

出現在我們試圖 管理時間的方式中，

in the ways we narrate history,

出現在我們敘述歷史的方式中，

in the ways we attempt to shove the negative truths of the present

出現在我們試圖將現在的負面真相 丟到過去的方式中，

into the past,

出現在我們試圖爭論說

in the ways we attempt to argue that the future that we hope for

「我們渴望的未來其實就是 我們所處的現在」的方式中。

is the present in which we're currently living.

Now, when Barack Obama became President of the US in 2008,

2008 年，歐巴馬當選美國總統時，

many Americans declared that we were post-racial.

很多美國人宣稱我們 進入了「後種族」時代，

I'm from the academy

我來自學術界，

where we're enamored with being post-everything.

在那裡我們超愛「後」的，

We're postmodern, we're post-structural, we're post-feminist.

我們是後現代主義的， 我們是後結構主義的，

我們是後女權主義的。

"Post" has become a simple academic appendage

「後」已經成為一個 簡單的學術附屬品，

that we apply to a range of terms

被我們加在各種用詞上，

to mark the way we were.

來標示出我們以前的樣子。

But prefixes alone don't have the power to make race and racism

但只靠在字首加一個字 無法把種族和種族歧視

a thing of the past.

變成過去式。

The US was never "pre-race."

美國從來沒有「前種族」過。

So to claim that we're post-race when we have yet to grapple with the impact

所以，在我們還沒有 努力解決種族對於黑人、

拉丁裔，或原住民的影響時，

of race on black people, Latinos or the indigenous

就聲稱我們進入「後種族」 時期，實在太虛偽。

is disingenuous.

Just about the moment we were preparing to celebrate

就在我們準備要慶祝

our post-racial future,

「後種族」未來的時候，

our political conditions became the most racial they've been

我們的政治情勢卻達到 五十年來最種族歧視的高峰。

in the last 50 years.

So today, I want to offer to you three observations,

今天，我想提出 三項觀察給各位參考，

about the past, the present and the future of time,

分別是關於過去、現在，及未來。

as it relates to the combating of racism and white dominance.

因為它們和對抗 種族主義和白人支配有關。

First: the past.

首先：過去。

Time has a history,

時間有段歷史，

and so do black people.

黑人也有。

But we treat time as though it is timeless,

但是我們把時間 當成是無時間性的，

as though it has always been this way,

好像它一直都是如此，

as though it doesn't have a political history

好像它沒有一段

bound up with the plunder of indigenous lands,

和掠奪原住民土地相關的歷史，

the genocide of indigenous people

對原住民進行大屠殺的歷史，

and the stealing of Africans from their homeland.

將非洲人從家鄉綁架過來的歷史。

When white male European philosophers

當白種男性的歐洲哲學家最初想將

first thought to conceptualize time and history, one famously declared,

時間和歷史給概念化時， 其中一位提出了這段著名的聲稱：

"[Africa] is no historical part of the World."

「非洲不是世界歷史的一部份。」

He was essentially saying

基本上他說的是

that Africans were people outside of history

非洲人是不在歷史裡的人種，

who had had no impact on time

他們對於時間或是進步發展

or the march of progress.

一直都沒有影響。

This idea, that black people have had no impact on history,

這種黑人過去一直 對歷史沒有影響的想法，

is one of the foundational ideas of white supremacy.

就是白人至上主義的 基礎想法之一。

It's the reason that Carter G. Woodson created "Negro History Week" in 1926.

它也是 1926 年卡特 G. 伍德森 創立了「黑人歷史週」的原因。

It's the reason that we continue to celebrate Black History Month

這也是我們在美國每年二月都要

in the US every February.

慶祝「黑人歷史月」的原因。

Now, we also see this idea

我們還會看到一種想法，

that black people are people either alternately outside of the bounds of time

認為黑人若不是在時間的邊界之外，

or stuck in the past,

就是困在過去裡，

in a scenario where, much as I'm doing right now,

在一個和我現在情況 很像的情境當中，

a black person stands up and insists that racism still matters,

一個黑人站出來， 堅持認為種族問題依舊存在，

and a person, usually white,

然後有個人──通常是白人，

says to them,

對他們說：「為什麼 你們還困在過去？

"Why are you stuck in the past?

Why can't you move on?

為什麼你們不能向前走？

We have a black president.

我們已有一位黑人總統了。

We're past all that."

種族問題都已經過去了。」

William Faulkner famously said,

威廉福克納有句名言：

"The past is never dead.

「過去從來沒有死亡，

It's not even past."

過去甚至還沒有過去。」

But my good friend Professor Kristie Dotson says,

但我的好朋友 克莉絲蒂道森教授說：

"Our memory is longer than our lifespan."

「我們的記憶比 我們的壽命更長。」

We carry, all of us,

我們所有人身上都背著

family and communal hopes and dreams with us.

家庭和社區的希望和夢想。

We don't have the luxury of letting go of the past.

我們沒有放下過去的奢侈權力。

But sometimes,

但有時候，

our political conditions are so troubling

我們的政治情勢十分混亂，

that we don't know if we're living in the past

以致於我們不知道我們 是活在過去，還是活在現在。

or we're living in the present.

Take, for instance, when Black Lives Matter protesters

舉例來說，當「黑命貴」的抗議者

go out to protest unjust killings of black citizens by police,

走上街頭抗議警方 不公正地射殺黑人公民時，

and the pictures that emerge from the protest

那些流出來的抗議照片

look like they could have been taken 50 years ago.

感覺就像五十年前拍的照片一樣。

The past won't let us go.

「過去」不肯放我們走。

But still, let us press our way into the present.

但，我們還是要奮力 朝「現在」前進。

At present, I would argue

在「現在」，我會主張

that the racial struggles we are experiencing

我們現在正在經歷的種族鬥爭

are clashes over time and space.

都是因時間和空間所發生的衝突。

What do I mean?

我是什麼意思？

Well, I've already told you that white people own time.

我剛剛已經告訴各位， 白人擁有時間。

Those in power dictate the pace of the workday.

有權的人掌控了工作日的步調。

They dictate how much money our time is actually worth.

他們能決定我們的時間 到底值多少錢。

And Professor George Lipsitz argues

喬治利普茲教授主張

that white people even dictate the pace of social inclusion.

白人甚至掌控了社會包容的步調。

They dictate how long it will actually take

他們能決定弱勢團體要花多少時間

for minority groups to receive the rights that they have been fighting for.

才能取得他們在爭取的權力。

Let me loop back to the past quickly to give you an example.

讓我很快地繞回過去， 給各位一個例子。

If you think about the Civil Rights Movement

想想看非裔美國人民權運動，

and the cries of its leaders for "Freedom Now,"

及運動領導人大喊著 「現在就要自由」，

they were challenging the slow pace of white social inclusion.

他們就是在挑戰 白人社會包容的緩慢步調。

By 1965, the year the Voting Rights Act was passed,

到了 1965 年， 選舉法案通過的那一年，

there had been a full 100 years

從內戰結束，到將投票權

between the end of the Civil War

賦予非裔美國人社區，

and the conferral of voting rights on African-American communities.

已經過了整整一百年。

Despite the urgency of a war,

儘管戰爭一觸即發，

it still took a full 100 years for actual social inclusion to occur.

仍然花了整整一百年， 才讓真正的社會包容實現。

Since 2012,

自從 2012 年，

conservative state legislatures across the US have ramped up attempts

美國各地的保守派州議院 花費越來越多的心力

to roll back African-American voting rights

試圖撤回非裔美國人的投票權，

by passing restrictive voter ID laws

手段包括通過限制性的 「選民身份法」

and curtailing early voting opportunities.

以及削減提早投票的機會。

This past July, a federal court struck down North Carolina's voter ID law

去年七月，一個聯邦法庭駁回了 北卡羅來納州的選民身份法，

saying it "... targeted African-Americans with surgical precision."

理由是「針對非裔美國人，

且這針對性精準到 和要動手術一樣。」

Restricting African-American inclusion in the body politic

限制非裔美國人融入國家，

is a primary way that we attempt to manage and control people

是我們試圖藉由管理和控制時間，

by managing and controlling time.

來管理和控制人民的主要方式。

But another place that we see these time-space clashes

還有一個地方，也會 看見時間和空間的衝突。

is in gentrifying cities like Atlanta, Brooklyn,

是在中產階層化的城市，

如亞特蘭大、布魯克林、費城、

Philadelphia, New Orleans and Washington, DC --

紐奧良，和華盛頓特區——

places that have had black populations for generations.

在這些地區，黑人 已經存在數個世代。

But now, in the name of urban renewal and progress,

但現在，假借 都市更新和進步的名義，

these communities are pushed out,

這些社區被趕出去，

in service of bringing them into the 21st century.

為的竟是要帶他們 進入二十一世紀。

Professor Sharon Holland asked:

雪倫荷蘭教授問道：

What happens when a person who exists in time

「當一個存在於時間內的人，

meets someone who only occupies space?

遇到一位只佔有空間的人， 會發生什麼事？」

These racial struggles

這些種族的鬥爭

are battles over those who are perceived to be space-takers

是為了被認為是「佔據空間者」的人

and those who are perceived to be world-makers.

及被認為是「世界製造者」的人

所打的仗。

Those who control the flow and thrust of history

那些控制歷史洪流和推進的人，

are considered world-makers who own and master time.

被認為是世界製造者， 他們擁有並掌管時間。

In other words: white people.

換言之：他們就是白人。

But when Hegel famously said that Africa was no historical part of the world,

但當黑格爾說出

「黑人不是歷史的一部份」 那句名言時，

he implied that it was merely a voluminous land mass

他的本意是，非洲只是一大塊地，

taking up space at the bottom of the globe.

佔據了全球最底層的空間。

Africans were space-takers.

非洲人是佔據空間者。

So today, white people continue to control the flow and thrust of history,

今天，白人繼續掌控 歷史的洪流與推進，

while too often treating black people as though we are merely taking up space

同時，他們太常認為 黑人只是在佔據空間，

to which we are not entitled.

而我們無權這麼做。

Time and the march of progress is used to justify

時間和進步發展被用來當作工具，

a stunning degree of violence towards our most vulnerable populations,

為要找到正當理由 來殘酷暴力對待最弱勢的族群，

who, being perceived as space-takers rather than world-makers,

這些人被視為佔據空間者，

而非世界製造者，

are moved out of the places where they live,

他們被趕出自己的家園，

in service of bringing them into the 21st century.

為了帶他們進入二十一世紀。

Shortened life span according to zip code is just one example of the ways

因居住地的郵遞區號不同， 生命就比較短，

這只是許多例子中的一個， 說明在黑人的生命中，

that time and space cohere in an unjust manner

in the lives of black people.

時間和空間如何 以不公平的方式結合。

Children who are born in New Orleans zip code 70124,

在紐奧良郵遞區號 70124 地區，

有 93% 人口是白人， 在這裡出生的兒童

which is 93 percent white,

can expect to live a full 25 years longer

壽命預期會比生在紐奧良

than children born in New Orleans zip code 70112,

郵遞區號 70112 地區的兒童 多出整整二十五歲，

which is 60 percent black.

在這個地區有 60% 人口是黑人。

Children born in Washington, DC's wealthy Maryland suburbs

在華盛頓特區有錢的 馬里蘭郊區出生的兒童，

can expect to live a full 20 years longer

壽命預期會比出生在

than children born in its downtown neighborhoods.

鄰近市中心的兒童 多出整整二十歲，

Ta-Nehisi Coates argues

塔內西科特斯主張

that, "The defining feature of being drafted into the Black race

「被納入黑人種族的關鍵特徵，

is the inescapable robbery of time."

就是無法避免時間被奪取。」

We experience time discrimination,

他告訴我們， 我們對時間歧視的感受

he tells us,

not just as structural,

不只是結構性的，

but as personal:

也是個人化的：

in lost moments of joy,

喜樂的時刻不再，

lost moments of connection,

連結的時刻不再，

lost quality of time with loved ones

與所愛的人相處時的品質不再，

and lost years of healthy quality of life.

還會失去多年健康的生活品質。

In the future, do you see black people?

在未來，

你有看見黑人嗎？

Do black people have a future?

黑人有未來嗎？

What if you belong to the very race of people

如果你剛好屬於那個總是

who have always been pitted against time?

在和時間競爭的種族，會如何？

What if your group is the group for whom a future was never imagined?

如果你所屬的種族 沒有任何能夠想像的未來呢？

These time-space clashes --

這些時間空間的衝突——

between protesters and police,

抗議者與警方間，

between gentrifiers and residents --

中產階層化者與居民間的衝突——

don't paint a very pretty picture

並沒有為美國所希望的黑人未來

of what America hopes for black people's future.

繪出一幅非常美麗的圖畫。

If the present is any indicator,

若「現在」是一種指標，

our children will be under-educated,

我們孩子的將無法受到良好教育，

health maladies will take their toll

健康問題會讓我們付出代價，

and housing will continue to be unaffordable.

我們也仍然無法付擔住房。

So if we're really ready to talk about the future,

所以，若我們真的準備好 要來談論未來，

perhaps we should begin by admitting that we're out of time.

首先我們應該承認 我們已經沒時間了。

We black people have always been out of time.

我們黑人的時間向來不夠。

Time does not belong to us.

時間不屬於我們。

Our lives are lives of perpetual urgency.

我們的生命是永遠緊急的生命。

Time is used to displace us,

時間被用來取代我們，

or conversely, we are urged into complacency

或者，反過來說， 無止盡地呼籲「要有耐心」

through endless calls to just be patient.

敦促我們變得自滿。

But if past is prologue,

但，如果過去是序幕，

let us seize upon the ways in which we're always out of time anyway

讓我們利用反正我們的時間 總是不夠的方式，

to demand with urgency

來急迫地要求：

freedom now.

現在就要自由。

I believe the future is what we make it.

我相信未來是我們自己創造的。

But first, we have to decide that time belongs to all of us.

但我們必須先要斷定 時間屬於我們所有人。

No, we don't all get equal time,

不，不是每個人都有同等的時間，

but we can decide that the time we do get is just and free.

但我們可以決定 我們得到的時間公正且自由，

We can stop making your zip code the primary determinant

我們可以不要讓郵遞區號成為

決定你壽命長短的主要因素。

of your lifespan.

We can stop stealing learning time from black children

我們可以不要再透過 過度使用退學和停學

through excessive use of suspensions and expulsions.

來偷走黑人孩子的學習時間。

We can stop stealing time from black people

我們可以不要再透過 非暴力犯罪的長期監禁

through long periods of incarceration for nonviolent crimes.

來偷走黑人的時間。

The police can stop stealing time and black lives

警可以不要再透過過度武力

through use of excessive force.

來偷走黑人的時間和性命。

I believe the future is what we make it.

我相信未來是我們自己創造的。

But we can't get there on colored people's time

但如果我們想要辦到， 不能用有色人種的時間，

or white time

或白人的時間，

or your time

或你們的時間，

or even my time.

或甚至我的時間。

It's our time.

應該要用的是我們的時間。

Ours.

我們的。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）