The lie that invented racism | John Biewen

Transcriber: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Camille Martínez

譯者: Zoe Walmsley 審譯者: Helen Chang

What is up with us white people?

我們白種人是怎麼一回事？

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

I've been thinking about that a lot the last few years,

過去這幾年，我一直在思考這個問題，

而且我知道有很多人跟我一樣。

and I know I have company.

Look, I get it --

好，我知道同樣的問題 有色人種已經問了好幾世紀。

people of color have been asking that question for centuries.

But I think a growing number of white folks are too,

但現在有同樣疑問的白種人持續增加，

given what's been going on out there

尤其是現今的局勢──

in our country.

我們國內的局勢。

And notice I said, "What's up with us white people?"

請注意，我剛才說的是： 「我們白種人是怎麼一回事？」

because right now, I'm not talking about those white people,

因為此刻，我說的白種人 不是「那些」──

the ones with the swastikas and the hoods and the tiki torches.

那些持萬字符、戴斗篷、 手持火把的白種人。

They are a problem and a threat.

那些人的確是問題及威脅。

They perpetrate most of the terrorism in our country,

他們將恐怖主義滲透到全國各地，

你們住在夏洛特鎮的人比誰都清楚。

as you all in Charlottesville know better than most.

But I'm talking about something bigger and more pervasive.

我說的是比那更大、更普遍的問題。

我指的是我們所有人，

I'm talking about all of us,

white folks writ large.

廣義的白種人。

And maybe, especially, people sort of like me,

或許，尤其是跟我類似的，

self-described progressive,

自詡為先進的一群，

don't want to be racist.

我們不想當種族主義者。

Good white people.

而是當一個好的白人。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Any good white people in the room?

現場有好白人嗎？

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

I was raised to be that sort of person.

父母從小教我成為一個好白人。

I was a little kid in the '60s and '70s,

六、七十年代時我還是一個小小孩，

and to give you some sense of my parents:

讓我說一下我的父母是怎樣的人：

actual public opinion polls at the time

當時做的民意調查顯示只有極少數──

showed that only a small minority, about 20 percent of white Americans,

大約 20% 的白種美國人，

approved and supported

認同且支持馬丁•路德•金

Martin Luther King and his work with the civil rights movement

及他在黑人民權運動上的努力──

while Dr. King was still alive.

當他還在世時。

I'm proud to say my parents were in that group.

我敢驕傲地說，我的父母 正屬於那少數的一群。

Race got talked about in our house.

在我家種族問題可公開討論。

And when the shows that dealt with race would come on the television,

每次電視上出現種族議題的節目時，

they would sit us kids down, made sure we watched:

他們會叫我們幾個孩子坐下來看，

the Sidney Poitier movies, "Roots" ...

像是薛尼．鮑迪的電影、《根》等等。

The message was loud and clear,

所傳達的訊息大聲且清楚，

and I got it:

我聽懂了：

racism is wrong; racists are bad people.

種族歧視是不對的， 有種族歧視的人是壞人。

At the same time,

當時，

we lived in a very white place in Minnesota.

我們住在明尼蘇達州的 一個白人為主的地方。

And I'll just speak for myself,

我現在所說只代表個人言論，

I think that allowed me to believe that those white racists on the TV screen

當時電視螢幕上的種族歧視者讓我相信

那些種族歧視都發生在其他的地方。

were being beamed in from some other place.

It wasn't about us, really.

跟我們一點關係都沒有。

I did not feel implicated.

我並不覺得自己也牽連在內。

Now, I would say, I'm still in recovery from that early impression.

可以說，我現在還在從 早年的印象中醒悟過來。

I got into journalism

我進入新聞這一行

in part because I cared about things like equality and justice.

有一部分就是因為我在乎公平、公正。

For a long time, racism was just such a puzzle to me.

有很長一段時間， 種族主義讓我困惑不已。

Why is it still with us when it's so clearly wrong?

如果它根本就是錯的， 為什麼大家還坐視它的存在？

Why such a persistent force?

為何如此有持續力？

Maybe I was puzzled because I wasn't yet looking in the right place

或許我的困惑是來自我看錯了方向，

or asking the right questions.

還是問錯了問題。

Have you noticed

你們有注意到嗎？

that when people in our mostly white media

在白人主流的媒體中，

report on what they consider to be racial issues,

只要出現被認為是種族議題的報導，

what we consider to be racial issues,

我們認為是種族議題的新聞，

what that usually means is that we're pointing our cameras

通常也就是我們將攝影機的鏡頭

and our microphones and our gaze

以及麥克風及目光

at people of color,

轉到有色人種身上，

asking questions like,

提出的問題也通常是：

"How are Black folks or Native Americans, Latino or Asian Americans,

「那麼黑人、美國原住民、 拉丁美洲人或亞裔美國人

how are they doing?"

他們覺得怎樣？」

in a given community or with respect to some issue --

可能是某個特定社區， 還是針對某些議題──

the economy, education.

經濟、教育之類。

I've done my share of that kind of journalism

我做了許多年那類的新聞工作，夠了。

over many years.

But then George Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin,

在喬治·茲莫曼槍殺了 特雷沃恩·馬丁後，

followed by this unending string of high-profile police shootings

陸續又發生了一連串的高階員警

槍擊未攜帶武器的黑人事件，

of unarmed Black people,

the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement,

接著「黑人的命也是命」運動展開、

Dylann Roof and the Charleston massacre,

位於查爾斯頓的狄倫·魯夫屠殺案，

#OscarsSoWhite --

「奧斯卡太白」輿論大潮 （#OscarsSoWhite）──

all the incidents from the day-to-day of American life,

所有這些發生在美國日常生活的事件，

these overtly racist incidents

公開的種族主義事件──

that we now get to see because they're captured on smartphones

都被以智慧手機拍下，

and sent across the internet.

在網上流傳而廣為人知。

And beneath those visible events,

而在這些事件表面之下，

the stubborn data,

根深蒂固的數據、 無數的研究結果顯露出

the studies showing systemic racism in every institution we have:

我們所有的公共機構中 存在著系統化的種族歧視，

housing segregation, job discrimination,

普遍見於住宅分配隔離、工作歧視、

the deeply racialized inequities in our schools

還有長久以來存在於學校、

and criminal justice system.

刑事司法系統中的不平等待遇。

And what really did it for me,

最讓我無法忍受的是──

and I know I'm not alone in this, either:

我知道我也不是唯一一個──

the rise of Donald Trump

唐納·川普的崛起，

and the discovery that a solid majority of white Americans

讓我發現有絕大多數的美國白人

would embrace or at least accept

若非熱烈歡迎，至少也認可接受

such a raw, bitter kind of white identity politics.

他那赤裸裸、充滿仇恨的 白人取向的政治理念。

This was all disturbing to me as a human being.

身為人類，這是最令我不安的一點。

As a journalist, I found myself turning the lens around,

身為記者，我發現我把鏡頭轉向了，

thinking,

我在想：

"Wow, white folks are the story.

「哇！故事主角換成白人了，

Whiteness is a story,"

白種人上新聞了，」

And also thinking, "Can I do that?

同時我也想：「有可能嗎？

What would a podcast series about whiteness sound like?"

以白種人為題 製做一系列的 Podcast？」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

"And oh, by the way -- this could get uncomfortable."

「噢，先說一聲，這節目 可能會讓人覺得不自在。」

I had seen almost no journalism that looked deeply at whiteness,

我從未看過任何深入探討 白人種族議題的報導，

but, of course, people of color and especially Black intellectuals

當然，幾世紀以來，有色人種， 尤其是黑人知識分子──

have made sharp critiques of white supremacist culture

曾對白人至上的文化提出尖銳的批評，

for centuries,

and I knew that in the last two or three decades,

我也知道過去二、三十年來，

scholars had done interesting work

有些學者做了有趣的研究工作──

looking at race through the frame of whiteness,

從白人的角度去看「種族」：

what it is, how we got it, how it works in the world.

它的定義、起源、在世界各地的狀況。

I started reading,

我開始閱讀涉獵，

and I reached out to some leading experts on race and the history of race.

也請教了許多研究種族 及種族歷史領域內的專家。

One of the first questions I asked was,

我提出的第一個問題是：

"Where did this idea of being a white person

「請問身為白人的這個概念

come from in the first place?"

是起源於何處？」

Science is clear.

科學證據一目瞭然。

所有的人類都是同一個物種。

We are one human race.

We're all related,

我們都是相關聯的，

all descended from a common ancestor in Africa.

最早都是同一個祖先，來自非洲。

Some people walked out of Africa into colder, darker places

有一部分的人離開了非洲大陸 去到比較冷、比較暗的地方

and lost a lot of their melanin,

因而流失了他們的黑色素，

some of us more than others.

一些人流失的多過其他人。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

But genetically, we are all 99.9 percent the same.

但是，我們的基因 99.9% 一樣。

There's more genetic diversity within what we call racial groups

同一族群中的基因多樣性

than there is between racial groups.

遠多過跨族群間的多樣性。

There's no gene for whiteness or blackness or Asian-ness

沒有哪個基因是白人特有， 或是黑人、亞洲人特有的，

各色人種都是一樣的。

or what have you.

So how did this happen?

所以究竟種族是怎麼來的？

How did we get this thing?

我們從哪得來這個概念？

How did racism start?

種族主義何時開始？

I think if you had asked me to speculate on that,

如果你要我推論的話，

in my ignorance, some years ago,

用我之前天真的想法去分析的話，

I probably would have said,

我可能會說：

"Well, I guess somewhere back in deep history,

「我猜很久很久以前，在某個地方，

people encountered one another,

人們碰到彼此時，

and they found each other strange.

發現對方與自己不同。

'Your skin is a different color, your hair is different,

『你的膚色與我不同、髮色也不同 、

you dress funny.

又奇裝異服。

I guess I'll just go ahead and jump to the conclusion

我想我應該可以下結論說：

that since you're different

既然你跟我不同，

that you're somehow less than me,

那你應該就是不如我，

and maybe that makes it OK for me to mistreat you.'"

那我無需禮遇還是平等對待你。 』」

Right?

是嗎？

Is that something like what we imagine or assume?

那不正是我們所想像、認為的嗎？

And under that kind of scenario,

而且，在那種情況下，

it's all a big, tragic misunderstanding.

簡直是巨大且悲慘的誤解。

But it seems that's wrong.

不過這推論顯然不對。

First of all, race is a recent invention.

首先，種族是近代的發明。

It's just a few hundred years old.

只有幾百年歷史。

Before that, yes, people divided themselves

在那之前，是的，

用來區分彼此的是宗教、 部落族群、語言等等的。

by religion, tribal group, language,

things like that.

But for most of human history,

但是以人類的整體歷史來看， 人們幾乎沒有種族觀念。

people had no notion of race.

In Ancient Greece, for example --

舉例來說，在古希臘──

and I learned this from the historian Nell Irvin Painter --

這是我從歷史學家 內爾·艾爾文·潘特那學到的──

the Greeks thought they were better than the other people they knew about,

古希臘人自認為比 所有其他所知的人更傑出，

but not because of some idea that they were innately superior.

不是因為他們天生 就比較擅長某些事物。

They just thought that they'd developed the most advanced culture.

而是因為他們認為他們 發展出了最先進的文明。

So they looked around at the Ethiopians,

所以在環顧了周遭的衣索比亞人、

but also the Persians and the Celts,

還有波斯人及凱爾特人後，

and they said, "They're all kind of barbaric compared to us.

下結論說：「跟我們相比， 他們基本上就是野蠻人。

Culturally, they're just not Greek."

從文明來看，他們就是 比不上我們希臘人。」

And yes, in the ancient world, there was lots of slavery,

沒錯，古老的世界上充斥著奴隸制度，

but people enslaved people who didn't look like them,

但是奴役的對象除了 與自己長得不像的人，

and they often enslaved people who did.

也包含了跟自己同類的人。

Did you know that the English word "slave" is derived from the word "Slav"?

你們知道英文的奴隸 (slave) 是從 Slav 這個字演變來的嗎？

Because Slavic people were enslaved by all kinds of folks,

因為斯拉夫人被各種人奴役得最多，

including Western Europeans,

包括西歐人在內，

for centuries.

長達幾世紀之久。

Slavery wasn't about race either,

奴役其實也跟種族無關，

because no one had thought up race yet.

因為當時還沒有人想到種族這個概念。

So who did?

那麼是誰起頭的呢？

I put that question to another leading historian,

我拿這問題問 另一個傑出的歷史學家──

Ibram Kendi.

伊布拉姆·肯迪。

I didn't expect he would answer the question

我並不期望他給我的回答中

in the form of one person's name and a date,

會有明確的人名還是日期，

as if we were talking about the light bulb.

就像問是誰發明電燈泡那樣。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

But he did.

可是他真的就是那樣說。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

He said, in his exhaustive research,

他說在做了詳盡的研究後，

he found what he believed to be the first articulation of racist ideas.

他找到了他相信應該是第一個 提倡種族觀念的文章。

And he named the culprit.

他也找到了罪魁禍首。

This guy should be more famous,

這個人其實應該很有名， 還是說惡名昭彰。

or infamous.

His name is Gomes de Zurara.

他的名字是戈梅斯·德祖拉拉。

Portuguese man.

葡萄牙人。

Wrote a book in the 1450s

他在 1450 年代寫了一本書，

in which he did something that no one had ever done before,

書中有個沒人做過的創舉，

according to Dr. Kendi.

這是肯迪博士的說法。

He lumped together all the people of Africa --

德祖拉拉一竿子打翻一船人，

a vast, diverse continent --

將遼闊、多元的非洲大陸上所有的人

and he described them as a distinct group,

歸類為一個單獨的群體，

inferior and beastly.

形容他們是如野獸般低等的生物。

Never mind that in that precolonial time

全然不顧在殖民時代之前的非洲大陸

some of the most sophisticated cultures in the world were in Africa.

曾出現世界上最複雜先進的文明。

Why would this guy make this claim?

他為何出此斷言？

Turns out, it helps to follow the money.

結果是為了金錢利益。

First of all, Zurara was hired to write that book

首先，德祖拉拉是受雇的寫手，

by the Portuguese king,

雇主是葡萄牙國王，

and just a few years before,

在這本書問世的幾年前，

slave traders --

奴隸販子──

here we go --

聽清楚囉──

slave traders tied to the Portuguese crown

跟葡萄牙皇室關係密切的奴隸販子是

had effectively pioneered the Atlantic slave trade.

大西洋地區最早開發奴隸買賣的──

They were the first Europeans to sail directly to sub-Saharan Africa

他們是第一批直接航向 撒哈拉以南的非洲大陸的歐洲人

to kidnap and enslave African people.

──俘虜、奴役非洲人。

So it was suddenly really helpful

突然之間，

to have a story about the inferiority of African people

這本關於非洲人如何低等的書

to justify this new trade

讓奴隸買賣者能自圓其說──

to other people, to the church,

向他人、教會及自身

to themselves.

證明奴役的正當性。

And with the stroke of a pen,

就靠著他的一支筆，

Zurara invented both blackness and whiteness,

德祖拉拉編造出黑人與白人，

because he basically created the notion of blackness

基本上他藉著對非洲人的形容

through this description of Africans,

去創造出所謂黑人的概念，

and as Dr. Kendi says,

就像肯迪博士所說的，

blackness has no meaning without whiteness.

沒有白，也就不會有黑。

Other European countries followed the Portuguese lead

其他歐洲國家紛紛效法葡萄牙人，

in looking to Africa for human property and free labor

前往非洲開發免費的奴隸財產，

and in adopting this fiction

採信德祖拉拉書中捏造的

about the inferiority of African people.

非洲人乃低等人的說法。

I found this clarifying.

我發現這一說真相大白。

Racism didn't start with a misunderstanding,

種族歧視原來並非源自誤解，

it started with a lie.

而是出自謊言。

Meanwhile, over here in colonial America,

當時，在殖民地的美洲大陸上，

the people now calling themselves white got busy taking these racist ideas

那些自稱為白人的一群

則是忙著將這些種族言論寫進法律中，

and turning them into law,

laws that stripped all human rights from the people they were calling Black

剝奪那些他們歸類為黑人的人權，

and locking them into our particularly vicious brand of chattel slavery,

將他們編入我們那套 狠毒的奴隸財產制中，

and laws that gave even the poorest white people benefits,

同時也制定法律 提供窮困的白人某些好處，

not big benefits in material terms

雖然不見得是很大的實質利益，

but the right to not be enslaved for life,

但至少有免於淪落成奴隸的權利，

the right to not have your loved ones torn from your arms and sold,

身邊所愛的人也不會被抓去賣掉，

and sometimes real goodies.

但是也有真的不錯的東西。

The handouts of free land in places like Virginia

有些地方，例如維吉尼亞州， 曾釋放出免費土地，

to white people only

但是只發給白人，

started long before the American Revolution

這類事情遠在 美國獨立戰爭前就已開始，

and continued long after.

卻持續到戰後很長一段時間。

Now, I can imagine

我現在可以想像

there would be people listening to me -- if they're still listening --

有些人聽到這裡── 如果真有在聽的話──

who might be thinking,

可能會想：

"Come on, this is all ancient history. Why does this matter?

「拜託！那都是過去的歷史啦。 一點都不重要吧？

Things have changed.

現在已經不是那樣了。

Can't we just get over it and move on?"

可不可以忘掉過去，向前看啊？」

Right?

好像沒錯？

But I would argue, for me certainly,

我只想說，至少對我個人而言，

learning this history has brought a real shift

知道這段歷史改變了

in the way that I understand racism today.

我對今日種族議題的看法。

To review, two quick takeaways from what I've said so far:

回顧前面我所提到的， 有兩點各位可以帶回去深思：

one, race is not a thing biologically,

一、生物學上並沒有種族這回事，

it's a story some people decided to tell;

那是有心人編造的故事；

and two, people told that story

二、那故事被複誦流傳

to justify the brutal exploitation of other human beings for profit.

只為了用奴役、剝削他人 來圖利自己的自圓其說。

I didn't learn those two facts in school.

這兩件事實我都是 離開學校後才知道的。

I suspect most of us didn't.

我相信大部分人都跟我一樣。

If you did, you had a special teacher.

否則，你一定碰到非常特別的老師。

Right?

對吧？

But once they sink in,

一旦充分意識到這兩點，

for one thing, it becomes clear

你就會恍然大悟，

that racism is not mainly a problem of attitudes,

原來種族主義主要不是 個人偏執的態度問題，

of individual bigotry.

No, it's a tool.

而實際上是個工具，

It's a tool to divide us and to prop up systems --

用來分化人類，

支撐起經濟、政治及社會系統的工具，

economic, political and social systems

that advantage some people and disadvantage others.

圖利一些人，卻傷害另一些人。

And it's a tool to convince a lot of white folks

這個工具讓很多白種人相信──

who may or may not be getting a great deal out of our highly stratified society

無論他們從高度分層的 社會制度上得利多寡──

to support the status quo.

至少還願意支持現狀。

"Could be worse. At least I'm white."

「還不是最糟糕的。還好我是白人。」

Once I grasped the origins of racism,

在我弄清楚種族主義的由來後，

I stopped being mystified by the fact that it's still with us.

也解開了為什麼社會上 還存在種族主義的謎。

I guess, you know, looking back,

我剛才跟大家提到，

I thought about racism as being sort of like the flat Earth --

我過去把種族認為是類似 「地球是方的」那種理論──

just bad, outdated thinking that would fade away on its own

錯誤、過時，總有一天會被自動淘汰。

before long.

But no, this tool of whiteness

可是我錯了，這個白種人專屬的工具

is still doing the job it was invented to do.

還是在持續做著 當初發明者想達到的工作。

Powerful people go to work every day,

有權勢的人每天去工作，

leveraging and reinforcing this old weapon

不斷地運用、強化這個古老的工具，

in the halls of power,

無論是在權力的殿堂之上，

in some broadcast studios we could mention ...

還是在某些我們可以點名的 新聞攝影棚中……

And we don't need to fuss over

而且我們也無須大驚小怪

whether these people believe what they're saying,

這班人是否真心相信自己所說的話，

whether they're really racist.

甚或他們是不是種族歧視者。

That's not what it's about.

那都不重要。

It's about pocketbooks and power.

重要的是，他們的財力與勢力。

Finally, I think the biggest lesson of all --

最後，我想最重要的一課──

and let me talk in particular to the white folks for a minute:

讓我對現場的白人鄭重地說一下：

once we understand that people who look like us

一旦理解了所謂的種族

invented the very notion of race

是由那些跟我們一樣的人發明出來的，

in order to advantage themselves and us,

以便圖利他們自身及我們，

isn't it easier to see that it's our problem to solve?

是不是就很清楚

這個問題必須由我們來解決？

It's a white people problem.

因為這是一個白人的問題。

I'm embarrassed to say that for a long time,

我很慚愧地說，有很長一段時間

I thought of racism as being mainly a struggle for people of color to fight,

我認為種族問題是有色人種 必須去掙扎、克服的，

sort of like the people on the TV screen when I was a kid.

就像小時候電視上的那些人一樣。

Or, as if I was on the sidelines at a sports contest,

也有點像去看運動比賽，在場邊觀賽，

on one side people of color,

一邊是有色人種，

on the other those real racists,

另一邊則是種族歧視者，

the Southern sheriff,

南方的警長，

the people in hoods.

還是那些戴斗篷的人們。

And I was sincerely rooting for people of color to win the struggle.

而我真心為有色人種加油， 希望他們贏得這場爭戰。

But no.

可是，不行。

There are no sidelines.

因為這場比賽沒有場邊。

We're all in it.

我們所有的人都在場內。

We are implicated.

我們都牽連在內。

And if I'm not joining the struggle to dismantle a system

如果我不加入去拆除

那個圖利於我的系統，

that advantages me,

I am complicit.

我就成了同謀共犯。

This isn't about shame or guilt.

而這跟羞恥心或罪惡感無關。

White guilt doesn't get anything done,

白人的罪惡感無法成事，

and honestly, I don't feel a lot of guilt.

坦白說，我也沒有多深的罪惡感。

History isn't my fault or yours.

歷史不是我造成的，也不是你。

What I do feel is a stronger sense of responsibility

我只是覺得有股強烈的責任感，

to do something.

覺得應該做點甚麼。

All this has altered the way that I think about and approach my work

發現這段歷史 讓我重新審視自己的工作──

as a documentary storyteller

身為紀錄片導演、說書人 及老師的我能怎麼做。

and as a teacher.

But beyond that, besides that, what does it mean?

然而，除此之外呢？

What does it mean for any of us?

知道這段歷史後對我們有差嗎？

Does it mean that we support leaders

是否我們應該支持

who want to push ahead with a conversation about reparations?

那些想要促成對話、 提出補償的領導人？

In our communities,

在社會上，

are we finding people who are working to transform unjust institutions

對那些致力於改革不公平體制的人時，

and supporting that work?

我們是否給予支持？

At my job,

在職場上，

am I the white person who shows up grudgingly

我是那個勉為其難出席

for the diversity and equity meeting,

多元平等會議的白人代表？

or am I trying to figure out how to be a real accomplice

還是真心想要幫助有色人種同事的人？

to my colleagues of color?

Seems to me wherever we show up,

在我看來無論任何場合，

we need to show up with humility and vulnerability

我們都必須展現自身的謙卑與不足，

and a willingness to put down this power that we did not earn.

以及放棄那原不屬於 我們的權力的意願。

I believe we also stand to benefit

如果能夠重新打造一個新社會，

if we could create a society

其基礎不是建立在剝削壓迫任何人，

that's not built on the exploitation or oppression of anyone.

我相信我們也會是受益者。

But in the end we should do this,

但是最終，我們真的必須做的理由──

we should show up,

挺身而出、

figure out how to take action.

想出如何採取行動──

Because it's right.

純粹因為那樣才是對的。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）