Which box do I check? | Am I Normal? With Mona Chalabi

Transcriber:

If you've been watching this series,

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Bruce Sung

如果你一直有在看這系列， 就會知道我很在意資料。

you'll know I care about data.

But data has its limitations, especially when it comes to language.

但是資料有其限制，

特別是在用語這方面。

Basically, if you get your categories wrong,

基本上，如果弄錯了類別，

you can wind up with some pretty misleading statistics,

結果可能是非常誤導的統計資訊。

and the US Census is a prime example.

美國人口普查就是最好的例子。

[Am I Normal? with Mona Chalabi]

〔我正常嗎？〕 〔夢娜查拉比主持〕

Taken every 10 years,

每十年進行一次，

this survey aims to collect demographic data

這項調查旨在收集美國及其領土上 所有居民的人口統計資料。

from each and every resident of the US and its territories.

Those responses help the government to determine everything,

調查的回應能協助政府 決定各種事項，

from the allocation of seats in Congress and the Electoral College,

從國會和選舉人團席次安排，

到數千億美元聯邦資金的分配運用。

to the allocation of hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funds.

And those funds pay for things like new hospitals,

這些資金可以運用的地方包括

建造新醫院、道路改善， 和學校午餐計畫。

road improvements and school lunch programs.

And crucially, the statisticians that work there are nonpartisan.

重要的是，在那裡工作的 統計學家都是無黨派的。

They sit at the same desks, applying the same formulas,

他們坐在同樣的桌子前， 套用同樣的公式，

no matter who is in charge at the White House.

無論白宮換誰當家。

So undoubtedly, the US Census Bureau does important work,

所以，無疑地，美國 人口普查局做的工作很重要，

but it does have some blind spots.

但它還是有盲點。

For example, there has been a decades-long effort

比如，數十年來一直有人努力

to add the category Middle Eastern or Northern African or MENA to the census.

要在普查中納入「中東或北非」 （或稱 MENA）的類別。

Currently, the census defines people from these regions,

目前，普查局把這些地區的人定義為

and that includes me, as white.

白人，包括我在內。

Yeah, that's incorrect.

是的，我不是白人。

In 2015, the census did test a version of this survey that included MENA.

2015 年，普查局的確測試了 一版有納入 MENA 的調查。

It found that when given the MENA option,

調查發現，有提供 MENA 選項時，

the number of people from that region who identified as white

該地區被認為是白人的人，

dropped from 86 percent to 20 percent.

從 68% 減少到 20％。

See, when you reconsider language, the numbers can change dramatically.

看吧，重新考量用語，

就可能讓數字大不同。

Unfortunately, though, the census still didn't make the change,

不幸的是，普查局 並未因此做出改變，

saying that further tests were necessary to determine if MENA should appear

說法是，還需要進一步測試

才能決定是否要把 MENA 放在族群底下而非種族。

under ethnicity instead of race.

That means that those who have rallied for its inclusion

那就表示，那些團結起來 希望被納入的人還得再等十年

will have to wait another decade to see if our community can be recognized.

才能再看看我們 這個族群是否能被承認。

This isn't the first time that language has restricted

這並非頭一次用語限制了

how people are represented in the census.

人民在普查中被代表被呈現的方式。

The very first one, way back in 1790,

最早的調查可回溯到 1790 年，

only had three broad categories,

當時只有三個很廣的 分類，引述如下：

and I quote: "slaves, free white men and women, and all other free persons."

「奴隸、自由的白種男人及女人， 及所有其他自由人。」

It would be another 30 years

再過三十年後，

才多出自由黑人的明確類別，

before distinct categories for free Blacks

and another 40 years before American Indians

又再過四十年之後， 美國印地安人的選項才出現。

would appear on the census.

Since then, more and more categories have been added,

從那之後，越來越多 類別被納入普查。

but progress has been slow.

但進展相當緩慢。

It wasn't until 2000 that people could choose more than one race

要到 2000 年，人民才能選擇 用不只一種種族來描述自己。

to describe themselves,

and for the very first time in 2020,

2020 年，史上第一次，

people who selected Black or white could go a bit more granular

選擇黑人或白人之後，可以再更細部

and provide more detail about their origins,

提供關於其血統的細節，

like naming France or Somalia or spotlighting their Indigenous identity.

如指明法國或索馬利亞，

或強調其屬於原住民哪一族。

Right now, you might be thinking:

現在，你可能在想：

Why does the wording on a survey even matter?

調查的用詞有什麼重要的？

Race and ethnicity are social constructs anyway.

反正種族和族群都是社會構面。

But that doesn't change the lived experience

但對於沒有被表格 真實反映出來的人，

of those who aren't truly reflected in these forms.

他們的生活經歷也不會有所改變。

Questionnaires need to ask the right questions

問卷必須要問對問題，

if they want to capture what's really happening in the world.

才能了解世界上真正發生的狀況。

A Northern African non-binary person might be misgendered

非二元性別的北非人可能

在普查中會被誤植性別 或被視為白人，

or considered white by the census,

但卻仍然會遇到只有他們的族群

but face disproportional discrimination,

health disparities or language barriers that are unique to their community.

才要面對的不成比例歧視、 健康不平等，或語言障礙。

It's no wonder, then,

也難怪通常這些被邊緣化 和弱勢的族群，

that it's often marginalized and vulnerable communities

ones whose identities are missing from these forms

這些表格中沒有選項可選的族群，

會很難取得政府資源或保護。

that lack access to governmental resources and protections.

Now, there are some understandable historical reasons

有一些可理解的歷史性理由可以說明

why people might not want to engage in this kind of data gathering.

為什麼沒有人想要 參與這類資料收集。

But without the data, it’s just easier to deny the inequality is real.

但若沒有這些資料，

就更容易否認不平等是真的。

If we want a more equitable society,

如果我們想要有更平等的社會，

we have to measure our reality,

我們就得測量我們的現實，

and the best way to start

最好的第一步，

is by using language that recognizes our differences.

便是採用能識別我們之間 差異的用語。