2020年经济学人 硅谷中的种族问题(1)

Business

商业版块

Race in Silicon¹ Valley

硅谷中的种族

Beyond the pale

出格

The technology industry faces up to its diversity problem

科技产业面临多元化问题

To get a sense of diversity in tech, take a stroll on University Avenue in Palo Alto, a city at the heart of Silicon Valley. Before the pandemic, if you encountered a black person, the chances were they worked in a local shop. African-Americans account for 3% of workers at America’s five biggest technology firms and probably less at smaller ones. About one in 50 partners at venture-capital (vc) firms is black. The figure among vc-financed entrepreneurs is one in 100. Such dismal² numbers, and Silicon Valley’s meritocratic pretensions³, help explain why tech’s response to the killing⁴ of George Floyd has been louder even than other industries'. Will outrage⁵ lead to lasting⁶ change?

想要感受科技的多样性。你可以在硅谷的中心城市帕洛阿尔托的大学路上漫步。在疫情之前，如果你遇到了一个黑人，他很可能是在当地的一家商店工作。在美国五大科技公司中，非裔美国人占员工总数的3%，而在较小的公司中，这一比例可能更低。而在风险投资公司，大约每50个合伙人中就有一个是黑人。而在创业投资金融的企业家中，数据为百分之一。如此惨淡的数据以及硅谷精英阶层的自命不凡，这有助于解释为什么科技公司对于乔治·弗洛伊德被杀事件的反应比其他行业更加激烈。愤怒会引发持久的变化吗？

Pushed by a left-leaning workforce⁷, big tech now regularly takes an activist⁸ stance on important issues, from immigration to the pandemic. Yet even by these standards, the reaction to the Black Lives Matter protests has been remarkable⁹. Firms offered donations to race-related charities, set up funds to finance startups by non-white founders¹⁰, stopped selling controversial technologies such as facial recognition and vowed¹¹ to purge¹² their software of racist¹³ language. Apple and YouTube (part of Google) each pledged $100m to combat racism¹⁴ with educational schemes and support for black artists. On June 17th Google said it would raise the share of “under-represented groups” in leadership by 30% by 2025.

在左倾劳动力的推动下，从移民问题到疫情，大型科技公司现在经常会在重要问题上采取积极的立场。然而，即使以这些标准衡量，其对黑人生命问题抗议的反应也是很显著的。公司会向与种族有关的慈善机构提供捐款，设立资金以资助非白人创始人创建的公司，停止销售面部识别等有争议的技术，发誓要清除他们的软件中的种族主义语言。苹果和YouTube（谷歌的子公司）各自承诺提供1亿美元，通过教育计划和对黑人艺术家的支持来打击种族主义。6月17日，谷歌表示，到2025年，它会把领导层中“代表性不足的群体”的比例提升30%。

1 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

2 dismal   

adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的

参考例句：

• That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
• My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。

3 pretensions   

自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力

参考例句：

• The play mocks the pretensions of the new middle class. 这出戏讽刺了新中产阶级的装模作样。
• The city has unrealistic pretensions to world-class status. 这个城市不切实际地标榜自己为国际都市。

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

5 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

6 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

7 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

8 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

9 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

10 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

11 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

12 purge   

n.整肃，清除，泻药，净化；vt.净化，清除，摆脱；vi.清除，通便，腹泻，变得清洁

参考例句：

• The new president carried out a purge of disloyal army officers.新总统对不忠诚的军官进行了清洗。
• The mayoral candidate has promised to purge the police department.市长候选人答应清洗警察部门。

13 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

14 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。