美国国家公共电台 NPR Minorities In Germany Are Sounding Off Against Racism With #MeTwo Hashtag

Minorities In Germany Are Sounding Off Against Racism¹ With #MeTwo Hashtag

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

In Germany, the #MeToo movement is in the headlines again, but it is being used in a different way. It is #MeTwo - T-W-O in English - and it's a hashtag minorities are using to share stories of racism. Many tweets describe discrimination that starts in early childhood and follows people into their adult lives. Here's reporter Esme Nicholson.

ESME NICHOLSON, BYLINE²: It's early evening at a Berlin bar where hip³, young things sip⁴ artisanal gin cocktails⁵. Miriam Davoudvandi is among them and feels right at home - until the barman asks her where she's really from. Davoudvandi was born in Romania to an Iranian father and Romanian mother, and she's been living in Germany since she was 6. She's one of many Germans with a so-called migration⁶ background who's taken to Twitter to share her #MeTwo story.

MIRIAM DAVOUDVANDI: (Through interpreter) It started in elementary school. I was a good student and thought that kids with good grades like me end up at the more academic high school. But my teachers said I'd be better off among my own sort at a more vocational school.

NICHOLSON: Davoudvandi's parents ignored her teachers' advice, and she went to the more academic school and then to university. But she says she faces the same discrimination 20 years later.

DAVOUDVANDI: (Through interpreter) I've been looking for an apartment for a month without hearing back from any landlords. So my boyfriend and I decided⁷ to look for one together. He's German, blond and blue-eyed, with the right kind of name. And, lo and behold⁸, we got five offers in no time at all.

NICHOLSON: Meike Bonefeld from the University of Mannheim says that if Germany wants to tackle racism, it has to start at school. And she says it's the teachers who are in need of education. Her latest study looks at the behavior of trainee⁹ teachers who are tasked with grading tests.

MEIKE BONEFELD: (Through interpreter) Our studies showed that students with foreign names were given lower grades than students with German names, even if they made the same number of mistakes.

NICHOLSON: Bonefeld says this bias¹⁰, which has also shown up in previous studies, is causing long-term damage. At a playground in central Berlin, a group of children are making the most of their freedom before school starts again. One elementary school teacher here says these kids could be in for very different experiences at school. She spoke¹¹ to NPR on the condition of anonymity¹² for fear of losing her job.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Through interpreter) I have colleagues who have stigmatized¹³ pupils of Arab or Turkish descent without even getting to know them, lowering the children's expectations about what they can achieve.

NICHOLSON: She says at the official school policy of inclusion is far from a reality.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Through interpreter) Some teachers complain that kids with non-German names are assigned to their classes. More often than not, more tolerant colleagues end up teaching the students the others don't want.

NICHOLSON: While Berlin's state education authorities wouldn't comment, Germany's Teachers Association acknowledges there are problems. Heinz-Peter Meidinger is its president.

HEINZ-PETER MEIDINGER: (Through interpreter) The #MeTwo debate is definitely a sign that schools need to take a long, hard look at themselves. But I don't believe racism is widespread among teachers in Germany. These are one-offs.

NICHOLSON: But figures suggest that these are not isolated¹⁴ incidents. Research shows that 19-32 percent of Germans with foreign roots are encouraged to go to a more academic school, compared with 45 percent of Germans whose parents were born here. Meidinger, who's also a school principal, says there's good reason for this disparity.

MEIDINGER: (Through interpreter) I've often recommended that students with immigrant backgrounds might be better off at another school, one with lower academic standards, where foreign languages are not on the syllabus¹⁵. This isn't discrimination, but an attempt to offer the best opportunities.

NICHOLSON: Back at the bar in Kreuzberg, Davoudvandi says she remembers hearing the same argument at school.

DAVOUDVANDI: (Through interpreter) A high school teacher said I'd never be a grade-A student because German is not my mother tongue. Now I'm an editor in chief of a magazine, proof enough of my German skills.

NICHOLSON: Davoudvandi is fluent in five languages. But she says she was lucky. Unless more people start to call out the de facto segregation¹⁶ in schools, she says racism will thrive instead of the children. For NPR News, I'm Esme Nicholson in Berlin.

1 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。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

4 sip   

v.小口地喝，抿，呷；n.一小口的量

参考例句：

• She took a sip of the cocktail.她啜饮一口鸡尾酒。
• Elizabeth took a sip of the hot coffee.伊丽莎白呷了一口热咖啡。

5 cocktails   

n.鸡尾酒( cocktail的名词复数 )；餐前开胃菜；混合物

参考例句：

• Come about 4 o'clock. We'll have cocktails and grill steaks. 请四点钟左右来，我们喝鸡尾酒，吃烤牛排。 来自辞典例句
• Cocktails were a nasty American habit. 喝鸡尾酒是讨厌的美国习惯。 来自辞典例句

6 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 behold   

v.看，注视，看到

参考例句：

• The industry of these little ants is wonderful to behold.这些小蚂蚁辛勤劳动的样子看上去真令人惊叹。
• The sunrise at the seaside was quite a sight to behold.海滨日出真是个奇景。

9 trainee   

n.受训练者

参考例句：

• The trainee checked out all right on his first flight.受训者第一次飞行完全合格。
• Few of the trainee footballers make it to the top.足球受训人员中没有几个能达到顶级水平。

10 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

11 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

12 anonymity   

n.the condition of being anonymous

参考例句：

• Names of people in the book were changed to preserve anonymity. 为了姓名保密，书中的人用的都是化名。
• Our company promises to preserve the anonymity of all its clients. 我们公司承诺不公开客户的姓名。

13 stigmatized   

v.使受耻辱，指责，污辱( stigmatize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was stigmatized as an ex-convict. 他遭人污辱，说他给判过刑。 来自辞典例句
• Such a view has been stigmatized as mechanical jurisprudence. 蔑称这种观点为机械法学。 来自辞典例句

14 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

15 syllabus   

n.教学大纲，课程大纲

参考例句：

• Have you got next year's syllabus?你拿到明年的教学大纲了吗？
• We must try to diversify the syllabus to attract more students.我们应该使教学大纲内容多样化，可以多吸引学生。

16 segregation   

n.隔离，种族隔离

参考例句：

• Many school boards found segregation a hot potato in the early 1960s.在60年代初，许多学校部门都觉得按水平分班是一个棘手的问题。
• They were tired to death of segregation and of being kicked around.他们十分厌恶种族隔离和总是被人踢来踢去。